Connecting people and sharing resources to advance the beaver's keystone role

in watershed health

Photo Credit: National Park Service

In this map from the University of Montana's Prairie Beaver Project, dots represent one month’s worth of GPS transmitted locations of an adult male beaver in summer 2023. The beaver was captured on Beaver Creek near Zortman, MT in early July. The color of dots is on a gradient of earliest location (green) to most recent location (red), with the latest location shown on August 4. Over the course of one month, the beaver traveled a span of 45 kilometers (~28 miles), but continued to return to the area surrounding the capture location. Image Credit: Colleen Piper

Prairie Beaver Research on the Rise

Prior to the Fur Trade and the march of settlement that followed it, Montana's prairies were brimming with beavers. We have largely forgotten how beavers adapted to – and shaped – the complex riparian ecologies and hydrologic processes of these grass-dominated ecosystems. While beavers do endure at reduced numbers in prairie streams today, we know little about their natural history, population status, ecological impact, and prospects for continued recovery. How many prairie beavers are there? Where does their distribution extend? Do grass-and-mud dams last through the seasons? Which prairie species convene in the oases beavers create? Will beaver teeth grow dull without enough wood?

Thankfully, good energy around beavers has been building with prairie-based projects and partners for the last several years. In past issues of this newsletter we've highlighted many on-the-ground succeses in low-tech process-based restoration, from the Blackfeet Nation, Winnett ACES, The Nature Conservancy, National Wilife Federation, Montana Conservation Corps, World Wildlife Fund, and more. The Bureau of Land Management has been transforming programmatic policy to facilitate a future with beavers in the region, and American Prairie is advancing new land management approaches that will help diverse, resilient grasslands to thrive.

In this exciting context of public interest and action, the University of Montana (UM) developed the Prairie Beaver Project, research is responding, too. Now going into its second year under the leadership of doctoral candidate Colleen Piper, the University of Montana Prairie Beaver Project is filling knowledge gaps related to persistence and effects of beaver dams in prairie streams, and in regards to beaver habitat use and survival. Using remote sensing, and focusing on the landscape between Glasgow and Zortman, this project manually identifies beaver dams in prairie streams from 2017 through 2023 (using National Agriculture Imagery Program data). Then it investigates which environmental factors affect dam persistence and how persistence affects water availability and riparian conditions. From 2023 through 2025, the project is attaching tail-mounted GPS transmitters (sourced from Wildlife Computers) to 50 adult and sub-adult beavers across streams with different hydroperiods. This data will help the project explore how dynamic water availability and access to woody vegetation influence beaver habitat use and survival over a 10-month period. Capture of beavers occurs from mid-May to mid-June and from September to early-October. In 2023, the project successfully tagged 12 adult and sub-adult beavers, and they are now staffing up for continued success in 2024. This project is part of the UM Prairie Aquatic Ecology Technician opportunity below, and Colleen Piper (colleen.piper@umontana.edu) welcomes any questions you might have about the work.

Not too far west of UM's Prairie Beaver Project, the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute is also taking interest in the riparian ecology of temperate grasslands. A desire to understand the link between land management and biodiversity drives much of the Smithsonian's research, and they are particularly keen to explore how keystone species and ecosystem engineers (like beavers or prairie dogs) can help restore vulnerable species (like the black-footed ferret or swift fox). This summer they'll be launching field work in Phillips and Blaine Counties, and they'll be listening for connections between low-tech process-based restoration and the biodiversity of microclimates in riparian systems. And "listening" is the word: Part of this work will involve the deployment of bioacoustic sensors to passively record the sounds of birds and other wildlife in response to riparian habitat change through the seasons. This work also is also hiring a contributor to these questions, and you reach out to Andy Boyce (boycea@si.edu) with questions.

It was only three months ago that Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks' white paper asserted that "there is relatively scant information about beavers in prairie streams but abundant evidence of historical occupation, so additional research and monitoring is needed in those systems before broadly applicable guidelines and considerations can be developed." If studies like those we are seeing this year continue to rise to the cause, we might be needing a revision sooner than expected, and that's a good thing.

With dozens of culvert fence, flow device, and tree protection projects, Elissa Chott is primed to guide the growth of the Montana Beaver Conflict Resolution Project. If you know of sites in FWP Region 3 or 4 that could benefit from this work, please reach out. Every site offers new opportunities for hands-on learning, and Elissa looks forward to cultivating awareness and action with people in these regions. Photo Credit: Rob Rich

Montana Beaver Conflict Resolution Project Charting New Waters

After five successful years of showcasing coexistence methods and helping landowners find long-term solutions to conflicts in Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks' Region 2, the Montana Beaver Conflict Resolution Project is expanding. Thanks to the growing public awareness of how critical beavers are to our watersheds, people have been willing to explore and embrace the proven tools of this project.

This spring, the project will be hiring two new beaver technicians, one in the Bozeman/Livingston area (FWP Region 3), and one near Lewistown/Great Falls (FWP Region 4). These areas have demonstated need and opportunity for this work, and we are excited for the Project to suppport communities in these landcapes. See the job application details below if you – or someone you know – might be interested in one of these positions.

The Clark Fork Coalition in Missoula deserves a special thanks for pioneering this project and its new developments. They were central to the vision and development of this work, and they have provided strategic direction and practical resources as its host since it began. With the expansion of the project beyond the Clark Fork River watershed, the National Wildlife Federation will become responsible for housing the program. Elissa Chott, who has been the project's sole technician since 2019, will continue to resolve beaver conflicts in Region 2, but she will also be stepping into a role as project coordinator to guide the expansion.

The Project would not possible without collaborative supporters from Defenders of Wildlife, Montana Freshwater Partners, Sacajawea Audubon Society, and Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. The Project looks forward to engaging with new partners, finding durable solutions, and fostering resilient watersheds. Please reach out to Elissa Chott (chotte@nwf.org) if you have any questions, and thank you.

New Webinars from National BWGs

Beaver Institute / National BWGs

March 11, 2024

1pm MST, Online

The Beaver Institute and National Beaver Communications Working Group just launched a new webinar series called "Beavers and...", which explores the vital ways that beavers link to so many other vital conservation issues. Their next episode – "Beavers and Bison" – will occur in two parts, with the first featuring restoration practitioner Allison Vitello and professor/filmmaker Peter Byck. It will run March 11, and you can find details about it, along with the recorded version of their first installment, "Beavers and Agriculture," here.

For an update on even more opportunities to learn and participate with the Beaver Institute's National Beaver Working Groups –  including meeting times, presentations on science and research, a Beaver Educator Resource Library, a novel coexistence device submissions request, funding tools, and more – check out the inspiring innovation here.

Beavers and Drought Webinar

Miistakis Institute / Cows & Fish

March 13, 2024

12pm MST, Online

The Working with Beavers Collaborative (Cows and Fish and Miistakis Institute) will join forces with Dr. Cherie Westbrook (University of Saskatchewan) for a compelling online discussion on the ways beavers naturally mitigate drought. There will be time for Q&A with those who attend live, and the recording will be posted to YouTube for those who cannot. Sign up here.

Navigating the Permitting and Regulatory Environment of Beaver-Related Projects: A Panel Discussion

National Association of Wetland Managers

March 13, 2024

Online, 1-2:30pm MST

For the latest beaver-related restoration webinar from the National Association of Wetland Managers, permitting takes the stage. Often discussed but rarely mastered, this is a topic that varies regionally, jurisdictionally, and operationally. But beavers are helping practitioners to hone their shared goals and methods for advancing watershed health, and this exciting panel conversation will reveal pathways through the permitting mazes we face. Adam Burnett (Beaver Institute), Alexa Whipple (Methow Beaver Project), Rob Walton (Beaver Institute), and Dan Aitchison (Westchester County Department of Parks, Recreation, and Conservation) are the featured guests in this conversation, and you can learn more here.

Montana Beaver Working Group: Spring Meeting

National Wildlife Federation

March 27-28, 2024

The Montana Beaver Working Group will convene for its spring meeting over March 27-28, 2024. This will be a time for beaver-related restoration practitioners from across the state to gather in person, hear inspiring presentations, and coordinate progress towards our 2023 Montana Beaver Action Plan. The Blackfeet Nation will host the event in Browning, and you can reach out to NWF's Shelby Weigand (weigands@nwf.org) to confirm your attendance, suggest a presentation idea, and receive a pre-meeting survey.

American Beaver and Freshwater Climate Resiliency in Washington State

Jesse Burgher, Julianna Hoza, Jonah Piovia-Scott / Prepared for Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife

2023

This new report synthesizes available scientific information on beaver-related restoration and climate resilience for streams in Washington state, summarizing the state of the science, highlighting knowledge gaps, and identifying challenges. The three authors - from Washington State University - prepared this report for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and their comprehensive review offers many transferrable insights about how beavers influence complex, dynamic communities through climate disturbance and uncertainty.

Help Beavers Fix It

Project Beaver

March 2024

This outstanding new graphic from Oregon-based Project Beaver is sure to inspire as we head into spring. Beavers co-evolved with riparian plants in the Northern Hemisphere, and you can support this partnership, too. See here to learn more and download this wonderful resource

Resilient Landscapes Resource List

Intermountain West Joint Venture

January 2024

With collaborative stakeholders along the Rockies, the Intermountain West Joint Venture knows that it's not always easy to find the best-available science required conserve our vast region. And, even if we do find relevant research tools, there are still questions of how to sort them, share them, and put them to use? Those are some of the questions that inspired the Resilient Landcsape Resource List, a user-friendly database of applied science that can be searched with keywords, filtered by topic/region/resource type, and exported in your preferred format. Explore and contribute to this excellent tool here.

"To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering." Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

TGraphical abstract. Image Credit: Ignacio A, Hood G, and Westbrook C. 2024. Short Term Dynamics of Beaver Dam Flow States. Science of the Total Environment. 919. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170825

Short-Term Dynamics of Beaver Dam Flow States

Ignacio Aguirre, Glynnis Hood, Cherie Westbrook, Science of the Total Environment

April 2024



As we consider the benefits and vulnerabilities of beaver dams in a changing climate, it become ever more important to know how they filter water. Does water flow over the dams? Under them? Through? Why does it matter? It turns out that dams shift between these varying "flow states" and that these states change frequently, especially with rainfall events. Understanding these dynamics is critical to accurate, effective inclusion of beavers in stream restoration initiatives, and you can learn more here.

MT Beaver Conflict Resolution Fellows

National Wildlife Federation

Region 3 - Bozeman/Livingston & Region 4 - Great Falls/Lewistown

Applications Due: rolling review

The Beaver Conflict Resolution Fellow positions will work to develop tolerance for beaver in FWP Regions 3 and 4, respectively (one Fellow in each region), and promote stream restoration by beaver and low-tech methods where appropriate. This work will include community outreach and education, hosting training events for local partners, and constructing targeted demonstration projects. This work requires specialized knowledge and skills in wildlife conflict resolution, and in techniques for non-lethal beaver management, as well as in building good relationships, credibility, and trust with landowners, agricultural producers and key agency partners like MT FWP, USFS, and local government. Learn more here.

Prairie Aquatic Ecology Technician

University of Montana

Zortman/Glasgow, MT

Application Due: rolling review (final deadline: March 18, 2024)

Field technicians will assist with capturing and tagging beaver in the prairies of eastern Montana (Zortman and Glasgow areas). The goal of the research is to assess habitat use and survival of beavers in streams with different seasonal availability of water. Primary duties include: (1) making and setting live-traps, (2) manually securing captured beavers, and (3) assisting in surgical application of GPS transmitters. In mid- or late-June, technicians will transition to projects focused on aquatic communities in the same eastern Montana study area. One project is focused on identifying primary breeding habitats of the Western Encephalitis Mosquito on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands, and contributing to the understanding of broader aquatic communities across a range of sites. The other project is investigating the influence of beaver and anthropogenic impoundments on aquatic community composition and distribution. Sampling for both projects will target the larger aquatic community (i.e., insects, amphibians, reptiles, and fish) in streams (including beaver ponds), stock ponds, and small reservoirs. Learn more here.

Grassland Microclimate and Biodiversity Technician

University of Montana

Phillips and Blaine Counties, MT

Application Due: rolling review (final deadline: April 1, 2024)

Smithsonian Great Plains Science Program is offering research technician opportunity in the grasslands of northeast Montana. This research program is focused on understanding how restoration (anthropogenic or species reintroductions) influences the biodiversity and climate resilience of temperate grasslands. This position will be the fieldwork and coordination lead for a project aiming to understand how restoration activities influence microclimates and biodiversity in small riparian systems embedded within a matrix of temperate grassland and sagebrush steppe. Learn more here.

Christine Stevens Wildlife Award

Animal Welfare Initiative

Application Due: March 18, 2024



Now through March 18, the Animal Welfare Initiative is accepting applications for its 2024 Christine Stevens Wildlife Awards. This award program provides up to $15,000 to recipients to help spur innovative research on humane, nonlethal tools and techniques for wildlife conflict management and for studying wildlife. Learn more here.

Photo Credit: Rob Rich

Please send photos, stories, upcoming events, opportunities, and other resources to:

Shelby Weigand - Senior Coordinator, Riparian Connectivity National Wildlife Federation

WeigandS@nwf.org

MT Beaver Working Group newsletters are posted online here.