Montana Beaver Working Group
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Connecting people and sharing resources to advance the beaver's keystone role
in watershed health
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Young beavers emerge from their lodges as we spring into summer, when they'll learn the ways of the water with their parents and siblings. Photo Credit: Mike Digout | |
Photo Credits: National Wildlife Federation | |
Beavers Feature in Lolo National Forest Plan Revision
When the Lolo National Forest crafted its first Management Plan in 1986, many people considered the beaver to be just another rodent, and few people used the words "climate" and "change" next to each other. That Plan was made for its time and place, and it was meant to guide the Lolo's management strategy for the next 10-15 years.
Thirty-seven years later, the Lolo National Forest is on the verge of an update to address the realities of our time. This effort has been spurred by the 2012 Planning Rule, a federal regulation that required more emphasis on adaptive management, science-based decision making, and public involvement. Under the Rule, Forest Plan revisions should include a robust assessment phase to clearly assert the purpose, need, and objectives that will shape forest-wide management directions. Over the last several months, the Lolo National Forest has done just that, not only in the 536 page document that describes these strategic intentions, but also in public meetings, office hours, and other forums of information exchange. This is just the start of the process, which will carry on until the signing of a Record of Decision, currently expected in late 2026.
While it is far beyond the scope of this newsletter to address the comprehensive issues in the Lolo National Forest's evolving new Plan, it is exciting to see that beavers feature prominently and positively as a vital driver of ecosystem health. The Draft Assessment devoted a full five pages to the values and services of this keystone species, highlighting the many hydrologic, geomorphic, and biologic means in which beavers help watersheds across spatial and temporal scales. The Assessment also notes the great need and hope for the beaver's continued recovery: "Because beavers are a very large, but mostly missing disturbance agent on the landscape, understanding beaver habitat potential along with riparian habitat is essential in management considerations of valley bottom ecosystems and stream corridors."
This remarkable section goes on to describe the evidence for action with citations from the best available beaver science, including the locally grown citizen-science effort that helped to validate habitat suitability models. Such compelling affirmation for beavers is rarely seen in Forest Plans - or strategic government documents of any kind - but the National Wildlife Federation's Guide to Advocating for Beaver Restoration in National Forest Planning likely had a timely, effective role supporting the Lolo's strong language. It was also pivotal to have so many consistent collaborative efforts unite around beavers in and near the Lolo National Forest in recent years, including the Montana Beaver Conflict Resolution Project, the multifaceted beaver-related research from scholars from the University of Montana, and so many more. Despite the decades of gestating this much-needed revision, it now seems ripe to result in something worth replicating for management planners across our public lands.
While the initial comment period for this Draft Assessment of the Lolo National Forest Plan Revision has just passed, there will be many other opporunities to engage in this process. Until the next opportunity, we encourage you to reflect on and share this important inclusion of beaver, and to consider how you can endorse beaver in related land/water management planning in the spheres in which you work. You can review the full beaver section on page 35-40 of this Forest Plan Draft Assessment here and, with the following links, you can learn more about the 2012 Planning Rule through this interactive story map, this Citizens' Guide to National Forest Planning or this forest-themed issue of Natural Resources & Environment. To learn more about the Lolo National Forest Plan process as it evolves, see here.
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Working with Beavers Symposium
Miistakis Institute, Working With Beavers / Cows and Fish
July 13-14, 2023
Nisku, Alberta
The Working with Beavers partnership is planning a third installment in its engaging series of symposia, which will take place from July 13-14, 2023. This collaborative initiative of the Miistakis Institute and Cows and Fish nonprofits has a long track record of connecting applied science to practical grassroots action, and this gathering will feature a combination of presentations, panel discussions, networking time, and field forays on all things beaver. You can stay updated on 2023 symposium details, review past symposia resources, and learn more about this impressive initiative here.
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National Beaver Working Groups Open House
Beaver Institute
10am MST, July 17, 2023
In September 2022, Beaver Institute launched six National Beaver Working Groups in the topics of Policy & Legal, Science & Research, Education, Management Practices, Funding, and Communication. Over the past 10 months each group has met monthly, advancing individual and collective goals and strategies for the benefit of beavers, humans, and ecosystems. Each group will share brief presentations, followed by open discussion and questions. Click here to sign up for this Zoom event.
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Beavers Uncovered Webinar Series: Beavers in the City
Beaver Institute
10am MST, July 25, 2023
The Beaver Institute has launched a beaver webinar series that highlights under-explored topics in the castorid genre. Each webinar includes presentation and conversation, and their upcoming installment will feature three lead researchers on Beavers in the City: Dr. Sandra Clinton (UNC – Charlotte), Dr. Benjamin Dittbrenner (Northeastern University; founder of Beavers Northwest), and Kathleen Lamboy (Center for the Urban River at Beczak).
Check this webpage to RSVP for this event, where you can also find the past recordings and future previews of events in this series. Beavers on the Edge was their first event last month, and it included was a great success last month, and it Dr. Ken D. Tape (Arctic Beaver Observation Network), Dr. Helen Wheeler (Beavers and Socio-ecological Resilience in Inuit Nunangat), Dr. Callum Pearce (Beavers and Socio-ecological Resilience in Inuit Nunangat), and Becky Fitzpatrick (Watershed Management Group; Tucson AZ) Beavers on the Edge explored beaver expansion and its effect on social-ecological systems in the Arctic and along the United States-Mexico Borderlands/Frontera.
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Beaver Blitz: Beaver Inventory Work Day
Montana Backcountry Hunters and Anglers / BLM
8am-1pm, August 26, 2023
Upper Gold Creek, Potomac, MT
Join Montana BHA and the Bureau of Land Management staff for a morning of beaver dam inventory in Upper Gold Creek from 8am-1pm on Saturday, August 26th! Please click here for more details on what to expect/bring, and how to RSVP. And please see the resource below to learn more about the impact that volunteers at this event will make.
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Beyond the Banks: Expanding Perspectives to Change our World
Sustaining Colorado Watersheds Conference
October 3-5, 2023
Avon, Colorado
The Sustaining Colorado Watersheds conference has allied diverse partners in watershed conservation for 18 years, and this year they have a theme that should be especially intriguing for beaver believers. Presentations and papers will focus on the following themes:
- How are we considering the health and sustainability of our watersheds holistically, addressing issues such as climate change, water quality, and equitable access and involvement in water resources stewardship and decision-making?
- Where are we looking beyond the streambanks in our projects, approaches, and policies to also include the floodplain, uplands, and developed areas within a watershed?
- In what ways can we promote the people, process, and leadership sides of stewarding Colorado watersheds? How can we better inform public perception to overcome water and restoration challenges? What are impactful models to engage more cultures and communities to find advocates for programs that effect change?
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Please check out the full details here.
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California Beaver Restoration Program Presentation
California Department of Fish and Wildlife
May 2023
Recent issues of this newsletter have highlighted the pioneering beaver work underway with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). With its paradigm shifts and progressive new policies, this agency has quickly become an inspiring model for other states.
The overarching goals of their new Beaver Restoration Program are to improve human-beaver coexistence, gather a comprehensive understanding of where, when, and how beavers can be utilized to restore ecosystem processes and habitats in California, communicate those findings in clear and meaningful ways, and with that knowledge, effectively utilize beavers as a tool (i.e., nature-based solution) in restoring and conserving habitats and watersheds in California.
To share more information about the newly created Beaver Restoration Program, CDFW hosted an informational webinar on Thursday, May 25. The meeting provided a broad overview of CDFW’s Beaver Restoration Program, including its purpose, objectives, tasks, and timelines. Additionally, the meeting addressed the implementation of pilot and future beaver translocation projects, development of a beaver co-existence toolkit, and policy updates, and concluded with a question and answer session. Future public workshops will be scheduled to discuss human-beaver coexistence strategies and the process for developing and requesting beaver translocation projects.
View a recording of the Beaver Restoration Program Informational Meeting here.
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Planning for the future, a team deploys process-based restoration for a trickling tributary of the Blackfoot River. Photo Credit: Bureau of Land Management Montana/Dakotas, Missoula Field Office | |
Lower Blackfoot Ecosystem Analysis at the Watershed Scale
Bureau of Land Management (Missoula Office)
April 2023
Missoula BLM is currently undergoing a significant land acquisition project in the Lower Blackfoot area. The land was industrial timber lands for about 100 years when The Nature Conservancy took over ownership. Thanks to successful applications for Land & Water Conservation Fund projects, the land is now being acquired by the BLM. BLM staff are currently undergoing inventory and assessment of these newly acquired lands. Starting in 2024, the BLM will begin restoration efforts based on treatment recommendations that come out of current inventory and assessment efforts. Check out this link to learn more the acquisition and restoration efforts of the Missoula BLM.
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This image shows why the Beaver Back Saver Device has been described as a "perforated snorkel." This relatively low-tech tool can be installed in dry or wet conditions. Photo Credit: Brock Dolman |
Beaver Back Saver Device
US Fish & Wildlife Service / Occidental Arts and Ecology Center
April 2023
With their flat tows and flexible spines, beavers use water to lighten their loads. They certainly heave impressive pawfuls of mud, and drag cumbersome lengths of lumber onto land, but they do so from a low stance on powerful legs. It would be fascinating to know how that really feels in their bodies, but they sure seem ergonomically adapted to their work, which they can continue night after night without ceasing. But humans are not naturally semiaquatic. We're a relatively vertical species, so most process-based and coexistence work involves bending that we might not be conditioned to do every day.
Herniated discs or strains to the latissimus dorsi may seem separate from our conservation goals, but a new solution designed by the US Fish & Wildlife Service (Sutter NWR) and promoted by the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center has the potential to help reduce human injuries and realize beaver benefits through effective coexistence tool. This tool will be especially useful for those working in human-managed wetland and irrigation systems, and you can learn more about it in a descriptive summary and short video found here.
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None at this time - please be in touch if you have relevant jobs, grants, or other opportunities that you'd like to share! | |
Photo Credit: National Wildlife Federation | |
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. See here sign up for future newsletters.
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