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

in watershed health

Luckily the beavers browsed these final fresh willows before the sticks locked - with air bubbles released from the beavers' dense fur - in the hoarfrost-crowned, glass-clear ice. Photo Credit: Rob Rich

Photo Credits: Paul Queneau (above), Clark Fork Coalition (below)

Where There's a Will There's a Way

Will McDowell became the Clark Fork Coalition's (CFC) restoration director in 2009, one year after the breach of the Milltown Dam. That deteriorating, vulnerable structure had impounded toxic sediments for a century, and its safe dismantling had required decades of collaborative effort. When the river finally flowed free, many people must have sat back with sighs of culmination, and some might have sensed a dead end in the CFC's post-dam restoration job. But not Will. He saw the physical change as one small start towards healing the river's ecology. This was a fresh chance to set our sights far beyond the dam's reach.

"No river can be more healthy than the tributaries feeding it," he once told a reporter, in a subtle quip that aptly sums up his vast, comprehensive vision. From the edge of his retirement this December, we can all see that Will has spent over a decade acting on his headwaters insight, working upstream and downstream from his home in Missoula. As his longtime colleague and collaborator Sarah Bates has noted, Will takes the time to ensure each project is strong at its source. For Will, a master of pacing, this means he won't proceed until there's a clear purpose that addresses concerns with authentic listening and compelling pragmatism. Projects don't get shortcuts or shoddy band-aids under Will's watch, and with the patience and persistence of a bull trout, he knits the interconnected needs of healthy, enduring watershed processes. 

By confronting the tough questions with curiosity and innovation, Will has attracted and allied diverse partners to the Clark Fork's healing, and he found a particularly good match in Castor canadensis. Selfless enough to see how the beaver could expand and enhance human restoration goals, Will played critical roles advancing research and coexistence needs to widen the scope of beaver acceptance. This included the graduate studies in beaver-fish interactions he catalyzed in response to stakeholder concerns. This also included the Montana Beaver Conflict Resolution Program he helped to create, host, and grow. And ditto for the years when he spurred the Citizen-Science Beaver Habitat Surveys, which empowered youth volunteers to fill knowledge gaps in the Lolo National Forest. 

Such applied projects often get more talk than walk. Few people can see the solutions and sequence of actions required to make change happen. But Will's way doesn't seem to be overwhelmed with timelines, distractions, and obstacles. Elissa Chott, the technician Will hired in 2019 to pilot a beaver conflict resolution work, fondly remembers how directly Will told her to "measure the culverts" that first year. Nothing to pressurize the success of a pioneering effort, just the humble directive: "measure the culverts." Such a simple yet easily-overlooked step that, left undone, could unhinge the best intentions. Dozens of flow-devices and culvert fences later, with Elissa now leading the program's expansion across the state, such details have made the difference. Like the ospreys he loves, Will can see through the glare and the riffles, keeping in mind what matters.

Montana Beaver Working Group - Winter Meeting

10am-12pm MST, December 5, 2023

Zoom

The Montana Beaver Working Group will convene on December 5 for its annual winter meeting. This virtual event will include a series of short presentations from partners working around the state on beaver issues, including updates on the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes' wetland conservation strategy, Montana Beaver Conflict Resolution Project, the Montana Beaver Action Plan, and much more. Anyone who is eager to learn more about our efforts to advance the beaver's role in watershed health in welcome to attend! Please tune in at 10am on December 5 here.

2024 LTPBR Workshop Series, Fluvial Geomorpology Course, and Ecohydraulics Course

Utah State University

Spring 2024, Zoom

The (LT-PBR) workshop series provides restoration practitioners with guidelines for implementing a subset of low-tech tools—namely beaver dam analogues (BDAs) and post-assisted log structures (PALS)—for initiating process-based restoration in structurally-starved riverscapes.

Introduction to LTPBR | Jan 10, 17 & 24

Planning of LTPBR | Jan 31 & Feb 7, 14

Science and Case Studies of LTPBR | Feb 21, 28 & Mar 14

Design of LTPBR | Mar 21, 28 & Apr 4

Implementation of LTPBR | Apr 11 & 15*

Adaptive Management of LTPBR | Apr 18, 25

Format: Online via Zoom (*April 15 9a-5p Saturday field trip in Logan, UT)

Time: Tuesdays 1:30 - 4:15 MT

Cost: $315 per course (*$415 for CEWA 5624 Implementation of LTPBR)

Credit: 1.5 Continuing Education Unit (CEU) per course

Fluvial Geomorphology

This course introduces fluvial geomorphology through the reading of landscapes and riverscapes. Students learn to appreciate riverscape diversity, in which distinctive suites of physical and biotic processes (behavior) help shape landscape form and character. Learn more at the Fluvial Geomorphology course webpage.

Instructor: Joe Wheaton, PhD

Format: Online via Zoom

Time: Monday & Wednesday 1:30 - 2:30 MST

Dates: Jan 8 - Apr 23, 2024

Cost: $945

Credit: 4.5 CEUs

Ecohydraulics

This course introduces ecohydraulics through a case study of managing fish habitat across the Columbia River Basin for salmon recovery (Wheaton et al. 2017). Whether you're an ecologist, fisheries biologist, hydrologist, geomorphologist, or civil engineer, this course welcomes all backgrounds. Through a real-world example, students will gain exposure to a wide range or interdisciplinary concepts and literature, and develop the skills to interpret and run various models across different disciplines. Learn more at the Ecohydraulics course page.

Instructor: Joe Wheaton, PhD & Nick Bouwes, PhD

Format: Online via Zoom

Time: Monday & Wednesday 10:30 - 12:20 MST

Dates: Jan 8 - Apr 23, 2024

Cost: $945

Credit: 4.5 CEUs

Beavers and their Role in Riparian Restoration in Montana

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks

November 2023

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, the agency charged with conserving our state's non-endangered fauna, has released a new white paper to articulate their role in beaver restoration. This document aims "to outline the settings and situations where beaver restoration can be implemented to achieve the benefits of beavers while discussing the limitations or pitfalls of restoration that can limit the use of these techniques." Many years in the making, this unique document is a tome of synthesis and intention, and it is "intended to increase transparency of FWP’s perspectives on beaver restoration while providing background and guidance to FWP staff, our restoration partners, and interested public." Given the increasingly vital role the beaver is playing in our state, this is definitely a resource that should interest us all, and you can read it here. 

With technical support from beaver mimicry expert Amy Chadwick, this can-do crew gathered four trailer loads of willows that - over the course of two weeks in the field - were woven into 38 LTPBR structures in central Montana's Teton County. Image Credit: Sun River Watershed Group

Arnold Coulee Project

Sun River Watershed Group

Fall 2023

For some homegrown LTPBR inspiration, check out this recap highlighting the Arnold Coulee Project, a collaborative effort spurred by the Sun River Watershed Group. With its robust blend of before and after monitoring, an educational workshop, and on-the-ground action that allied professionals and volunteers, this project is a compelling testament to the good work that Montana Watershed Coordination Council support can advance.

Montana is uniquely fortunate to have such effective, watershed-based funding-to-implementation approach that restores special places with special communities. To learn more about the impact of the MWCC Watershed Fund since 2018, check out the graphic below and this link.

Image Credit: Montana Watershed Coordination Council

Why Grazing Bison Could Be Good For the Planet

Christopher J. Preston, Future Planet / BBC

November 2023



With the return of two keystone species, we can see what it takes to restore ecosystem health for Montana's shortgrass prairie. Having adapted for millenia to the arid, limited resources of the shortgrass prairie, bison rely on their mobile foraging habits and snowplow-like heads to find food and thrive. Whereas untrained domestic cattle can often concentrate in and degrade prairie streams, the native bovine's approach enables riparian biodiversity to thrive. And, when the resurgent streamsides attract beaver, this positive feedback loop becomes even better. To learn more about the new collaborative research and stewardship from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and American Prairie, see here. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Beavers alter the structure and composition of forests around their ponds by selectively cutting preferred deciduous tree species in the Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem, MN, USA. Their selective foraging can convert forests around wetlands and waterways to early successional states such as in (a) and (b), where beavers removed almost every aspen tree within 20–30 m of the pond. The only trees that beavers did not cut were conifers (b). Over time, the forests around beaver ponds become dominated by conifers (c,d) or less preferred deciduous species. This conversion to conifer-dominated forests often results in a conifer ring or halo (white line in (c) and (d)) around shorelines that is visible from aerial imagery. Photo credit for (a) and (d): St. Louis County, MN; photo credit for (b) and (c): Tom Gable. As seen in Gable, Thomas D., et al. 2023. Wolves alter the trajectory of forests by shaping the central place foraging behaviour of an ecosystem engineer. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.1377

Wolves Alter the Trajectory of Forests by Shaping the Central Place Foraging Behaviour of an Ecosystem Engineer

Thomas D. Gable, et al., Royal Proceedings of the Royal Society B

November 2023



In recent years, the Voyageurs Wolf Project (VWP) has been leading vital research on the interconnected lives of wolves and beavers in northern Minnesota. While the Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem differs from most of those in Montana, the insights reveal essential questions and curiosities about the ways an apex carnivore and an ecosystem engineers both interact as keystone species. Three years ago VWP research highlighted the ways wolf predation alters wetland creation and recolonization by beavers. Now, the research is going even farther upland, showing how wolves shape boreal forest dynamics through their impacts on beaver foraging. We tend to appreciate the direct role beavers play as lead agents in habitat creation, but their indirect influence on habitats (via their predation) highlights the value of intact, interconnected natural communities, too.

Midwest Beaver Summit Recordings

Illinois Beaver Alliance / Superior Bio-Conservancy

Fall 2023

With its low-gradient landscapes, abundant water, and bounty of young woody forage, the Midwest has a lot of promise for beavers. And that is especially true today, thanks to the emergence of the Midwest Beaver Working Group, a collaborative effort spurred by the Illinois Beaver Alliance and Superior Bio-Conservancy. This new entity has cited inspiration from the Montana Beaver Working Group, and it is definitely worthy of our support in return. They've got some exciting projects underway, and they recently hosted an outstanding lineup of presentations at their Midwest Beaver Summit. Check out the recordings here.

Postdoctoral Fellowship in Landscape Ecology

University of Saskatchewan

Application Due: January 12, 2024



This postdoctoral position is part of a project forming an evidence base for understanding the potential for, and the potential costs/challenges of, using beavers to mitigate the impacts of climate change on stream and wetland functioning. The project is led by Drs. Cherie Westbrook and Glynnis Hood and has a geographic scope that spans the province of Alberta but focuses on beaver-dominated systems in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Check out the advertisement below and full details here.

Riparian Restoration Program Manager (remote within region)

The Nature Conservancy (TNC)

Application Due: November 26, 2023



The Nature Conservancy has been hiring for new positions that will benefit riverscapes of the Intermountain West. Until November 26, there is still a chance to apply to be TNC's next Riparian Restoration Program Manager, who will work remotely within the region to guide the implementation of a large multistate agreement between TNC and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). This role will partner with professionals across six states to plan and implement substantial wet meadow and riparian restoration projects. Please check out this opportunity and share it widely.

Custer-Gallatin Forest Project Manager

Montana Trout Unlimited

Application Due: November 26, 2023



Montana Trout Unlimited is looking for self-motivated and highly capable person to identify, plan, and implement water conservation, fish passage, and stream and riparian restoration projects to benefit aquatic resources and fish populations primarily on streams in and adjacent to the Custer-Gallatin National Forest. This is a job that will benefit from a beaver-savvy, action-oriented riparian steward, and you can learn more and apply here.

Stream Protection Program Manager

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks

Helena, MT

Application Due: November 26, 2023



The Stream Protection Act has been critical to the restoration of beaver habitat and riparian areas in our state. FWP is now looking for someone who will be responsible for managing and implementing the statewide regulatory program that applies to government agencies who conduct hydraulic projects affecting the bed and banks of natural streams. This role is based in Helena but will include travel for fieldwork throughout the state. Learn more and apply here.

Photo Credit: Torrey Ritter

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.