Working Lands and Beaver
NEVADA: Creating Miracles in the Desert: Restoring Dixie Creek
From Intermountain West Join Venture Dixie Creek is a small stream near Elko, Nevada. Changes in livestock grazing practices resulted in the plants that naturally grow along streams to come back which eventually attracted beaver. View video.
IDAHO: Beaver power provides year-long water to Idaho ranch, Beef Magazine, February 2020
Jay Wilde summarizes ranching simply: “Cows need two things—something to eat and something to drink.” He speaks from experience. In 1995, when Wilde started ranching his family’s high-elevation property in Idaho’s Rocky Mountains, both food and water were hard to come by for livestock. Today this ranch is wealthy in forage and flowing streams, thanks to Wilde’s determination, many helpful partners … and beavers. Read more.
OREGON: Beavers on Working Lands Featuring Landowners Betsy and Michael Stapleton
Video features Betsy Stapleton discussing beaver on her property in Southern Oregon–how humans increased structure to support beaver re-establishment, how beaver has benefited local fish habitat, streamflow, and groundwater recharge, and how access to co-existance strategies are critical for beaver expansion. Video from Siskiyou County. View video.
NEVADA: Nurturing Great Riparian Plains – Why We Should be Doing This
Video of John Griggs, long-time manager of Maggie Creek Ranch, Nevada, talks about the resources they have used and the successes they have realized. The Maggie Creek Ranch, through changes in riparian grazing, is able to have perennial water in streams that were once thought to be intermittent, even in heavy droughts. Riparian areas are some of the most productive landscapes on their ranges. View presentation.
Banner Images: Maggie Creek Ranch, Nevada 1980 and 2010 (Photos: Elko District, BLM)
Reading on working lands and beaver
- “In Montana, you’re only a week away from a drought”: Ranchers’ perspectives on flood irrigation and beaver mimicry as drought mitigation strategies 2022, Rangelands, Moore & McEvoy
- Ranchers and Beavers: Understanding the Social Context for Beaver-related Stream Restoration on Western Rangelands 2020, Rangeland Ecology & Management, Charnley et al.
- Beaver-Related Restoration in Owyhee County, Idaho: Opportunities and Challenges, 2018, USFS PNW, Abrams
Want to co-exist with the benefits of beaver but need help with infrastructure solutions?
Read about beaver coexistence solutions or contact us for help with assessing needs, finding cost assistance, and installation!
