Beaver activities have many other habitat benefits for Oregon’s native fish and wildlife. Beaver dams improve nesting and rearing areas for waterfowl. Increased vegetation in and around beaver-created wetland habitat provides forage and cover for fish, birds, and other wildlife. And beaver ponds store leaf litter and woody debris, which supports healthy insect populations, an important food source for fish, amphibians, waterfowl, bats, and songbirds.
But that’s not all! Beavers can also help us respond to the reality of increasing frequency and severity of wildfire. Wetlands, wet meadows, and ponds created and maintained by beavers serve as natural fire breaks and provide refuge for wildlife during fires. After a fire, vegetation in this habitat helps prevent erosion and protect water quality.
We’ve spent an astonishing amount of money trying to recreate what beavers do naturally. Now, the conversation is shifting to how we can protect and restore beavers (i.e., quit killing them and get out of their way) so they can do their thing.
Unfortunately, we don’t have a great history of leaving beavers to go about their business. The last time beavers were having a moment, it was because people thought they made great hats. European colonization initiated the fur trade in North America, and the incessant demand for beaver pelts decimated the population.
By the late 1800s, beavers were nearly extirpated in Oregon due to fur trapping. While their populations have increased, we don’t have a good population estimate because the state isn’t doing any active monitoring. What we do know is that there are less than there should be based on the availability of unoccupied suitable habitat.
Today, beavers remain classified by law as “furbearers,” which means they may be hunted and trapped across Oregon with relatively few restrictions. Between 2000 and 2020, over 51,200 beavers were killed under Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) furbearer regulations, and another 10,051 beavers were killed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services. An unknown number were killed on private lands, where their activities are considered a nuisance rather than a benefit. This is a frustrating state of affairs for the Beaver State.
Efforts to protect beavers in Oregon have met with limited success. Since 2020, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission and the state legislature have rejected multiple attempts to close federal public lands to commercial and recreational hunting and trapping. While the fur trade is a shadow of its former self, hunting and trapping remain a limiting factor for beaver populations. Yet, there is a great deal of reluctance to take any steps to regulating trapping.
Despite this, we’ve had some wins, and there seems to be growing momentum behind the Beaver Believer movement. In 2022, the Fish and Wildlife Commission convened a beaver working group, which culminated in a Beaver Action Plan that outlines goals and actions ODFW will implement over three years to advance the protection and restoration of beaver habitat and beaver-modified habitat in Oregon. The plan isn’t legally enforceable, but it gives us a good foundation for future action.
We also succeeded in removing beavers from the state list of “predatory” animals during the 2023 legislative session. With this change, landowners will have to secure a permit through ODFW before they can kill “nuisance” beavers. The change also requires landowners to implement non-lethal coexistence strategies first—things like fencing and barriers around trees. We’ve also secured more support for the Oregon Conservation and Recreation Fund, which has issued many grants for projects to restore beaver populations and habitats.
While these steps are encouraging, they aren’t nearly enough—especially given the crucial role beavers play in restoring and maintaining healthy ecosystems in this climate hellscape. But there is good reason for hope.
Decision-makers seem more and more receptive to the idea of advancing “natural climate solutions.” This is the revolutionary concept that intact and functioning ecosystems are better equipped to sequester and store carbon. Examples include conserving and managing older forests and coastal wetland ecosystems for their ability to store vast amounts of carbon. This shift in thinking has allowed beavers and their landscape engineering to emerge as another compelling natural climate solution.
Recently, we hosted a beaver meeting (a meeting about beavers, not a meeting OF beavers, though I would have liked to attend the latter) with a group of committed advocates to discuss how we can help. In the coming years, we will have many opportunities to advocate on behalf of these remarkable animals—including the amendment to the Northwest Forest Plan, the update of the Oregon Conservation Strategy (our state’s wildlife action plan), and the three-year review of the Beaver Action Plan. With water quantity and quality being a priority issue across the state, there are also some intriguing opportunities for bipartisan legislation to protect beavers and promote coexistence.
We’ve got urgency, momentum, and a huge amount of enthusiasm for beavers on our side. It’s important that decision-makers hear from people like you that Oregon needs to live up to its nickname as the Beaver State. With climate change making itself felt in every corner of the state, we have an incredible chance to lift up beavers as a climate ally.
We hope you’ll join us! Please sign up to become a Bird Alliance of Oregon activist to receive updates on opportunities to weigh in on behalf of beavers.
