Beavers

Not Just Building Dams, But Fighting Fires!

Beavers, often thought of as busy engineers or pesky rodents, may be a key, er, um, player? in mitigating the wildfire crisis in the western United States.

Yup! You guessed it. Today’s good thing is the beaver. We can, and are, learning a lot from the upside of behavior that comes naturally to beavers and how it can be implemented as our western US lands become more and more arid and susceptible to fires.

Well, if a picture is worth a thousand words, what is a ludicrously fun animation video worth? Don’t answer, just watch!

If the video or opening paragraph isn’t enough, a few sentences on the Tulip Beaver Project.

This project, coming out of the State of Washington, is aiming to restore local watersheds by relocating beavers and using the behaviors to create environments that are better resistant to fires. Beavers create deep ponds by building dams, then dig fingerlike canals to slowly spread that water throughout the flood plain. The stream’s reduced speed allows collected water to seep into the ground where it encourages deep plant roots and an abundance of wildlife to thrive.

It’s common sense. Water, soggy ground and well-hydrated vegetation reduce fire’s ability to spread.

So, a super-fun video and a nod to the good that emerges in learning from Beavers.