“We struggle a lot with the beaver production around our water control structures at night. Beavers are working all night long and we’re working all morning long to clean up after them. The Beaver Back Saver saves us an hour of labor a day—that’s half a day of labor each week.”
—James Rathjen, Manager of Roosevelt Ranch
Coexistence Solutions
Coexistence techniques are proven solutions for living alongside beaver. They can be installed quickly and easily, and are cost-effective to implement. Throughout California, landowners and managers are already using these simple approaches to save time, labor, and resources.
Below are examples of successful beaver coexistence projects ranging from state agencies preventing floods in public roadways to wetland managers removing clogs in water control structures.
Read the case studies to see how these methods can work for you.
Fryer Creek
When beaver moved into the East Fork of Fryer Creek, the Sonoma Water agency was concerned that trail flooding would hinder pedestrian and emergency vehicle access. The solution: a Pond Leveler device to regulate depth.
Beaver Back Saver Pilot
Staff with the US Fish and Wildlife Service spend thousands of hours annually on removing beaver debris from water control structures, leading to additional land management costs and workplace injuries. The solution: Beaver Back Saver enables ranchers, farmers, hunters, and wetland managers to keep beaver out of water conveyance structures.
Prunedale Caltrans Project
When a beaver dam began saturating an adjacent roadbed, Caltrans looked for non-lethal beaver alternatives. The solution: a Pond Leveler device that reduced flooding by curbing the beavers’ dam-building instincts.
Doty Ravine
For the Placer Land Trust and their rancher leasees, fire risk and forage loss loomed large. Stream and wetland degradation left a dried-out grassland at risk of catastrophic fire and with diminished cattle grazing value. The solution: process-based restoration and coexistence with beaver re-wetted the land and restored grazing pastures.
El Dorado Hills
In the Creekside Greens neighborhood, a beaver dam began flooding a popular walking path. The El Dorado Hills Community Services District found a solution: a Pond Leveler device that lowered the water level and kept the path dry.
The California Beaver Help Desk is a partnership between the WATER Institute at Occidental Arts & Ecology Center, the Beaver Institute, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, whose Nature Based Solutions: Wetlands and Mountain Meadows Grant Program makes this work possible. If you are experiencing conflict with beaver on the land you manage and would like to pursue free technical assistance, please click below to apply.