‘Back where they belong’: Beavers released into California tribal waters in conservation effort

By Emma Hall, The Sacramento Bee
December 14, 2023

[Excerpt:]

For the first time in almost 75 years, beavers were released into California waters as a part of conservation efforts by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Maidu Summit Consortium.

A family of seven beavers swam their way through Tásmam Koyóm, a tribal community in Plumas County that are ancestral land to the Mountain Maidu people. This new family will join a “single resident beaver in the valley” with the goal to re-establish a breeding population, according to the CDFW.

Ben Cunningham, chairman of the Maidu Summit Consortium, said the valley had beavers years ago, but due to pioneer interference, the population disappeared.

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Beavers are what CDFW Environmental Program Manager Valerie Cook called “keystone species.” Beavers, she said, provide a significant ecological benefit to their landscape, species around them, and help build up climate change resilience.

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Described as an “ecosystem restoration tool,” Cook said the beavers are vital to engineering aquatic habitats. Having beavers in the area can lead to increased groundwater recharge and increased seasonal water flow. Rather than spend millions of dollar on ecosystem restoration efforts that include mimicry like beaver dam analogs, beavers can do their part.

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To read the entire article, visit The Sacramento Bee: ‘Back where they belong’: Beavers released into California tribal waters in conservation effort