Dam Good Work: WYCAP Teams Up for Wyoming's Beavers
Research shows that beaver activity can increase water retention by hundreds of millions of cubic feet of water in a single watershed, reducing flooding and creating natural fire and drought resistance. The benefits of beavers to landowners and agricultural producers, hunters, anglers, recreationalists, wildlife advocates, and all water users across society are innumerable.
Unfortunately, beavers were driven to near extinction in the 19th century due to the commercialization of fur trapping, and while their populations have rebounded somewhat from those historic lows, beavers still face significant challenges from historic and ongoing trapping, drought, disease, and habitat loss.
Enter the Wyoming Beaver Conservation Project.
Mapping where beavers belong
Led by the University of Wyoming Biodiversity Institute, the project brings together the Wyoming Natural Diversity Database, Utah State University, Wyoming Untrapped, and WYCAP. Its aim is to answer a question no one in Wyoming can yet answer with confidence: where would restoring beavers do the most good?
To find out, the team will use the Beaver Restoration Assessment Tool (BRAT), a model that estimates which waterways can support beaver dams today and which could with restoration. Community scientists and partners will then take those predictions into the field and check them against what's actually on the ground.
The goals of the project are to:
Map Wyoming's Beaver Habitat
The project will identify streams and landscapes that may provide suitable habitat for beavers.Find Where Beavers Already Live
By mapping current beaver occupancy, we can begin to understand where beavers are thriving and where suitable habitat may currently be unoccupied.Identify Opportunities
By comparing suitable habitat with current occupancy, we can identify areas where there may be opportunities for natural recolonization or restoration.Explore Benefits for Water and Wildfire Resilience
We'll combine beaver information with other landscape data to help identify places where beaver wetlands could potentially provide benefits such as increased water storage and wildfire mitigation.Work With Communities and Partners
Restoration works best when people are part of the process. We'll work with partners, volunteers, landowners, and other stakeholders to help verify information on the ground and identify opportunities for collaboration.
WYCAP's work rests on the foundation of a simple belief: good decisions for Wyoming's animals start with good science. The Beaver Conservation Project gives beavers the evidence base they deserve, grounded in Wyoming data and built by Wyoming partners.
The first goal is to raise $150,000 from donors to fund the project.
How you can help
Give. Every dollar goes toward the $150,000 needed to build the science. Donate through the Biodiversity Institute.
Get your boots wet. Community scientists will verify habitat predictions in the field. Learn more on the project's community science page.
Report what you see. Know a creek with an active dam, or one that should have beavers but doesn't? That local knowledge is exactly what this project needs.
Volunteer with WYCAP. Help us turn this research into policy. Sign up at wycap.org/volunteer.
Everyone in Wyoming could benefit from the restoration of beavers. Bringing them back will take the dedication, and WYCAP is proud to be part of this work.
