Beavers put to work saving two Utah rivers
National Parks are often referred to as “America’s best idea.” That’s what followers of the National Parks and Forests Supporters believe, anyway (and they’re probably not wrong). Earlier this month, the Facebook page highlighted another great idea, this one regarding a unique conservation effort. The unique conservation effort is… beavers. In 2019, researchers began moving captured beavers who had become a nuisance to humans along stretches of the San Rafael and Price Rivers in Eastern Utah. The idea is that beavers—often considered nature’s engineers—reshape river landscapes by felling trees and building dams. All of this busy activity conserves water and creates wetlands that sustain countless other species. According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, they are “one of the most cost effective and sustainable solutions for ecological restoration and climate change resilience.” The beaver is a keystone species that affects habitat structure and dynamics through the damming and diverting of streams, and...