Montanans are working to alleviate the impact of the region’s climate-driven drought by building fake beaver dams, and they hope to attract beavers back to the region in the process, Yale Climate Connections reports. European colonizers wiped out local beaver populations. Now the Big Hole Watershed Committee is building replica beaver dams to slow stream-fed streams and hold moisture in the soil. The group hopes the dams will attract beavers [which this writer’s child would insist on pointing out are the largest member of the rodent family in North America — Ed.] back to the area. “Eventually the beaver will find the place and take over what we started,” says Pedro Marques of the BHWC. “That’s really the end goal.”
The structures @BigHoleWC builds in SW Montana streams “mimic beaver dams. They slow the water down so it seeps into the soil and helps provide moisture over time.”
Via @CC_Yale https://t.co/KM43WNDepY
— Nicole Lampe (@nicole_amber) 24 January 2023
Beavers can help fight global warming » Yale Climate Connections https://t.co/DFzQQbmE7y #climate change #ecosystems #wildlife pic.twitter.com/ZQgQfaLGDQ
— Hundred Givers (@100givere) December 7, 2018
Source: Yale Climate Connections; Climate signals background: Western megadrought
Courtesy of Nexus Media.
Related story: Hydropower — Retrofitting unused dams to do more
Featured photo by Tim Umphreys on Unsplash
Do you appreciate CleanTechnica’s originality and cleantech news coverage? Consider becoming a CleanTechnica member, supporter, technician or ambassador – or patron on Patreon.
Don’t want to miss a cleantech story? Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica by email. Or follow us on Google News!
Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
