During one of California’s most severe droughts on record, juvenile coho salmon survived in small creeks of the Scott River watershed at rates several times higher than in normal years. The
During one of California’s most severe droughts on record, juvenile coho salmon survived in small creeks of the Scott River watershed at rates several times higher than in normal years. The difference came down to a simple intervention: hand-built structures designed to mimic beaver dams.In the summer of 2015, a team from the Scott River Watershed Council, led by executive director Betsy Stapleton…
Wildlife officials placed 76 fake beaver dams across a dying river, hoping to trick nature into restoring itself. The structures slowed the water and raised its level, which should have worked.
In 2009, a restoration project in eastern Oregon installed 76 simple wooden structures along a degraded stretch of Bridge Creek, a tributary of the John Day River. The goal was modest: provide a foothold for the beavers already living there so they could do the work they were already attempting. The project cost $374,000 and introduced no new animals.The creek had been in decline for decades. By t…