In a nutshell: In a landscape with increasingly frequent severe wildfires, freshwater ecosystems are emerging as an important part of wildfire management. This presentation touches on the role of beaver dams and their analogs in creating wetlands, the nexus between freshwater systems and fire, and how this information can be utilized to enact policy change to conserve these ecotypes.
Record: Tuesday, April 15, 2025 at 9AM Pacific/10AM Mountain
Description: Given the increasing severity of wildfires and their associated impacts across the country, there is significant attention on the tools that are available to address these challenges. Recent research highlights that conservation and restoration of freshwater ecosystems may play an important, yet overlooked, role in wildfire management. This presentation provides an introduction to the current scientific understanding of the nexus between freshwater ecosystems–including the role of beaver dam or beaver dam analog-created wetlands–and wildfire, opportunities for additional research, and how this information can be best used to enact policy change.
Speakers: Dr. Emily Fairfax, Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota – Department of Geography, Environment, & Society; Alexander Funk, Director of Water Resources and Senior Counsel at the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership
Additional resources:
- Forest Service webpage on firefighting beavers
- BLM webpage on how beavers can be a restoration blueprint
- Think piece from TRCP on how the Fix Our Forests Act could be a good move for beavers
- Pacific Southwest Research Station article about using machine learning to find lost meadows for restoration
- Short presentation from the Western Governor’s Association on how nature’s engineers are helping us mitigate disasters
- Introductory low-tech Process-Based Restoration for riverscapes workshop modules
- Educational opportunity – training & certification in riverscape restoration
- The Beaver Restoration Guidebook from the US Fish and Wildlife Service
- Information about the BeaverCorps Program from The Beaver Institute (continual learning opportunities)
- Beaver stop-motion animation (streaming; YouTube)
- Document: Impacts of beaver dams on riverscape burn severity during megafires in the Rocky Mountain region, western United States
This webinar is co-hosted by the Arizona Wildfire Initiative.
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