Dr.  Emily Fairfax is quantitatively proving the value of the beaver to  watershed restoration in California. Her work is showing that with  beavers on the landscape, we can be more fire, flood, and drought  resilient. Beavers are a keystone species missing from many parts of  their historical range—and their absence is showing—California has lost  95 percent of its pre-colonial wetlands. Fairfax says that while the  reintroduction of beavers back into California watersheds is crucial, we  can and should get started mimicking what beavers do on the land,  slowing, spreading, and sinking water, by using beaver dam analogs and  beaver building principles.

For more information on Emily Fairfax’s work visit: https://emilyfairfaxscience.com/

Episode Host: Pete Deneen

Sound editing and mixing: Ryan Evans

Music: Todd Hannigan

This podcast was made possible with funding and support by creative  collective and producer Watershed Progressive, the Tuolumne County  Resource Conservation District, California Department of Water  Resources, the Wildlife Conservation Board, and the residents of  California who supported Prop 84 and Prop 1