Bonneville Environmental Foundation
$139,890  Blue Mountains   Coast Range   Willamette Valley   West Cascades 

Supporting the recovery of beaver populations and their wetland habitats is an essential strategy for addressing the impacts of climate change, especially drought, and for recovering federally and state listed endangered, threatened, and sensitive species. While overwhelming support exists among practitioners, researchers and agencies to partner with beavers to address these issues, beaver-based restoration is a severely underutilized tool. On-the-ground organizations lack the tools and information necessary to prioritize efforts and the training and skills to implement projects. This proposal will build on previously and on-going successful efforts (Phase 1) to address major barriers to mainstreaming beaver-based restoration across the state while completing key actions in several state plans and habitat recovery for a number of Oregon Conservation Strategy species (e.g. coho salmon, steelhead, and Pacific lamprey) and opportunity areas. The project draws on a strong and diverse coalition of local and regional non-profits, Tribes, and state and federal agencies to implement a statewide calibration effort of an existing Beaver-based restoration Assessment Tool (BRAT) model that assesses beaver dam capacity and flood risk to infrastructure of all perennial and important intermittent streams (Phase 2). The project’s community driven approach supports volunteer and youth education and career building opportunities in the process. Finally, data will be shared widely with practitioners along with other practical resources and guidance that support implementation through an interactive online resource hub (Phase 3).