“Beaver [dams] create stream complexity,” said Meyer, “Stream complexity leads to more food, more fish, and more wildlife habitat. When we set our monitoring cameras, we very frequently get pictures of deer, bobcat, elk, mice, birds, and a whole host of animals that now live around these beaver dams.”

The WDFW has also captured images of the relocated beavers building dams and grooming themselves in their new habitat.

Over the course of a year one beaver colony provides about $13,000 of ecosystem services. These services range from connecting flood plains to benefit plant growth, preventing floods by enabling water to slowly soak into the soil, and preventing pollutants from flowing downstream into drinking water. The most notable benefit is restoring salmon habitat.

“The success of Coho salmon is highly connected to healthy beaver populations,” said Meyer.

Traveling beaver across meadow — Beavers are the largest rodent in North America, and moving them can be a challenge, but biologists think the benefits outweigh the costs. Photo courtesy of William Meyer.

By the 1980s, certain Yakima Basin salmon runs had disappeared and others were nearly extinct. After 20 years of reintroduction efforts and habitat improvement projects, including beaver relocations, the area is seeing the salmon return. One result of the beaver ponds is that stream flows improve, which means better migration paths for the salmon. The ponds also provide safe spots for young salmon to rear, prior to migrating to the ocean.

Beaver populations around the world have survived habitat loss, fashion trends, and slaughter by agitated residents. Thanks to the Yakima Basin Beaver Project and other groups in Washington, nuisance beavers are becoming worker beavers, and their populations may be reviving once again.

“I think this is a win/win,” said Meyer, “These little ecosystem engineers can restore habitat, and [by moving them] we can solve someone’s problem.”

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Putting Nuisance Beavers to Work