Could ‘Smokey Beaver’ help fight wildfires?

Long considered “nature’s engineers,” beavers have put their teeth and talents to work, creating dams along waterways throughout the West.
Scientists have recently discovered the wetlands created behind those dams can slow down the spread of wildfires and provide refuge for animals trying to escape the flames. That spreading water can also seep into the ground and help irrigate valley floors.
And yet, most western states consider beavers nuisances and have few restrictions on trapping and killing them.
This has led some scientists and conservationists to push for protecting beavers and working with the furry, aquatic rodents to enhance ecosystems in order to make them more resilient to fire, drought and climate change.
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[@suzettecalleja3122]

Excellent. Glad to see people realizing how necessary the Beavers are.

[@benmcreynolds8581]

Humans Need Beavers. I'm from Corvallis Oregon. Home of the Oregon State Beaver's. It's such a underappreciated, underutilized aspect to our ecosystems, to their health, stability, and way to utilize the water in most efficient manners that otherwise get wasted if it just runs away and sometimes back underground if not used.

[@shirleyandrews1152]

Go Beavers🎉

[@AustinSPTD1996]

I already knew the importance of beavers as a keystone species for creating habitat, but this was quite fascinating. Besides learning about what real healthy streams look like, beaver activities serving as buffers against wildfires has so many ecological and utilitarian benefits. I hope a day will come where the work of beavers can be better understood and integrated for nature and people to benefit. :)

[@jeromeclaessen3921]

That beaver animation was awesome 👌

[@doyleswearingen6262]

It takes Beaver engineering to create a Duck pond!

[@bjwashndry]

lol

[@johnd1655]

a beaver dam and a stagnant pond are not comparable.

[@wesleybennett6186]

Leave it to Beaver! LOL

[@pauldow1648]

We are in competition with beaver We are on same side ! It's a good thing ecology came along to help us look at ourselves.

[@fredthegamerschrarder7716]

I love these videos keep them coming

[@matthewwelsh294]

Super Beaver here to save the day

[@ronward3949]

Both Species do actively maintain localized water levels so slower waters create the conditions of escape and cover both species need to survive.

[@ronward3949]

Bank beavers specialize in using bank structure to den, shelter, attend to young, and generate onsite productivity through their selected use of those Plant Associations available sometimes in mountain lakes and respective outflows, to the larger riverine systems high volume of winter flows which often destroy dams.

[@patriciaschuster1371]

I love PBS! So fascinating.

[@theTylerMorale]

Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about how often highway and roadway systems are built very close to rivers. It makes me wonder how that impacts the delicate ecosystems by rivers.

[@carolinejayes157]

Well done Jacob.

[@ronward3949]

Castor canadensis broadens the water profile in stream and some riverine channels, along with common muskrats (Ondatra zybethicus), are riparian specialists utilizing deeper water for escape from natural predators for both Species. Instream or wetland habitats usually include cattails, willows, Alnus Species, and other onsite rooted perennials persist feeding the beavers and muskrats as yhey utilize these wetland specialists.

[@alanmaag6038]

Yes to the professionals, I hope they thrive. Ree

[@CAM-fq8lv]

Beavers are the answer. Let nature solve our problems.

[@commercialelectrician133]

Great video very interesting

[@franks4973]

Glad that scientists finally figured out what is obvious to us landowners. Lol

[@bonnieprice9482]

Agreed they prepare the damage humans and cows do ....!

[@mattsavage]

"concerned the pond could grow and flood the culvert downstream"... The problem isn't the beaver or pond, its the culvert. How is there still a culvert on a stream that size? The state has grants for private parties and local municipalities to replace culverts with proper fish passage.

[@johnpassmore5421]

Lots of good information, and most of of it seems correct, but beavers are classified as fur bearing animals in Oregon, and not nuisance animals, unless they are causing damage, and as such have significant legal protections. There seems to be some good science here, and for the most part I believe it, but I am by nature sceptical of anyone who doesn't understand the current status of something but thinks they know how to improve it.

[@williamchamberlain2263]

Are they protected in any way? They're not, so you're nitpicking a distinction that doesn't exist.

[@shirleyandrews1152]

Smoky the Bear was a bad idea😪it allowed underbrush to grow rampantly. Native Americans were told to stop burning the underbrush which was done every year for hundreds of years. But the govmt knew better🙀😤Now look at the mess we are in. (I’m a Ca Paradise “Camp Fire” survivor)

[@Jdksub]

Could Smokey they beaver stop lasers and remote controlled nanoparticles ? 🤣

[@hankb27]

Lay off the stuff

[@jamesdriscoll_tmp1515]

I don't know, but they can take a pounding.

[@kennylund3821]

You lost me at climet change.

[@marcusm8009]

Let's not build on wetlands!

[@antoniescargo4158]

Why do you wear a filthy mask when you are outside?

[@williamchamberlain2263]

Because they're working _with_ a film crew who travel around