Forest fires can race through dry vegetation and trees, leaving behind a desolate landscape.
Fairfax: “Everything around you is burnt to a crisp … and the forests are really silent. … All the animals are gone. All the birds are gone.”
Emily Fairfax is a geographer at the University of Minnesota, who studies how beavers — yes, beavers — can help reduce the damage caused by wildfires.
By building dams and digging channels, beavers create wetlands that support moist vegetation.
This water can prevent the land from drying out during a drought and stifle any wildfires that try to burn through.
Fairfax: “The beaver wetland comes into view and it’s a completely different situation. It’s suddenly very loud. You hear birds calling, you hear amphibians calling, you hear the fish jumping and the water splashing, you hear the beavers grumbling and chatting with one another. And everything’s green and everything’s lush.”
Fairfax says beaver populations have been decimated across much of North America.
But some wildlife officials in states like California are now reintroducing beavers to make the land more resilient — especially as climate change raises the risk of extreme fires.
Fairfax: “If we can work with natural processes and animals like beavers, we have a lot better shot of actually protecting these landscapes we care about.”
Reporting credit: Ethan Freedman / ChavoBart Digital Media
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