Beavers and Wyoming’s riverine ecosystems

The expression “Busy as a beaver” is an apt one! Join us Thursday at noon for the kickoff of our Lunchtime Expedition lecture series in 2023. Wyoming Game & Fish’s Jerry Altermatt presents “Ecosystem Engineers: The role of beavers in restoring and maintaining Wyoming’s riverine ecosystems.”

Join us for our February Lunchtime Expedition, Ecosystem Engineers: The role of beavers in restoring and maintaining Wyoming’s riverine ecosystems, presented by Jerry Altermatt from the Wyoming Game & Fish Department’s Cody Region.

The in-person talk takes place in the Center’s Coe Auditorium, with a virtual option available.

Through dam-building activity, beavers have the ability to radically modify their environment. Landowners and managers have long recognized the positive benefits of beavers in riverine ecosystems, including flood attenuation, wetland habitat creation, and water quality improvement. Of particular importance in Wyoming is the benefit of storing water on an arid landscape.

Wyoming Game and Fish Department has used beavers as a tool for riverine ecosystem restoration since the early part of the 20th century. Department biologists live trap beavers on private lands where they are causing damage and translocate them to streams in need of restoration. In the last five years, the Department’s Cody Region has translocated more than 70 beavers to 15 locations, resulting in 60-plus dams.

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