Beavers released into California wild for first time in 7 decades

(KRON) — A family of seven beavers is thriving this December after spending their first two months exploring the wilderness of Plumas County. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s October beaver release marked the first time in seven decades that the department released beavers into the wild.

“The new family group of beavers join a single resident beaver in the valley with the ultimate objective of re-establishing a breeding population that will maintain the mountain meadow ecosystem, its processes, and the habitat it provides for numerous other species,” state wildlife officials wrote.

The phrase “busy as a beaver” stems from the species’ hard work ethic and building skills. Those skills greatly benefit California’s landscapes and wildfire resilience, CDFW officials said.

Humans have spent millions of dollars trying to replicate the benefits beavers create, wildlife officials said. Thanks to Governor Gavin Newsom’s leadership and the State Legislature backing up the re-population effort with funding, beaver restoration will help mitigate the impacts of wildfires, climate change, and drought, according to CDFW.

“Beavers are returning to their original homeland around the state,” Newsom said. “California is restoring wildlife and critical habitat.”

The beaver family has already built a shelter in its new territory to prepare for chilly winter months, wildlife officials said this week.

“Beavers help retain water on the landscape, which increases groundwater recharge, improves summer baseflows, extends seasonal flows and increases fuel moisture during wildfire season, effectively creating green belts that can serve as wildfire buffers or breaks and provide refugia for wildlife,” said CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham.

The historic release represents the first phase of CDFW’s North American beaver project, releasing beavers into the waters on the ancestral lands of the Mountain Maidu. Beavers will next be released into the Tule River Reservation in the southern Sierra Nevada this spring.

“This is the first time in decades our state agencies have reintroduced beaver into its original homelands with the leadership of our tribal partners at the Maidu Summit Consortium,” said California Natural Resource Agency Secretary Wade Crowfoot. “I’m excited to watch how beaver will improve the health of landscapes in coming decades and support traditional lifeways for our diverse tribal communities.”

The translocation follows multiple years of site preparation that ensured adequate beaver habitat that provides protection from predators and can support beaver population establishment.

The beaver family will be monitored for years to assess the population, movement, habitat utilization, behavior, and ecological changes that result from beaver engineering on the landscape.

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