Leave It to Beavers | Patagonia Stories

In the absence of actual beavers, beaver dam analogs are convincing imitations that can spur the processes needed to recreate complex, healthy meadows with improved spawning habitat for steelhead, Chinook salmon and other species. If all goes according toplan, a passing beaver might see these human-made dams, complemented by the soft, pooling water they love, and think, "This is nice … but I could do better." The hope is they’ll stick around. Watch the Oregon Hand Crew as they weave wood and mud into beaver dam replicas to revive cold water habitats and restore the fish population in the headwater meadows of Oregon’s North Fork John Day River.

The Northeast Oregon Hand Crew Initiative is a restoration partnership between Trout Unlimited and Northwest Youth Corps.


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At Patagonia, we appreciate that all life on earth is under threat of extinction. We’re using the resources we have—our business, our investments, our voice and our imaginations—to do something about it.

[TroutUnlimitedNatl]

Great video! Trout Unlimited’s NE Oregon Hand Crew Initiative thanks our core partners for helping this 5-year initiative thrive. We feel so fortunate to be able to make a meaningful impact on the landscape and in the lives of the young adults involved in the Initiative each year.

[bradgantt]

Great film and project. And, "non-human stewards of the land" love that!

[felipericketts]

Prepare the ground for the return of the beavers. I like it! 🙂

[tegerusgardens]

I’ve seen a similar project done to a mountain stream nearby through my college super cool to see I actually also got it on video in my shorts.

[NWYouthCorps]

Northwest Youth Corps crews love working on this project each year!!!

[kellysimonson]

OMG iconic thank you Patagonia for getting eyes on beaver dam analogues!!!

[davidpowell]

patagonia 10 years ago: NO MORE DAMS
patagonia now: LETS BUILD SOME DAMS

[brycemcraig]

Such an awesome video! Any idea what production team produced this?

[shawnbrennan]

Great work, but the steel cable seemed like an off choice.

[andrewepdolan]

Why not go to Patagonia and bring up some beavers from there?

[cfrssll]

Where are the beavers? That is the question.

[stevenalbertwood]

Beavers don't use pine/evergreen trees in their dams. Just saying. They tend to use parts of the trees they love to eat. Yellow Birch etc.

[johnpoc]

But are thos ecosystems supposed to be flooded? I'm not against the initiative but bievers have proven to be very destructive in places like Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.

[terramater]

Beavers are just awesome! 🦫
And this initiative sounds really cool, keep it up!
p.s.: Did you know that the world's largest beaver dam is more than 850m? We've just uploaded a video about it.