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    Webinar

    Beavers-Natural Allies in Water Quality & Restoring Wetlands

    Webinar Date
    November 12–21, 2024
    Source
    Land Trust Alliance
    Location
    Virtual
    Instructor
    Dr. Emily Fairfax, Scott McGill, Dr. Aaron Hall and Leila Philip
    About This Webinar

    Encouraging beavers in watersheds can lead to numerous conservation benefits including improving water quality, creating wetland habitats for other species and increasing floodwater storage capacity to help mitigate the effects of climate change. Beavers are natural engineers, and their activities can contribute significantly to ecosystem health.

    Over four 75-minute online sessions, national experts will cover various methods and considerations for incorporating beavers into land trusts’ restoration activities and share real world land trust examples to bring these concepts to life.

    This training will cover the basics of beaver ecology and ecosystem services they provide. It will also provide insight into managing beaver-human conflicts, and, since one solution does not fit all, participants will also learn about beaver mimicry – human-made structures created to copy the function of natural beaver dams and promote similar positive effects.

    A beaver decision tree (pun intended) will help you make management decisions on when and where it is (or is not) appropriate to place beavers, complete beaver restoration or install beaver dam analogs.

    Our sessions will be 11:00 am-12:15 pm Eastern/ 10:00-11:15 am Central on Tuesday, Nov., 12; Thursday, Nov. 14; Tuesday, Nov. 19; and Thursday, Nov. 21.

    The cost of providing this training is $175 per person, but thanks to the generous support of the Mott Foundation, Volgenau Foundation and the Illinois Beaver Alliance, this course is being offered at a discounted cost of $50 per person.

    We do not want cost to be a barrier for participation. For information about a fee waiver, please contact Laura Eklov before registering.

    Participants in Land Trust Alliance events should review and agree to the Alliance Code of Conduct.

    Sponsored by

    Session overview

    • Nov. 12 | 11 a.m. -12:15 p.m. Eastern/10-11:15 a.m. Central

      Beaver ecology and ecosystem services with Dr. Emily Fairfax

      • Ecosystem services related to flood, drought, extinction, sedimentation, water quality and wildfire

      • Mitigating climate change

      • Beaver decision tree

    • Nov. 14 | 11 a.m. -12:15 p.m. Eastern/ 10-11:15 a.m. Central

      Low tech, process-based riverscape restoration with Scott McGill

      • Conditions that make a suitable site

      • Beaver dam analog examples and how they work

      • Permitting and U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service coding

    • Nov. 19 | 11 a.m. -12:15 p.m. Eastern/10-11:15 a.m. Central

      Co-existence with Dr. Aaron Hall

      • Working with stakeholders

      • Addressing conflicts and compromising for co-benefits

      • Pond levelers, culvert fencing and other solutions

    • Nov. 21 | 11 a.m. -12:15 p.m. Eastern/10-11:15 a.m. Central

      Beavers – Beacons of hope with Leila Philip

      • Healthy rivers are more resilient to climate change and beavers make healthier rivers

      • What does your watershed and the land need and how to collaborate with stakeholders to get those needs met

      • How land trusts help get people to care about water

      • This session will draw from element so conservation psychology, science, storytelling, community building and conflict resolution

    Meet your presenters

    • Dr. Emily Fairfax

      Dr. Emily Fairfax is Assistant Professor of Physical Geography in the Department of Geography, Environment, and Society at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. She is also affiliated with the Saint Anthony Falls Laboratory at the University of Minnesota. Her current research focuses on the ecohydrology of riparian areas, particularly those that have been impacted by beaver damming.

    • Scott McGill

      Scott McGill recently retired from his position as principal of Ecotone, Inc., where he is now an advisor. He has 20+ years of experience in environmental assessment and restoration, with a focus on wetland and stream restoration. He co-founded BeaverCON in 2020.

    • Dr. Aaron Hall

      Dr. Aaron Hall serves as the Beaver Corps Program Director for the Beaver Institute. Aaron is an aquatic biologist who works to protect species in aquatic and riparian habitats, finding scientifically sound and pragmatic solutions for the threats these species face. He holds a BS and MS in Environmental Science from The Rochester Institute of Technology, and a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from The University of Toronto.

    • Leila Philip

      Leila Philip is the award-winning author of Beaverland. She is a Guggenheim Fellow and has been awarded fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. She is currently working on a documentary film and teaches at the Environmental Studies Program at the College of the Holy Cross.