Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Yellowstone is drying, but an old ally is reviving its streams: beavers. See how they help moose, swans, and entire valleys.
Two centuries after Lewis and Clark described rivers “dotted with beaver dams” and green islands of life, rising temperatures and altered waterways leave many Western streams strained. This episode of Saving Yellowstone follows the unsung engineers restoring water to the landscape and the scientists documenting their impact.
Inside a winter beaver lodge packed with yearlings and newborn kits, we see how smart design and nonstop repairs keep a family alive until spring. When the thaw comes, they rebuild dams and tunnels that spread and store water, raise the water table, expand willow groves, and create habitat for fish, insects, birds, and big game. Their ponds moderate both floods and droughts.
Veteran Yellowstone scientist Doug Smith, known as the wolf guy and a longtime beaver researcher, surveys riparian sites at Jackson Fork Ranch. He reads fresh cut sticks, lodge entrances, and flooded flats to show how beavers transform narrow trickles into vibrant wetlands where willows thrive.
Kevin Monteith and The Monteith Shop at the University of Wyoming, with graduate student Macy Jacobson, track moose using GPS collars that send hourly locations and 15 second video clips after calving. Their research examines how beaver-made wetlands provide bed sites, cooler microclimates, and better access to willow forage for heat-stressed moose.
On Buffalo Creek near Lewistown, Montana, the Montana Conservation Corps builds beaver dam analogues to widen channels, slow flows, trap sediment, and reconnect floodplains. Within a year, a wild beaver moved in and amplified the work. Beaver dams also offer secure nesting for trumpeter swans as seasons swing from deep freeze to summer heat.
Anchored by the 692 mile Yellowstone River and seven great headwater systems, this ecosystem depends on keeping water on the land. Discover how communities, scientists, and a humble rodent can help keep Yellowstone’s waters flowing the way nature intended. Learn more at savingyellowstone.org.
#Yellowstone #Beavers #Wildlife #Conservation #Moose #RiparianHabitat #Montana #ClimateChange
Yellowstone is drying, but an old ally is reviving its streams: beavers. See how they help moose, swans, and entire valleys.
Two centuries after Lewis and Clark described rivers “dotted with beaver dams” and green islands of life, rising temperatures and altered waterways leave many Western streams strained. This episode of Saving Yellowstone follows the unsung engineers restoring water to the landscape and the scientists documenting their impact.
Inside a winter beaver lodge packed with yearlings and newborn kits, we see how smart design and nonstop repairs keep a family alive until spring. When the thaw comes, they rebuild dams and tunnels that spread and store water, raise the water table, expand willow groves, and create habitat for fish, insects, birds, and big game. Their ponds moderate both floods and droughts.
Veteran Yellowstone scientist Doug Smith, known as the wolf guy and a longtime beaver researcher, surveys riparian sites at Jackson Fork Ranch. He reads fresh cut sticks, lodge entrances, and flooded flats to show how beavers transform narrow trickles into vibrant wetlands where willows thrive.
Kevin Monteith and The Monteith Shop at the University of Wyoming, with graduate student Macy Jacobson, track moose using GPS collars that send hourly locations and 15 second video clips after calving. Their research examines how beaver-made wetlands provide bed sites, cooler microclimates, and better access to willow forage for heat-stressed moose.
On Buffalo Creek near Lewistown, Montana, the Montana Conservation Corps builds beaver dam analogues to widen channels, slow flows, trap sediment, and reconnect floodplains. Within a year, a wild beaver moved in and amplified the work. Beaver dams also offer secure nesting for trumpeter swans as seasons swing from deep freeze to summer heat.
Anchored by the 692 mile Yellowstone River and seven great headwater systems, this ecosystem depends on keeping water on the land. Discover how communities, scientists, and a humble rodent can help keep Yellowstone’s waters flowing the way nature intended. Learn more at savingyellowstone.org.
#Yellowstone #Beavers #Wildlife #Conservation #Moose #RiparianHabitat #Montana #ClimateChange
