Beaver dam on the Price River in Eastern Utah

The Utah Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit is assessing the efficacy of translocating beavers to desert restoration sites. Beavers are ecosystem engineers, can serve as a cost-effective, natural alternative to human restoration efforts, and are especially important to arid western ecosystems. The researchers are translocating beavers which are removed from areas where they are considered a nuisance by humans. They are relocated to the Price and San Rafael Rivers in Eastern Utah for use as restoration tools in the degraded desert waterways. The team compared the movement rates, survival rates, and dam-building activity of translocated beavers to beavers occurring in the rivers naturally. This study will improve strategies for beaver-assisted restoration and help to broaden understanding around the complexities of wildlife translocation.