Utah's semi-arid and arid landscapes are reliant upon healthy, functioning streams and riparian zones. Changes in land and water uses, coupled with the removal of the North American beaver (Castor canadensis) from the landscape during the intensive fur-bearer trapping period of the 19th century, have increased stream vulnerability to degradation. The expanding human population has led to growth in riparian corridors, disconnecting the floodplain and reducing a stream's ecological integrity. Utah's human-made infrastructure and water management/use has caused the state's stream network to undergo extensive damming, diversions, bank alteration, and channelization. These changes have altered sediment and water flow patterns from their natural range of variation, creating a degraded state. Stream degradation in the state has not only made the ever-increasing human population growth vulnerable to water scarcity, but also the fish and wildlife that rely on these rare, critical ecosystems as part of their life processes. In support of the UDWR's 2015-2025 Utah Beaver Management Plan initiative to increase beavers on the landscape through relocation efforts, Utah State University (USU) established the Beaver Ecology and Relocation Collaborative (BERC) in 2019. BERC is one of the few beaver relocation facilities in the nation, spearheading the practice of beaver relocation. BERC partners with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR), the United States Forest Service (USFS), private landowners, Sageland Collaborative, and other numerous organizations (the Team) to relocate beavers in northern Utah and throughout the state for the purpose of stream restoration. We facilitate the process of nonlethally trapping beaver and then conducting a soft release methodology in which trapped beavers are quarantined at BERC's Beaver Bunkhouse holding facility for a minimum of 3 days to reduce parasite and disease transmission at the relocation site. After the quarantine period, the Team relocates beavers to a new location for the purpose of stream restoration efforts and to decrease human-wildlife conflicts. The positive hydrological and ecological impacts of beavers on streams has propelled the idea of using beavers in riverscape restoration. Beaver-based restoration (BBR) is an increasingly used method to restore water networks with the presence of beavers through beaver translocation efforts. BBR supports the idea of the beaver's natural ability to create complex and dynamic stream habitats. Beavers are uniquely both keystone species and ecosystem engineers, significantly influencing the physical appearance and species composition of a landscape. To gain access to food and dam building resources, beavers construct dams and excavate ponds and canals. This helps impound water and extends the width of the stream, reconnecting the floodplain to create functioning wetlands. This process naturally builds thriving robust riparian habitat that improves watershed health and resilience. An active beaver colony introduces complexity to a stream which provides a variety of different habitat types (e.g., deep water, multiple channels, off channel pools) for many species of aquatic wildlife, including all the subspecies of cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii). The deep water refugia from beaver dams benefit popular river sport fish, including Bonneville cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii utah) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), by providing areas of cooler water, sections of stream often resistant to freezing in the winter, and increased rates of invertebrate prey availability. The felling of trees for use as forage or dam building material also contributes coarse woody debris into a stream network, creating stream complexity and habitat for aquatic invertebrates. The complexity of a stream also assists with reconnection of the stream to the floodplain. Beaver dams impound water over time, increasing the water table to reconnect the stream to the floodplain. This not only creates deep water ponds that fish and submerged aquatic vegetation thrive in, but also a reconnected floodplain that willow, cottonwood, and other riparian species require for integrity and regeneration Active beaver complexes create habitats that are used extensively by large game mammals, such as elk (Cervus canadensis), moose (Alces alces), and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), for cooling, foraging, and predator avoidance. Healthy riparian areas created from beaver dams also increase the survivability of mule deer and elk as these high value forage areas provide higher protein content of forage, and thus a higher percent body fat, as they go into the food scarce winter season. Active beaver complexes also provide nutrient-rich, complex habitats for other wildlife including waterfowl and pollinators. For example, beavers create thriving cottonwood riparian habitat that is vital nesting habitat for most waterfowl as well as habitat for the Rio Grande subspecies of wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo intermedia). The riparian corridors supported and expanded upon by beavers support the western population of the Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) which often uses riparian corridors for migration and breeding in the western United States. The ability for beaver dams to create this increasingly rare habitat for monarch butterflies is particularly significant with the proposed listing of the species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act due to population declines from a variety of reasons including habitat loss. As fish and wildlife in northern Utah face increasing threats from high severity and frequent fires with, increased drought conditions, habitat degradation and loss, and augmented anthropomorphic pressure, the high-nutrient and water-rich riparian habitat that beavers create are critical to the survival of wildlife in this region. Overall, the benefits from the presence of beaver on the landscape abates the threats to key species of greatest conservation need, as identified in the Utah Wildlife Action Plan (WAP), and high interest game and fish species. Some of Utah's species of greatest conservation need that are benefited by beaver created riparian areas are: Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) broods use riparian areas and wet meadows. Despite spending most of their time in the larger upland landscape, sage grouse will supplement their diet with insects found in these wet meadows. Columbian sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus columbianus) seek green vegetation and insects found in wet meadows in the summer. Despite spending most of their time in the larger upland landscape, sharp-tailed grouse will seek refuge from snow under woody riparian vegetation in the winter. Southwestern willow flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus) exclusively breeds and lives in dense vegetation near water sources within the geography of their breeding range, making it highly dependent on riparian areas for survival. Western yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) require dynamic riparian habitats for breeding where it occurs within the state. Lewis's woodpecker (Melanerpes lewis) has an association with cottonwood riparian forests, especially for nesting, foraging, and wintering use and these communities are often enhanced and maintained by active beaver complexes. Hoary Bats (Lasiurus cinereus), little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus), spotted bats (Euderma maculatum), and Townsend's big-eared bats (Corynorhinus townsendii) benefit from beaver enriched habitat as the ponds created by beaver complexes facilitate invertebrate reproduction and presence, thus increasing prey abundance for bats. Ute ladies'-tresses (Spiranthes diluvialis) require riparian habitats to provide the specific moisture and soil conditions needed to survive. Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) migrate and breed in riparian zones, such as those created by beavers, in the western United States, including northern Utah. Northern leopard frogs (Lithobates pipiens) require riparian areas to provide critical resources for their life cycle, from breeding to feeding and shelter. Colorado River cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus virginalis pleuriticus) populations are supported by beavers creating deep water habitat in streams and tributaries. Yellowstone cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii bouvieri) populations are supported by beavers creating deep water habitat in streams and tributaries. The benefit of beavers on the landscape also positively impacts humans. Beaver dams raise groundwater elevations and increase surface and subsurface water storage, thus potentially increasing flow permanence in channels subject to seasonal drying. An increase in surface water residency is especially crucial to ranching practices, irrigation, and ensuring flow to the Great Salt Lake. The Team's relocation efforts are conducted on a widespread scale, with numerous partners and volunteers assisting in the effort. Since its conception, the Team has facilitated the relocation of approximately 410 beavers. Beaver relocation requires resource intensive husbandry practices including medication, labor, food supply, and daily health and welfare checks. Funds from the Watershed Restoration Initiative (WRI) are vital to support basic facility operations, increase the ability of the Team to conduct trapping and relocation efforts (i.e., the purchase of live traps, fund live trapping), provide for the potential of monitoring and assessment of relocation sites, and expand our facility's outreach and education efforts. In 2024, BERC had a lower than average quantity of beavers through the facility with 44 beavers total, down from average of approximately 64 beavers. The decline in beavers is due to a decline in live trappers bringing beavers to the facility and a decreased quantity of calls from the public requesting nonlethal removal of nuisance beavers. At the same time, requests for more beavers to be released to aid in habitat restoration projects has been growing to a point that there is currently a waiting list for beaver relocation. Expanded outreach and education efforts would increase the request for live trapping nuisance beavers and provide more beavers to be released to aid in habitat restoration projects. Outreach events are also necessary as BBR efforts are increasing throughout the intermountain west, with many programs turning to the Team for guidance on how to conduct proper beaver relocation, live-trapping, and the program's 'Living with Beavers' coexistence program. Also, in the past few years there has been a growing request by the public to mitigate problem beavers "in place" with the use of damage mitigation devices and practices. Moving forward, we would like to hold numerous workshops that educate on BBR and expand on the program's 'Living with Beavers' coexistence program. The expansion of our coexistence program will assist landowners with knowledge and infrastructure to mitigate the need for removal of beaver colonies. If funded, we would like to train more people in Utah in these mitigation practices.

1) Nonlethally trap nuisance beaver(s) and move them to USU's temporary holding facility for quarantine and health assessment before relocation. 2) Relocate nuisance beaver(s) in collaboration with project partners in support of stream and habitat restoration efforts. 3) Conduct monitoring of relocation sites to assess the effectiveness of relocation efforts. 4) Promote the benefits of beavers on the landscape through coexistence measures including providing 'Living with Beaver' coexistence solutions to landowners and land managers who request support and outreach materials. 5) Hold workshops on Best Management Practices for beaver-based restoration (i.e., live-trapping, relocation, husbandry) and coexistence implementation.

LOCATION: With the augmenting human population in northern Utah expanding into riparian habitat, coupled with extreme droughts and stream degradation, active and responsible beaver management in the region is critical. The UDWR frequently receives calls from the general public for help with nuisance beavers. This project provides an alternative to lethal trapping that helps landowners deal with beaver conflicts, while also providing UDWR and USFS a source of beavers for use in stream/riparian restoration across northern Utah. Please see the attached map displaying past relocated beaver sites, conducted with our partners, to help conceptualize the scope of our project location. We work in or adjacent to conservation areas such as the Bud Phelps Wildlife Management Area (WMA), Birdseye WMA, Lake Fork WMA, Millville/Providence WMA, USFS Utah Shared Stewardship Priority Areas and USFS Utah 2020 Forest Action Plan Priority Areas. All our project sites (i.e., relocation sites and coexistence strategy implementation sites) are in riparian ecosystems including those of wetlands and wet meadows. Some project sites are also in wetland systems of subalpine/aspen ecosystems. The quantity of project sites for our program, as well as the location of these restoration efforts, will contribute to each system's respective watershed's health and resilience. The restoration of these ecological communities will greatly benefit the health of the watersheds. TIMING: The field season for this effort occurs from April to October to coincide with when beavers are most active. This annual effort provides the tools that project partners, like Sageland Collaborative and the UDWR, need to conduct their restoration efforts. The time to restore the streams and riparian areas of northern Utah is now, and our project aims to be one of the many partners working to contribute to this conservation movement. Not conducting this project could result in crossing a threshold of ecological function wherein future restoration would become much more difficult, cost prohibitive, or even impossible. Funds for this project will benefit both people and wildlife in northern Utah by protecting and enhancing the quality of watersheds via BBR.

Utah Wildlife Action Plan This project supports the following goals and objectives of the 2025 Utah Wildlife Action Plan (WAP): avoid and prevent the need for future ESA listings, recover species currently listed as threatened or endangered under the ESA so they no longer need protections under the ESA, maintain healthy animal and plant populations and healthy habitats to ensure these resources are available for future generations of Utahns, and maintain healthy lands and water in Utah. This project aims to restore degraded streams and riparian ecosystems through BBR. The restoration of these systems will help support the numerous fish and wildlife, including Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) and other vulnerable species, that rely on the integrity of these systems for survival. Moreover, this project also supports the following Utah WAP goal of increasing opportunities to support the voluntary stewardship efforts of ranchers, farmers, and private landowners (e.g., keep working lands) as we work with private landowners, including ranchers, to release beavers on their property for the goal of stream restoration. In the past, a lot of private landowners have reached out to our program to request beaver relocations on their property for stream restoration for their land uses (i.e., cattle grazing and hunting). The Threats, Data Gaps, and Action section of the WAP identifies a list of Essential Conservation Actions, including the need to restore and improve degraded wildlife habitats. One of the habitat types that this project is located in, as identified in the Utah WAP, is the Aquatic Scrub/Shrub type, Aquatic-Forested, and Riverine. The WAP recommends restoring natural water and sediment flows to improve the condition of both Aquatic-Forested and Aquatic-Scrub/Shrub habitat types. The WAP identifies sediment transport imbalance as a priority threat to these habitat types. This project will stabilize sediment transport through relocated beavers' dams and associated ponding pushing water onto the floodplain and reducing stream velocity, thus increasing sediment deposition. Thus, the use of BBR in this project will assist in the preservation and enhancement of these habitat types, which are vital to a multitude of SGCN and high value game and fish species. The 2025 Utah WAP also identifies Aspen-Conifer as a Terrestrial Key Habitat, listing beaver relocation, when feasible, as an effective management strategy for improving habitat condition. Similarly, the Utah WAP lists beaver relocation as an effective method for combating threats to healthy fish and wildlife and their habitats. For example, the Utah WAP states that increasing cover and extent of native riparian vegetation by restoring beavers on the landscape, where social and environmental factors, is a potential conservation action to combat inappropriate fire frequency and intensity as well as channelization/bank alteration (direct, intentional). Since beaver dams slow the flow of water and raise the local water table, this project would restore the floodplain, reducing channel down-cutting and creating a natural firebreak with the saturated wet soil conditions of the restored wetland. Utah Beaver Management Plan This project will address the following objectives and strategies of the Utah Beaver Management Plan. Outreach and Education: Increase awareness of and appreciation for the role of beaver in Utah's ecosystem by stakeholders (landowners, educators, recreationalists, sportsmen, water rights holders). To accomplish this objective, this project will include conducting surveys with landowners and trappers our facility has historically worked with to assess their experience, sentiment, and knowledge of beaver relocation. Additionally, BERC is conducting 'Living with Beaver' coexistence workshops and providing educational materials for distribution to our partners and the public to increase beaver appreciation in the state. Outreach and Education: Improve understanding of all UDWR and other government agency employees involved in beaver management and ensure consistent transmission of information and application of management actions. The collaboration involved in accomplishing this project's objectives with our partners, such as USFS, UDWR, and Sageland Collaborative, will be fulfilling this objective of the plan (see Partner subsection). This project will also establish guidelines for effective relocation and relocation monitoring to bring consistency to the UDWR beaver management protocol. Population Management: Maintain reproducing beaver populations within their current distribution in appropriate habitat. By relocating beavers throughout northern Utah, this project will be augmenting populations that are dwindling as well as increasing genetic variation in these populations. Harvest Management: Maintain recreational opportunity for a minimum of 350 trappers and a sustainable harvest of 3,500 beavers annually. This project will relocate beavers throughout northern Utah increasing harvesting opportunities. Watershed Restoration: Work to improve riparian habitats, associated streams, and wetlands in as many suitable tributaries as feasible through translocating beaver into unoccupied suitable habitat on public and/or private land. This project will be directly contributing to stream restoration efforts through the use of BBR's relocation methodology on both public and private lands. Watershed Restoration: Facilitate and promote beaver-assisted restoration activities and expansion of existing beaver populations in areas where beaver are already present, habitat exists to already support them, and human beaver conflict is low and/or easily mitigated. With partner collaboration, this project will work on sites that require stream restoration and suitable beaver habitat to facilitate an effective relocation. Damage Management: Increase consistency in the response options (lethal and nonlethal) currently in use and increase the frequency of use of non-traditional options (e.g., beaver deceivers, live-trapping) used by UDWR, governmental and non-governmental agencies, and landowners for managing beaver causing property damage. This project is providing the training and resources to coexist with beavers, particularly beavers relocated by our facility. Utah Moose Statewide Management Plan This project will address the following objectives and strategies of the Utah Moose Statewide Management Plan. Population Management Goal: Achieve optimum populations of moose in all suitable habitat within the state. This project will contribute to more suitable moose habitat through increased foraging capacity as high nutrient riparian areas will expand due to beaver presence, thus augmenting moose populations in the state. Habitat Management Goal: Ensure sufficient habitat is available to sustain healthy and productive moose populations. This project will contribute to the preservation and enhancement of the quantity and quality of moose habitat to allow herds to reach population objectives. Recreation Goal: Provide high quality opportunities for hunting and viewing of moose. This project will contribute to the increase in hunting opportunities as populations increase from beaver presence. Additionally, thriving riparian habitats from beavers will attract moose and create watchable wildlife opportunities. Utah Wild Turkey Management Plan This project will address the following objectives and strategies of the Utah Wild Turkey Management Plan. Management Goal: Maintain and improve wild turkey populations to habitat or social carrying capacity, Objective 2- Increase wild turkey habitat, quality and quantity, by 100,000 acres statewide by 2020. This project will help increase significant quantities of quality habitat for turkeys as BBR through relocation will enhance riparian habitat. Management Goal: Minimize human-turkey conflicts, Objective 2; Strategy e- Improve habitat to draw wild turkey populations away from conflict areas. This project will increase attractive riparian habitat that will concentrate wild turkeys away from human-populated areas. Utah Statewide Elk Management Plan This project will address the following objectives and strategies of the Utah Statewide Elk Management Plan. Habitat Objective 1: Maintain sufficient habitat to support elk herds at population objectives and reduce competition for forage between elk and livestock. This project will help by creating and maintaining wetlands and riparian habitats, promoting forage production and ecosystem resilience. Beavers establish high nutrient and water dense habitats, increasing forage production at our relocation sites throughout northern Utah. This project also aims to partner with the regional Watershed Restoration Initiative working groups to identify and prioritize elk habitats that are in need of enhancement or preservation for BERC's relocation sites. Habitat Objective 2: Reduce adverse impacts on elk herds and elk habitat. This project will facilitate the sustainment of migration corridors in or adjacent to riparian corridors. Moreso, this project will increase habitat resiliency by creating wildfire buffers and establishing stable water sources with beaver ponds to mitigate the increasing impacts from drought. Utah Mule Deer Statewide Management Plan This project will address the following objectives and strategies of the Utah Statewide Mule Deer Management Plan. Habitat Objective 1: Maintain mule deer habitat throughout the state by protecting and enhancing existing crucial habitats and mitigating for losses due to natural and human impacts. Drought, specifically, is a threat to quality forage for mule deer. This project will preserve and enhance mule deer critical riparian habitat by not only slowing the erosional impacts but by restoring the floodplain, thereby increasing drought resistant vegetation communities in this critical forage area. Habitat Objective 2: Improve the quality and quantity of vegetation for mule deer on a minimum of 600,000 acres of crucial range by 2030. This project will use WRI funding to improve the quality and quantity of foraging habitat because riparian habitat created by BBR elevates the water table in a riparian system. This process increases water availability for plants to absorb and grow throughout the riverscape, not just those that are located near the beaver ponds. This creates an area which contains high value forage material, as well as stable water sources.

Beavers build dams in streams which slow the flow and cause water to be stored on the surface for a longer amount of time compared to a stream without dams. This allows the slow moving water to infiltrate the ground and raise the water table of the riverscape, thus increasing water availability to plants. Because of this, riverscapes containing beaver impoundments promote a robust vegetation community with a higher water content in the dry part of the year relative to that of vegetation in areas adjacent to the riverscape. Recent research has shown that burn severity is significantly reduced in riparian areas containing beaver dams compared to those without beaver dams or areas outside of the riverscape entirely (e.g. Fairfax and Whittle 2020 Ecological Applications; Jordan & Fairfax 2022 Wires Water; Fairfax et al. 2024 Geo Science World). These findings clearly display the effect beavers have on the fire-resistant characteristics of a riverscape by way of creating a natural fire break as a byproduct of their ecological industriousness. Active beaver complexes create natural fire breaks to potentially catastrophic fires which are becoming increasingly common, especially in western states where seasonal drying and drought is a major component contributing to severe fire behavior. The lush refugia of a beaver-influenced riverscape remains wet later in the year as the surrounding environment dries out. What was already a hotspot for biodiversity before a fire, beaver modified riparian areas become even more relied upon by resident wildlife when surrounding habitat has burned at high severity.

The benefits that beavers provide to water quality and quantity are well documented. Beaver dam complexes, particularly the deep water habitat (i.e., ponds) created by dams and pond excavation, increases water quantity. The water stored in the ponds and beaver complex wetlands slowly seeps into the ground, raising the local water table. This can make the surrounding area more consistently moist and support a diverse range of flora and fauna. Groundwater recharges in wetter conditions and is drawn upon when seasonal drying and/or drought occurs, prolonging water flow later into the dry season compared to streams void of beaver dams. Extended flows can increase the availability and quality of forage for all wildlife. In addition to raising the water table, trapping water behind dams into ponds efficiently regulates the flow of water under climatic events such as persistent drought and heavy rainfall by increasing storage capacity. Research has shown that streams with beaver dams will exhibit a reduction in both peak and overall discharge, as well as an increase in lag time between peak rainfall and peak discharge during a storm. Meaning, when snow is melting or rainfall is heavy, beaver impoundments act as speed bumps, slowing the flow and negating the destruction potential of flooding. Beaver dams help improve water quality by filtering sediment, slowing down erosion, and trapping pollutants. The presence of beaver dams in a stream system alters water quality in a process similar to how water quantity and flow regulation are affected. Ponds created by dams aggregate sediment that would otherwise be flowing downstream in the absence of dams. Dams resemble a filter within a stream by trapping sediments and pollutants, resulting in the discharge of cleaner water. In beaver created wetlands, nitrogen is removed from the water column by attaching to sediment. In the process, it is converted from nitrate (NO3-), into nitrogen gas (N2) or nitrous oxide (N2O), which are then released into the atmosphere. This process removes excess nitrogen from the system which could otherwise cause harmful algal blooms that block submerged aquatic vegetation and subsequently decrease water quality.

This project will primarily be a noninvasive project that uses a native species to restore watershed health. The holding and care of the beavers will be done at the BERC facility which was designed and built under the guidance of the UDWR state wildlife veterinarian. Beavers will be quarantined for a minimum of 72 hours, as required by the state. Care and treatment of the beavers in quarantine will be overseen by the UDWR state wildlife veterinarian and permitted under the USU Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). All project efforts will be conducted in a manner that will have little to no regulated impacts on the landscape to minimize the potential for NEPA or other permitting requirements. Should there be a need for permitting such as the construction of BDA's for creating initial habitat at beaver releases, all necessary NEPA or cultural clearances will be completed before project implementation. BERC will be completing stream alteration permits where necessary as well as to comply with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer's requirements and water rights. We will work with landowners and managers to comply with applicable regulations and respect landowner desires and rights. This project will be conducted in support of the Clean Water Act, the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, as well as Executive Order 11990 (Protection of Wetlands) and Executive Order 11988 (Floodplain Management)

Beaver Relocation BERC's operations and facility annually runs from April through October, to allow for safe conditions for beavers to be relocated before the winter season begins. The Team has UDWR permits to live trap nuisance beavers on private and public lands in northern Utah. We use a soft release approach for beaver relocation as this approach allows for beavers to quarantine at BERC's Beaver Bunkhouse holding facility for a minimum of three days to reduce parasite and disease transmission at the relocation site. BERC is notified of problems with nuisance beavers through communication with the general public, UDWR, or USFS. In collaboration with the landowner and stakeholders involved, we access the area affected by the nuisance beaver and conduct nonlethal trapping to remove the beaver from the site. Trapping effort at the site is dependent upon the number of beaver present; trapping concludes at the site only when entire beaver families have been removed. In 2021, BERC instituted a program to pay trappers $100 per nuisance beaver that is nonlethally trapped and brought to the BERC facility. This incentive program augments the numbers of beavers brought to the BERC facility for relocation. All nonlethally trapped beavers will be brought to BERC's Beaver Bunkhouse for a health assessment, a protocol developed in collaboration with the UDWR state wildlife veterinarian. The beavers will then be administered an antiparasitic medication to enhance their resiliency in the wild and a fecal sample is opportunistically taken for the USU Veterinary Diagnostics Lab for assessment of parasites. A Passive Integrated Transmitter (PIT) tag will be inserted into the tails before beavers are released into the holding pens. These holding pens have a 500-gallon holding capacity and a simulated beaver lodge. The holding area is emptied and cleaned once a day and beavers are fed ad libitum with multiple suitable foods. Our treatment of beaver has been approved by the IACUC and is conducted in accordance with the Utah Beaver Management Plan. After the quarantine period ends, the Team will locate a suitable relocation site in collaboration with the general public and stakeholders. To increase the probability of survival post-relocation, we will move beavers as a family unit when possible. Prior to relocation, we will assess the suitability of the site according to the USFWS Beaver Restoration Guidebook. If the assessment determines habitat modification is necessary to encourage beaver residency at the site, the Team will construct BDAs to increase site attractiveness for the beaver. Beavers prefer sites with infrastructure already present, providing easy cover from predators and increased opportunity to establish at the site. In a typical relocation scenario, members of The Team such as UDWR, the Forest Service, or Sageland Collaborative will have previously constructed BDA's in accordance with the watershed restoration principles to prepare the site for beaver reintroduction. In other cases if the site offers suitable habitat in the form of historic dams (dams no longer maintained by a beaver), former lodges, or areas with deep water refugia, the relocation site may not need to undergo habitat modification prior to relocation. However, in cases where there needs to be a temporary pond constructed to provide immediate shelter for the relocation, postless BDAs will be utilized. We will conduct all dam construction efforts in a manner that minimizes potential impact to the landscape. Education and Outreach In addition to trapping, housing, and relocating beavers, an increasingly requested task of the Team is the installation of beaver coexistence measures (e.g., pond levelers, beaver deceivers, fencing of trees), as well as the education of landowners, agency personnel, and the general public. These efforts help minimize the need to relocate beavers by mitigating unwanted effects of flooding and loss of desired trees and encourage positive interactions between humans and beavers. The Team will work directly with landowners who are experiencing a problem to try to find a resolution prior to nonlethal trapping. This may involve the purchase of materials, such as fences and pipes, and the installation of coexistence measures. This is determined on a case-by-case basis and will often involve the assistance of our volunteer base. The Team will also assist in avoiding conflicts by implementing preventive measures and planning multi-day and mini workshops. We will host annual workshops on beaver coexistence for agency personnel who routinely deal with beaver issues and local communities groups who live in areas that continue to experience flooding and landscape destruction due to beaver expansion. The intent is for all involved to find ways to prevent conflict in areas where beavers frequent and encourage coexistence. The mini workshops will be scheduled as needed when an area with continual issues is identified. Through our partnership with Sageland Collaborative, we will educate landowners who have coexistence measures already installed how to provide long-term maintenance of the structures. We will also offer educational training workshops focused on beaver husbandry, nonlethal beaver trapping, and the process of beaver relocation. The workshops will be oriented towards (1) state and federal personnel who frequently deal with beaver issues and/or are interested in pursuing restoration efforts involving beaver relocation and (2) lethal trappers who may struggle to make the transition to nonlethal trapping techniques but are interested in participating in the program. These workshops may last anywhere from a half day to four days, depending on the extent of the training. We will also educate the public about the innumerable benefits beavers bring to our watersheds. The Team will continue its outreach efforts at community events (e.g., festivals, farmer's markets, rendezvous) and school programs and will distribute information on the program, coexistence measures, and the importance of returning beavers to our ecosystems. These events are typically free for nonprofit organizations, and we rely on volunteers to help staff the booths.

Relocation Monitoring In 2024 BERC received funding to monitor several previous relocation sites to assess for beaver residency as well as stream restoration development. Monitoring will include a combination of satellite imagery assessment supplemented with on-the-ground observations. With WRI funding we aim to increase our capacity in conducting monitoring efforts for additional relocation sites. Information from monitoring will provide insight into habitat characteristics that influence beaver residency post-relocation which, in turn, will provide better outcomes for successful restoration. To achieve this goal, we will acquire supplemental supplies such as PIT tag antennas and game cameras. Because every adult and subadult that passes through the program is administered a PIT tag, installing antennas at release sites will allow us to identify beavers that have been relocated and attribute restoration to their establishment. Data forms for release site monitoring have already been developed by BERC and include documenting information about incidental wildlife presence by way of natural sign surveys (e.g., tracks, scat, hair, etc.). We will use these forms and supplement the data with game cameras to identify wildlife species utilizing habitat that has been modified from beavers relocated by BERC. General site information and wildlife presence will be documented at or near the time of release for relocations in 2026. The data collected upon first visit will serve as the baseline for the site, and all future visits will be influenced by the introduction of beavers into the system. Sites will be revisited roughly one year post-release and assessed for relocated beavers as well as general wildlife presence. Conducting field work one year post-relocation stems from studies showing beavers quickly disperse after a release event but some individuals have the potential of returning to a release site after approximately 16 weeks. Because our field season is conducted from April to October and most beavers have decreased activity during the winter months, waiting one year to document change allows beavers the opportunity to potentially return to the release site with ample time to modify their new environment.

Funds from this project will support the projects of all WRI partners in need of beavers for restoration. Current partners include USU, USFS, UDWR, BLM, and Sageland Collaborative. The BERC, USFS, UDWR, trappers and volunteers from the general public will continue to manage the project operations including providing 'Living with Beaver' coexistence options, nonlethally trapping nuisance beavers, holding and caring for beavers at the BERC facility, assisting in the relocations, for northern Utah landowners, and offering education and outreach opportunities to the public. Sageland Collaborative is committed to field calls from landowners, plan and design beaver coexistence strategies, and provide outreach and education about the benefits of beaver, especially on rangeland streams of the Weber & Bear River headwaters of northern Utah. Sageland Collaborative is actively engaged in developing low-tech process-based restoration projects and co-hosting workshops for landowners and restoration practitioners in this region, several of which have led to beaver release opportunities in the past. Matching nonpoint source protection program (NPS) funds are in place for at least one landowner-facing workshop focused on beaver coexistence in 2026. We anticipate these ongoing efforts will lead to increased support for live-trapping and relocating beavers to restoration sites in fiscal year 2026.

Beaver Relocation Our relocation efforts and collaboration with partners have been ongoing for more than five years. The number of partners has increased annually, as has the number of beavers that are requested for restoration projects. While we initially relocated beavers to federal and state lands, more recently, private ranchers have shown an interest in being added to the beaver relocation waiting list. The number of beavers that are relocated annually by the Team is dependent on a number of variables but ranges between 44 and 75 in more recent years. We anticipate this number to increase in the future as human populations grow and beavers expand into undesirable territories (e.g., cities, canal systems) and result in more human/beaver conflicts. Additionally, we would like to continue to share the team's knowledge and experience with beaver relocation projects that are expanding throughout the western United States. Education and Outreach We aim to expand on outreach in the upcoming years. In 2025, BERC partnered with Sageland Collaborative to teach a 'Living with Beaver' coexistence workshop to agency personnel, and we plan to organize additional mini workshops for residents in communities that have continual beaver issues due to their proximity to waterways. In addition, as an initial step when called by a landowner to trap a problem beaver, we will first assess and promote coexistence measures (e.g., pond levelers, beaver deceivers, fencing of trees) prior to trapping. When coexistence is not feasible, we will assist in nonlethal trapping. BERC plans to hold more educational training workshops focused on beaver husbandry, nonlethal beaver trapping, and the process of beaver relocation. Historically, these workshops have been well-attended by those in land management and restoration from throughout the western United States and Canada. On a smaller scale in the upcoming years, BERC plans to hold mini workshops to help increase the trapping success while minimizing injuries to the beaver by teaching non-lethal trapping methods to state and federal personnel who frequently deal with beaver issues and lethal trappers to encourage the transition to nonlethal trapping techniques.

Based upon numerous scientific studies, we project that increasing the amount of beavers in our mountains through this project will improve riparian area productivity on public and private lands by raising the water table, holding more spring runoff, and slowly releasing water during the dry periods of the summer. This also creates a more diverse riparian habitat that allows for a greater diversity of both plant and animal species. As we have discussed earlier, beaver dams create improved habitat for many game animals such as elk, deer, moose, aquatic and upland birds as well as other high value game and fish species. The expansion of natural, thriving riparian habitats with expanded beaver populations will also improve and establish increased public hunting and fishing opportunities. In addition to the habitat improvements, this project promotes sustainable use of our natural resources with a win-win scenario. Prior to this program nuisance beavers could only be removed lethally. The lethal trapping of beavers is typically conducted during the summer months when the beavers don't have thick fur, thus these beavers were often thrown away as they couldn't be used as a resource. However, due to our program these beavers are now relocated to areas where they can supplement the current beavers populations, assist in stream restoration, and increase the potential for fur trapping. This project will increase the opportunity for the public to trap beavers in the future with increased beaver populations available during the winter months.