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How beavers are assisting in wildfire crisis

One of the beaver ponds along Bear Creek, with signs of the 2020 Mullen Fire clear on the horizon.
Murphy Woodhouse
/
Boise State Public Radio
One of the beaver ponds along Bear Creek, with signs of the 2020 Mullen Fire clear on the horizon.

Increasingly destructive wildfires are a major issue in the American West. However, some researchers say that land managers have an unlikely ally in their efforts to confront the crisis: the beaver.

Researcher Michelle Andruss takes depth measurements from a beaver pond inside the burn scar of the 2020 Mullen Fire. Stands of scorched trees are just beyond the wetland.
Beavers are often seen as pests, but recent research in Idaho suggests they play an important role in helping forests rebound from wildfire by creating “refugia” for plants and animals.

The Mountain West News Bureau’s Murphy Woodhouse traveled to a burn scar this summer to see the protective power of their wetland homes.

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As Senior Producer of our live daily talk show Idaho Matters, I’m able to indulge my love of storytelling and share all kinds of information (I was probably a Town Crier in a past life). My career has allowed me to learn something new everyday and to share that knowledge with all my friends on the radio.
As Boise State Public Radio's Mountain West News Bureau reporter, I try to leverage my past experience as a wildland firefighter to provide listeners with informed coverage of a number of key issues in wildland fire. I’m especially interested in efforts to improve the famously challenging and dangerous working conditions on the fireline.

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