Can Forest & Creek Restoration Create Localized Climate Cooling? On May 8, 2025, OAEC’s WATER Institute Co-Director, Brock Dolman, contributed to the Napa RISE Climate & Wine Symposium, which is … Read more
We invite you to apply to be a Beaver Coexistence Professional through the BeaverCorps Training Program. Part 1 is a 40-hour online training followed by mentorship and hands-on work with four coexistence strategies … Read more
In March of 2025, WATER Institute Co-Directors Brock Dolman and Kate Lundquist had the great pleasure of meeting with Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) staff to carry out a … Read more
2024 has been a hugely successful year for beaver and process-based restoration (PBR) in California. Working with many partners, including members of the California Process-Based Restoration Network, we successfully trained … Read more
Brock and Kate recently had the great pleasure of working with our long-time partners at Tribal EcoRestoration Alliance (TERA) to carry out a process-based restoration (PBR) workshop on Robinson Rancheria … Read more
WATER Institute Co-Directors Kate Lundquist and Brock Dolman are feeling truly inspired after attending BeaverCON 2024 in Boulder, Colorado, last month. This renowned international gathering of beaver and process-based restoration … Read more
2024 has been a hugely successful year for beaver and process-based restoration (PBR) in California. Working with many partners, including members of the California Process-Based Restoration Network, we successfully trained … Read more
The WATER Institute’s Kate Lundquist and Brock Dolman have returned from an amazing four days of beaver and process-based restoration field tours, discussions, and onsite building opportunities at the California … Read more
Assembly Bill 2196 codifies the state’s new Beaver Restoration Program. SACRAMENTO – Unanimous votes of both the California State Assembly and Senate propelled Assembly Bill 2196 to the Governor’s desk, … Read more
Upcoming events on watershed, beaver, and process-based restoration.
The Occidental Arts & Ecology Center (OAEC) is immensely humbled to be chosen by Senate Pro Tempore Mike McGuire as the 2024 Nonprofit of the Year for Senate District 2. … Read more
As we celebrate OAEC’s 30 years, we think back to 2009 when the WATER Institute was scoffed at for having the audacity to suggest that beaver, then considered a ‘nuisance,’ … Read more
We’re pleased to announce that the Tule River Tribe welcomed seven beavers into the South Fork Tule River watershed on the Tule River Indian Reservation on June 12 as part … Read more
San Joaquin Valley Water, an independent, nonprofit news site dedicated to covering water issues in the San Joaquin Valley, produced a video titled “Beavers Reintroduced on the Tule River Reservation” … Read more
WATER Institute Co-Director and OAEC Co-Founder Brock Dolman has been busy! He recently participated in two podcasts which we recommend listening to! In the first, Permaculture Perspectives, Brock speaks with … Read more
Assembly Bill 2196 to codify the state’s new Beaver Restoration Program heads to Senate Amazing news! Assemblymember Damon Connolly (D-San Rafael) is authoring a “beaver bill,” Assembly Bill 2196, with … Read more
In April 2024, WATER Institute Co-Director Kate Lundquist and our close collaborator, Kevin Swift of Swift Water Design, headed to France. French artist Suzanne Husky and French author and professor … Read more
Our hyper local news outlet, the Sonoma County Gazette, penned a great article outlining beaver as nature’s engineers, important for fire prevention, flood mitigation, groundwater recharge, and critical habitat creation. … Read more
On March 26, 2024, The Los Angeles Times published a fantastic article titled, Yes, beavers can help stop wildfires. And more places in California are embracing them. In it, writer … Read more
Great news! Assemblymember Damon Connolly (D-San Rafael) has introduced a “beaver bill,” Assembly Bill 2196, that codifies the new Beaver Restoration Program at the California Department of Fish & Wildlife … Read more
The Occidental Arts & Ecology Center WATER Institute is humbled and excited to announce that we have been awarded a $2 million block grant to develop a program to build … Read more
The state’s new Beaver Restoration Program completed its first relocation in October, 2023. See the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (CDFW) press release here. We were honored to be … Read more
Like Carlo Petrini’s Slow Food movement, we have our own “slow water movement” at OAEC. You might know it as the permaculture mantra, or perhaps you’ve seen it as part … Read more
We’re reporting back from two highly successful CalPBR Network workshops that took place in October, empowering folks to further advance their skills in process-based restoration and all of its benefits. … Read more
Two big beaver hits today! First up is an interview with Kate and Brock in The Los Angeles Times about beaver benefits to landscapes. The story is titled, “Restoring California … Read more
In honor of the day, we want to celebrate beaver being a keystone species, meaning the habitats they create benefit countless other plant and animal species in California ecosystems. Species … Read more
On July 24, the Associated Press published an article celebrating the new CDFW policy changes as they pertain to beaver restoration and management and quoted WATER Institute’s Kate Lundquist: “There … Read more
At the June 14, 2023 CA Fish and Game Commission meeting, the CA Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) reported to the commissioners that they have enacted a new beaver … Read more
Watch WATER institute Co-Director Kate Lundquist in this Secretary Speaker Series webinar, hosted by California’s Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot, on Wednesday, July 12th from 12 noon – 1 pm. … Read more
“Oftentimes I think of watersheds as living lifeboats. From ridge to river, from summit to sea, from stem to stern, we have to rethink and retrofit these living lifeboats at … Read more
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