The California Beaver Help Desk is Live!
We are proud to announce the launch of the first-ever California Beaver Help Desk! With our new online portal now live, beaver problems can become beaver solutions throughout all of California. … Read more
Bring Back the Beaver Campaign
Build Like a Beaver Creates Watershed Resilience in the Sierra
This October, the WATER Institute team attended the 4th annual Build Like a Beaver (BLAB) training, a sold-out workshop hosted by OAEC’s newest fiscally sponsored project, the California Process-Based Restoration … Read more
The WATER Institute Brings Beaver Coexistence to the Central Valley
This September and October, the WATER Institute hosted our first-ever Beaver Coexistence Field Training and Tour alongside the Beaver Institute and Connected Ecology. The team focused on two sites in … Read more
WATER Institute Featured in Mongabay
The WATER Institute is proudly featured in a new two-part Mongabay series about beaver, their ecological importance, and the complexities of translocation and coexistence. In Beavers restored to tribal lands in California benefit ecosystems, writer John Cannon reveals the … Read more
California “Beaver Bill” In the Wild
Brock Dolman, WATER Institute Co-Director and Assemblymember Damon Connolly promoting the “Beaver Bill” at a recent watershed council gathering. This summer, WATER Institute Co-Director Brock Dolman attended a gathering of … Read more
Watch the Webinar: Introducing California’s Beaver Coexistence Training and Support Program
On May 21, 2025, around 250 people joined the webinar introducing California’s Beaver Coexistence Training and Support Program to learn how to get involved in helping improve human-beaver coexistence in … Read more
BeaverCorps Training Program
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
Report Back from BeaverCON 2024
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
California’s “Beaver Bill” Signed by Governor
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
OAEC chosen as nonprofit of the year for 2nd senate district!
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
Check out our new Beaver web portal!
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
Beaver Welcomed Home on Tule River Tribal Lands
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
Overwhelming Support for the “Beaver Bill”
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
Beaver and Process-Based Restoration Trainings in France
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
Can beavers help Sonoma County lower wildfire risk?
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
WATER Institute Quoted in the LA Times
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
CA Beaver Bill Introduced
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
CDFW Awards OAEC Grant to Create Beaver Coexistence Program
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
CDFW Releases Beavers Into the Wild for First Time in Nearly 75 Years
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
Cal PBR Workshops
We’re reporting back from two highly successful Cal PBR Network workshops that took place in October, empowering folks to further advance their skills in process-based restoration and all of its … Read more
Big day for beaver in the news
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
Happy California Day of Biodiversity!
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
WATER institute in the Associated Press and NBC Bay Area
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
OAEC Recognized as New CDFW Beaver Depredation Policy is Announced!
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
Are you a beaver believer? Webinar
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
Brock Dolman interviewed by Climate Water Project
“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
New CDFW Policy Recognizes Ecological Value of Beavers in California
After more than a decade of a concerted effort to Bring Back the Beaver, OAEC and The WATER Institute are thrilled to announce that there are major policy changes happening … Read more
Field Trip to Doty Ravine
On May 24, we partnered with the California Beaver Policy Working Group and wrangled 50 state leaders from Sacramento to Doty Ravine to see beaver restoration in action. Protected since … Read more
Bioneers Radio interviews our Beaver Believers
Neil Harvey, host of Bioneers Radio, interviews Kate Lundquist and Brock Dolman to learn all about beaver: their history in North America, how they slow and spread water, create critical … Read more
Happy International Beaver Day!
While there are all sorts of serious reasons to love beaver (including their ability to create habitat for many species, buffer the effects of climate change, increase the presence of … Read more
