Ecesis, the quarterly news journal of SerCal (California Society for Ecological Restoration) features an article written by our own WATER Institute Co-Directors, Kate Lundquist and Brock Dolman, and Development and Program Associate, Hannah Wilton. The article, Beaver and Process-Based Restoration Build Momentum in California!, explores beaver as climate-solving heroes, capable of increasing water storage, providing habitat for other species, sequestering carbon, and even creating natural fire breaks. The trio also explain process-based restoration (PBR)—partnering with nature to recover degraded river and stream catchments by removing impediments to physical and biological processes and harnessing the system’s fluvial and biological energy to do most of the restoration ‘work.’
They also celebrate the huge success of the California State Legislature approving the Governor’s June 2022 budget proposal that provides funding to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to launch a new statewide Beaver Restoration Program to guide the restoration and management of the species. CDFW’s new program will fund five permanent staff members to develop a Beaver Management Plan and carry out a full suite of restoration practices including co-existence and relocation.
We also want to celebrate two other articles written by CalPBR members—The Science of Letting Nature Do the Work by Damion Ciotti, our partner at USFWS, as well as Low-Tech Process-Based Meadow Restoration in the Kern Plateau-Golden Trout Wilderness by Nick Bouwes, Jessica Strickland, and Sabra Purdy. That’s a whole lot of love for process-based restoration!
Bravo, team!
