EXPLORE THE
BEAVER HUB

A growing regional resource for place-based beaver habitat conservation and restoration

EXPLORE THE
PNW BEAVERHUB

Pacific Northwest’s growing regional resource for place-based beaver habitat conservation and restoration

INTRODUCTION

The Pacific Northwest Beaver Hub is an online platform designed to support NGOs, Tribes, and local, state, and federal agencies in advancing beaver-based restoration and coexistence efforts across the region.

PNW Beaver Hub aspires to become a dynamic and accessible resource for practitioners, to support policy tracking, planning, and prioritization of local and watershed scale beaver restoration projects, and as a platform to foster collaboration and community among those working on beaver conservation in the Pacific Northwest.

Beaver Policy Tracker

Legislative session begins January 25, 2025. Visit this website to stay-up-to-date on Oregon beaver policy.

HB3932 (OR): Improving Oregon's Water Quality Using Beaver

Instructs the State Fish and Wildlife Commission to adopt rules that prohibit a person from taking a beaver on waters or watersheds that are classified in a certain manner or on public land that is within the watersheds or within 200 feet of the ordinary high water mark of the waters.

Implications: House Bill 3932 would ban beaver hunting and trapping in waterways on public lands that are classified by the DEQ as impaired, aiming to let beavers help restore water quality through their natural ecosystem services. The bill doesn’t affect private lands and includes an exception for situations where beavers cause damage to nearby private property. It also includes a provision to lift the ban on specific streams if they’re removed from the DEQ’s impaired list (categories 4 or 5) for six straight years, allowing the ODFW Commission to reopen them to beaver harvest.

Update as of 4/11: The bill moved successfully out of the House Committee on Climate, Energy and the Environment on 4/8 and is currently headed to the House Floor.

Update as of 3/21: The bill will go through an amendment and so part of the description in the house bill portal will need to change – The changes are indicated above with strikethrough. Also, the bill had a public hearing in House Committee on Climate, Energy and Environment on 3/25/25 and a work session is currently scheduled for 4/8/25.

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HB3143 (OR): Landowners Living with Beaver Grant Program Fund

The Act allows agencies to award moneys under a grant program related to living with beavers on private land. The Act directs an agency and a committee to report on the grant program. The Act gives moneys to the agency for the grant program. The Act goes into effect on the 91st day after the 2025 session ends.

Implications: It will make funding available for conservation groups, SWCDs and WCs as block grants ($50k per grant, but groups can reapply) to work with landowners implementing non lethal coexistence tools. Such groups can also host trainings and workshops on increasing technical expertise on the implementation of such tools.

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*Dislaimer* Information on beaver related policies in the PNW is shared on the Beaver Hub for informational purposes only. We strive to share information of interest to our readers and partners and to do so in a non-partisan manner. Find more information from the IRS here and here for detailed analysis and guidance for nonprofit organizations.

Key functions of the Beaver Hub will grow to include restoration planning tools, and to serve as a network for sharing lessons learned in beaver based restoration.

Support for implementation projects

BEF is collaborating with NGOs and Tribal partners across Oregon and Washington to implement beaver-based restoration. Efforts include:

Reforestation of riparian zones for beaver forage and dam building.
Restoration of hydraulic conditions to support dam construction.
Coexistence strategies to mitigate negative impacts on infrastructure or agriculture.
Relocation or translocation of beavers where coexistence options have been exhausted.

BRAT Localization

In partnership with Utah State University’s Riverscapes and Monitoring Lab, BEF is localizing the Beaver Restoration Assessment Tool (BRAT) for the PNW. This involves:

Regional field data collection to localize the model.
Fine-scale predictions of beaver dam capacity and assessments of risks to infrastructure and land use.
Community engagement to enhance data collection and participation. The localized BRAT will serve as a vital decision-support tool for prioritizing restoration projects and action planning.

Green House Gas (GHG) Dynamics Research

BEF funds Washington State University researchers to investigate greenhouse gas (GHG) dynamics in beaver habitats. This research focuses on:

Developing ground-truthed datasets on carbon and methane emissions.
Exploring the role of site-specific variables (e.g., soil type, temperature, vegetation) and temporal factors (e.g., seasonal dewatering) in shaping GHG dynamics. The findings will improve understanding of the carbon implications of wetland restoration in diverse biophysical contexts.

Connecting Beaver Based Research Practitioners

Beaver Hub is a multi-state website to support restoration planning, policy engagement, and resource sharing. The Hub will:

Provide tools for project planning, carbon tracking, and decision-making.
Share best management practices, social marketing insights, and case studies.
Facilitate collaboration and policymaking informed by local priorities and pragmatic needs.

Get in on the Dam Conversation

The Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF), with support from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, Oregon Conservation and Recreation Fund, and other funding sources, is advancing several initiatives to enhance beaver-based restoration and coexistence efforts in the Pacific Northwest.

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