PAULINA, Ore. — A storm tore down gates to a years-long restoration project along the Crooked River meant to attract and sustain beavers earlier this year. But the storm proved that the project worked — beavers are back, rebuilding wetlands and bringing new life to the area.
What is now a lush, green, riparian paradise of beaver food and building materials didn’t always look like it does now.
It began seven years ago when volunteers planted thousands of bare sticks of aspen, cottonwood and willow along the banks of the South Fork of the Crooked River. The plantings were fenced off so they could grow and mature to the point they could survive being chewed on by nature’s engineers.
“And this is yummy, primo beaver food. They’ll just eat it like a little spaghetti, you know, the whole thing,” Oregon Natural Desert Association restoration coordinator Jefferson Jacobs said.
The plan was to leave the fences up longer to keep beavers, deer, wild horses and all manner of wildlife from mowing the tender plants down. But massive floodwaters in the spring of 2025 ripped down the fences and opened the vegetarian buffet ahead of schedule.
“The flood took out all the fences,” Jacobs said. “Beavers moved in because there was all this yummy vegetation to eat that we planned for them. And they mowed it all down. And I couldn’t be happier.”
They built a dam. They built a den. And then they had babies.
“They had two kits this year. And that’s the final vote of confidence,” Jacobs said.
Jacobs describes this as passive-aggressive restoration. The aggressive part is planting the vegetation that attracts and sustains beavers. The passive part is letting beavers do what they do — cut down trees, build dams and back up water, which percolates into the surrounding soil where it is cleaned and cooled by the earth, increasing groundwater tables and improving riparian habitat.
Both the passive and aggressive processes take time.
“They built a dam on the beaver dam and along the human-made dam we made. They’re eating the vegetation we planted for them. They set up their house immediately across from the best vegetation that we planted. And then they had babies. I mean, you can’t get more of a slam dunk than that,” Jacobs said.
There have been several efforts to restore this section of the Crooked River, including fencing out livestock for 20 years to allow vegetation to regrow on its own. But none did. It turns out the hydraulic functions of the river are so impaired that the plantings, unless placed right next to the stream, dry out due to lack of water.
One willow bush found at the site has clearly been chewed on by the beavers, but it is so well established that it survives, regenerates and provides more vegetation for the beavers to eat, build dams and continue restoring this South Fork of the Crooked River.
“It’s really important that folks know that this is not just about fish. It’s not just about wildlife. It’s about people, too. And there are people making their living downstream that need this water. And this will help provide them more water through the drought years and through the lean months in the summer,” Jacobs said.
We were fortunate to be there as Jacobs cut open a section of fence protecting a willow thicket that was planted in 2017. It’s now a beaver buffet. This one area where beavers have gotten established, built a dam and backed up water for a few hundred feet represents a drop in the bucket of the work that remains to be done to restore this watershed. But it serves as a glowing example of how people can work with nature to improve habitat, clean and cool the water, reduce fire danger and increase stream flows.
“Just had a tour out here with Soil and Water Conservation District people, a local rancher, federal folks and some state folks. And they were really impressed by what they saw and were taking some lessons away from that. We’ll be cooperating with some other nonprofits on helping them implement some projects similarly,” Jacobs said. “So the example is serving its purpose. It’s the best messenger. I can show you statistics or something like that, but nothing says success like coming out and seeing water amongst the sagebrush and, you know, all these willows and cottonwoods grow.”
More restoration projects are planned in the spring of 2026. Volunteers who are willing to camp out for a few days, get muddy planting bare sticks and build fences around future willow and cottonwood groves are welcome. Visit the Oregon Natural Desert Association website for more.