Written By
At the Leavenworth Fisheries Complex in Washington State, our commitment to restoring salmon populations goes beyond raising and releasing fish. Our staff diligently monitors native fish populations, restores vital salmonid habitats, and collaborates with various organizations on a variety of projects to amplify our impact. Our partnerships with the Wenatchee Entiat Beaver Project and the Methow Okanogan Beaver Project exemplify how we harness collaboration and creativity to foster resilient ecosystems that benefit both salmon and our communities.
You may be wondering: what do beavers have to do with salmon? There are common misconceptions that beaver dams block fish passage fish passage
Fish passage is the ability of fish or other aquatic species to move freely throughout their life to find food, reproduce, and complete their natural migration cycles. Millions of barriers to fish passage across the country are fragmenting habitat and leading to species declines. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Fish Passage Program is working to reconnect watersheds to benefit both wildlife and people.
Learn more about fish passage or that beavers prey on salmon. But the two have coexisted harmoniously for millions of years, adapting together in their natural environments. Beavers are herbivores (vegetarians) and are well known as ecosystem engineers, increasing habitat complexity in North American rivers and streams. By slowing and spreading water flow, they create wetlands that enhance biodiversity and elevate water tables. These habitats promote healthier ecosystems and improve flood control, drought mitigation, and wildfire resilience. The wider channels and pools create salmon habitat for hiding from predators, finding food, and even a cooler refuge during hot days.
While beavers are powerful ecosystem engineers, they can also cause significant impacts to private property near streams and wetlands. Conflicts can arise when beavers chew desirable trees or build dams that threaten human infrastructure, such as roads and agricultural fields. As human development continues to expand into shrinking wildlife habitat, so do conflicts with beavers and other species. Both the Methow Okanagan Beaver Project and the Wenatchee Entiat Beaver Project work to address these issues. They use various strategies to help landowners compromise and coexist with beavers, such as tree wrapping, deterrent fencing, and flow control devices. When all other methods prove ineffective, strategic beaver relocation from areas of human conflict to targeted stream and wetland restoration sites allows beavers to continue their vital work for habitat restoration. Through this approach, beavers find new homes where they are welcomed, while communities reap the benefits of enhanced riparian riparian
Definition of riparian habitat or riparian areas.
Learn more about riparian habitat.
Beaver relocation is most successful when entire family groups can be moved together. Once beavers are live-trapped, they are taken to temporary holding facilities at Leavenworth or Winthrop National Fish Hatcheries while waiting for their other family members to be captured and join them. The holding facilities are decommissioned raceways no longer used for hatchery operations, allowing us to repurpose these otherwise unused spaces for wildlife conservation efforts. While at the hatchery, the beavers receive fresh, flowing water and plenty of branches of their favorite foods including aspen, willow, and cottonwood. Contrary to popular belief, beavers do not consume fish. The beavers are weighed, measured, and monitored during their stay, and each beaver receives an identification and tracking chip called a PIT tag used in conjunction with hatchery fish tracking systems for future monitoring.
Once a family group is ready for relocation, they are transported to carefully selected restoration sites that would benefit from beaver presence. In 2024, the Wenatchee-Entiat project successfully relocated 12 beavers from six family groups, while the Methow Okanogan Beaver Project relocated 10 beavers from three beaver families in conflict with people.
“The Methow Okanagan Beaver Project has partnered with the Winthrop National Fish Hatchery for over a decade… our partnership is essential to the smooth functioning of our relocation program” shared Livvie Bright, outreach coordinator. “We are incredibly grateful to the hatchery for the role they play in allowing our organization to respond to landowner conflicts.” Next time you visit one of these hatcheries, see if you can spot one (or more) of these special guests!
If you are interested in learning more, please visit the program websites or Facebook pages.
