… After decades of viewing beavers as pests, California is finally beginning to welcome them home. And not a moment too soon. With perhaps the world’s most intensely modified hydrology, the state leads the country in acres burned by wildfires and number of homes at risk from them, and according to one study, it is second only to Nevada for drought risk. California’s vaunted biodiversity is also imperiled. But these legendarily industrious architects are primed to help us out. … Critical for California, beaver dams create spongy land that is resilient in the face of wildfires, resists erosion, and retains precious groundwater.

Other beaver and beaver dam analog news:

• San Luis Obispo Tribune (Calif.): Beavers can’t live in this SLO creek. So volunteers are making their own dams
• USA Today: Groundbreaking study finds a natural way to fight climate change