B.C. team building 100 ‘starter homes’ for beavers [Video]

In British Columbia’s real estate market, many people dream of a turnkey starter home in a prime location.

Environmental researchers are hoping the same real estate principles will encourage beavers to move into prebuilt homes in some areas of the province and help improve wetlands.

More than 70 manmade beaver dams have been installed in Interior waterways since the B.C. Wildlife Federation project launched last year with the goal of building 100 dams by the end of 2025.

Researchers want to test whether beavers will move into the dams over the next several years, lifting the water in the streams to re-wet adjacent lands while encouraging growth of plants like willow and aspen for them to eat.

Dam-building teams of up to 10 people layered locally-sourced mud and branches as well as untreated wood posts to mimic beaver dams on small streams as far east as the East Kootenays, and …