First Riverscape Restoration Dates Posted!
Volunteers building beaver dam analogs on East Canyon Creek. Photo by Kelly Fink
We're excited to work with you to restore stream habitats for wildlife and human communities. We've just posted our first round of volunteer dates!
Join other volunteers, staff, and partners for a fun day outdoors to heal Utah's degraded streams.
Ready to get out into a stream?
What to Expect
Photo by Sierra Hastings
Plan to get muddy, learn something new about the landscape, carry fence posts, cut branches with hand tools, and construct restoration structures in the stream. You’ll be instructed on the best ways to do this at the project.
For more details, review FAQs on our webpage. Each of our upcoming projects also has unique times and details located on our project page. Note that before any given project date, we will send out an email with further specific information to those signed up.
FAQs
What's wrong with Utah's streams?
Beaver have been removed from many of Utah's rivers. This means we've lost the positive impacts they provide for wildlife habitat and human health & safety.
Installing human-made beaver dams works to restore these crucial habitats by providing hydrologic connectivity, reducing erosion, creating fire breaks, and reducing runoff and floods.
Why use human-made beaver dams?
Simple restoration tools—such as human-made beaver dams, or "beaver dam analogues"—are a means to achieve the environmental benefits of beaver. Affordable, simple, and effective, this "low-tech" technique is something more and more groups are using in their restoration efforts.
In addition to improving the health of degraded areas, this work also paves the way for successful beaver re-establishment, meaning further habitat healing and major benefits for wildlife and humans alike.
Where else have these techniques been used?
Beaver dam analogs are low-tech by nature, and there is a growing movement across the western US to restore riverscapes by catalyzing natural ecological processes. Check out this map to see where Sageland Collaborative and other groups are restoring streams!
Do I need experience or training?
No! No formal preparation is required, and you're welcome to join for one day of work or many. You will, however, need to be able to do physical work outdoors, including navigating uneven surfaces. Read through FAQs on our webpage for more information.
Can't Join This Year?
Project partner participating in a restoration day at Galena. Photo by Sierra Hastings
If you aren't able to join us in the field this year, consider supporting this work by sharing with family and friends and/or making a sustaining donation. You can also check out our other projects or contact us for information on in-kind donations.