In his book Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter, author Ben Goldfarb reveals that our modern idea of what a healthy landscape looks like and how it functions is wrong – distorted by the fur trade that once trapped out millions of beavers from North America’s lakes and rivers. The consequences were profound: streams eroded, wetlands dried, and species lost vital habitat.

Today, a growing coalition of Beaver Believers – including scientists, land managers, ranchers and passionate citizens – recognizes that ecosystems with beavers are often far healthier – for humans and nonhumans alike – than those without them.

In his book, Goldfarb describes beaver biology, ecology and history; details the many environmental benefits provided by beavers, including habitat creation, water storage and pollution filtration; and discuss how landowners and municipalities around the country are learning to coexist with these keystone rodents.

Beavers transform landscapes; and these remarkable rodents can help us fight drought, wildfire, biodiversity loss, and climate change.

“The Beaver Believers is a feature documentary that tells the urgent yet whimsical story of an unlikely cadre of activists – a biologist, a hydrologist, a botanist, an ecologist, a psychologist, and a hairdresser – who share a common vision: restoring the North American Beaver, the most industrious, ingenious, bucktoothed little engineer, to the watersheds of the American West. The Beaver Believers encourage us to embrace a new paradigm for managing our western lands, one that seeks to partner with the natural world rather than overpower it.” – Beaver Believers

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