The TL;DR I was looking for: The beavers help to ‘fight fires’ in the sense that they prevent forests from drying out. Their dams will occasionally cause floodings or streams to diverge, which helps to distribute the water.
Didn’t know we had beavers down here in Florida, so the first time I saw a dam I assumed it was manmade. Figured a buncha rednecks chunked cut tree waste to make a pond.
The pond is beautiful. All kinds of flora and fauna flourishing in there. Carnivorous pitcher plants, amphibians, fish popping off at sundown, all that. Where it drains, it makes a clear creek that is stunning to behold. Again, all kinds of life in there.
Had some great pics but it looks like my ex-gf deleted our shared album. :(
In the Netherlands beavers had been hunted into extinction by mid 20th century (I don’t know exactly when they went extinct). In the 80s beavers were reintroduced from the DDR and now there are over 5000 beavers in the country. In western Germany populations have been rising too, and these are just what I know from the top of my head.
Beavers are definitely doing great right now around the world and that is uplifting news indeed!
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