Beaver dams slow water, create wetlands that store rain and snowmelt, recharge groundwater, filter out sediment, and provide critical habitat for Greater Yellowstone’s wildlife. In short, beaver activity makes landscapes more resilient to a changing climate—benefits Montana needs now more than ever. 

GYC is has been named a recipient of the Norm Winn Memorial Conservation Grant from the Keta Legacy Fund. This generous grant will help sponsor a project to identify priority areas to install low-tech process-based stream restoration (LTPBR) structures. 

As a keystone species — organisms who play an outsized part in shaping their ecosystem — beavers and the wetlands they maintain serve a unique and irreplaceable role in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Beavers are also ecosystem engineers, second only to humans in their ability to alter a landscape. By cutting wood and building dams, beavers do more than just build dams.