GYC is thrilled to sponsor “Dam It: Partnering with Beavers to Heal the Planet” with environmental journalist and author Ben Goldfarb.
Join GYC, Gallatin Valley Earth Day, Madison Gallatin Trout Unlimited, and Gallatin Watershed Council on Thursday, January 16 at the Emerson Center for the Arts or online to celebrate and discuss one of Greater Yellowstone’s favorite ecosystem engineers. The discussion will also feature GYC’s Senior Climate Resiliency Associate Kurt Imhoff, who gave our beaver webinar presentation in April 2024.
Doors open at 6 p.m. MT with a book signing and free refreshments. The talk begins at 7 p.m. MT. The in-person Bozeman event does not have an RSVP, but please sign up for the Zoom livestream to save your spot. We hope to see you there!
In his book Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter, environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb reveals that our modern conception of a healthy ecosystem is wrong, distorted by the fur trade that once eliminated millions of beavers from North America’s waterways. The consequences of losing beavers were profound: ponds drained, wetlands dried up, and species from salmon to swans lost vital habitat. Today, a growing coalition of “Beaver Believers”—including scientists, farmers, and passionate citizens—recognizes that ecosystems with beavers are far healthier than those without them. From the Nevada deserts to the Scottish highlands, Believers are hard at work restoring these industrious rodents to their former haunts. In his talk, Ben will discuss the history and biology of this world-changing species; how beavers can help us fight drought, flooding, wildfire, and climate change; and how we can coexist with this challenging but vital rodent.
Ben Goldfarb is an environmental journalist whose work has appeared in National Geographic, the Atlantic, Smithsonian Magazine, and many other publications. He is the author of Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet, named one of the best books of 2023 by the New York Times and recipient of the Sierra Club’s Rachel Carson Award, and Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter, winner of the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. He lives in Colorado with his wife, Elise, and his dog, Kit — which is, of course, what you call a baby beaver.