Beaver believers: Native Americans promote resurgence of ‘nature’s engineers’
The rodents are often considered ‘nuisance animals’, but they can play a vital role in maintaining healthy landscapes
Molly Alves steps down hard on the edge of a heavy wire trap, forcing its sides open with her hands. With care she lays the poised trap, baited with twigs and branches, in a bracingly cold stream. Her target? A beaver.
Beavers are often considered “nuisance” animals on the US west coast and, if captured, are destroyed by animal control companies.
Related: ‘Piecing together a broken heart’: Native Americans rebuild territories they lost
