Founded in 2020 and headquartered in Atascadero, the SLO Beaver Brigade champions North America’s most effective watershed engineers amid California’s intensifying drought, wildfire risk, and climate instability. The Brigade educates San Luis Obispo County about beavers’ remarkable ability to transform landscapes—creating fire-resistant wetlands, improving water quality, and establishing vital habitat for diverse species along the Salinas River. “They basically build up an ecosystem that’s resilient to fire through the vegetation mosaic, then keep it really well watered so it never dries out, never becomes easy to burn,” according to Emily Fairfax of the Univ. of Minnesota. Working alongside California’s 2023 Beaver Restoration Program, the organization advocates for these keystone species through habitat protection, research, cleanups, and policy initiatives—safeguarding watersheds while fostering biodiversity and ecological balance throughout the region.
February 2023, SLO Beaver Brigade fundraiser at Castoro Cellars with Kevin Swift, Dr. Emily Fairfax, Cooper Lienhart and Nick Hatalski presenting. (Photo by Brittany App)
The SLO Beaver Brigade carries out its mission through the hard work of a six-person staff of local SLO environmental experts and advocates. The benefits of the organization’s restoration, protection and education projects ripple through communities all along the 170-mile length of the Salinas River and its 4,160 square-mile watershed. The Brigade has presented their research findings at the annual California Beaver Summit at Sonoma State University and hosted webinars, book talks and documentary screenings around the county. In 2020, they organized 402 volunteers for a river cleanup that removed 6 tons of toxic and unsightly trash from camps along five miles of the river. In 2023, they hosted the First Annual Beaver Festival in San Luis Obispo, followed by a sold-out fundraiser at Castoro Cellars. Looking ahead, SLO Beaver Brigade is helping protect beaver habitats as they recover from the damage caused by the recent flood season. Luckily–the beavers know how to rebuild.
First Annual Beaver Festival, SLO Mission Plaza, April 1st, 2023. (Photos by Brittany App)