A wildlife advocacy group is urging the B.C. government to ban beaver trapping, saying beavers help with wildfire mitigation.
The Fur-Bearers, a charitable organization whose goals are to end the commercial fur trade and promote wildlife coexistence, point to a peer-reviewed study that has valued beavers’ environmental services to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars each year.
The Fur-Bearers have written an open letter to B.C. Minister of Forests Bruce Ralston and Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship Nathan Cullen. The open letter can be read in full on the Fur-Bearers’ website.
“The ecological benefits of beavers are well-documented in scientific research, but these benefits are undermined by the commercial trapping licensing regime of the Government of British Columbia,” staff wrote in a release.
“Beavers are trapped for commercial and recreational purposes every year in the province.”
According to government data, 1,684 beavers were killed by licensed trappers in the 2022-23 trapping season, the advocacy group said.
“British Columbia experienced an unprecedented wildfire season this year and there were droughts all across the province and when we are looking at the future of fighting the climate crisis, we need to be looking at nature solutions,” said Aaron Hofman, the Fur-Bearers’ director of advocacy and policy.
“We (want) the province to protect beavers and to use them in the fight against the climate crisis.”
The group is also citing the state of California’s policy change regarding protecting beavers. California shifted policy in January to emphasize the importance of beavers for climate change resilience, habitat restorations and conservation.
The state approved $1.67 million in fiscal year 2022-23 and $1.44 million in fiscal year 2023-24 for its beaver restoration program.
“Beaver dams raise groundwater levels and slow down water flow which allows water to seep into the soil and helps create riparian wetlands that support plant, wildlife and habitat growth,” California Department of Fish and Wildlife director Chuck Bonham said, in a press release.
“By aiding healthy riparian growth, beaver dams can mitigate drought impacts and support climate change resiliency.”
The group also shared a stop-motion animation video done by Emily Fairfax to show how beavers affect environments when it comes to wildfires.
According to the Fur-Bearers, the B.C. government received a $0.46 royalty for each beaver killed, amounting to $774.64 in beaver royalties last year.
“After a devastating year of wildfire and droughts, it is critical that beavers remain on the landscape to restore habitats and help mitigate against future crises,” Fur-Bearer staff said.
“The province needs to embrace beavers in its fight against climate change and shed an outdated worldview that views these fur-bearing animals through the commercial lens of their pelts.”
The B.C. Ministry of Forests confirmed to Global BC that it has received the letter and is working on a response.