For much of the last century, the beaver was largely missing from many North American rivers. Intense trapping for fur had reduced populations so severely that, in many regions, the animal almost vanished from landscapes where it had once been common. Rivers continued to flow, but they did so without one of the species that had quietly influenced their shape for thousands of years, creating habitats that supported fish, birds, amphibians and countless other forms of wildlife. Over the past few decades, that picture has begun to change. Conservation efforts have returned beavers to parts of their former range, and their presence is altering streams, floodplains and wetlands in ways that scientists are still documenting. Their comeback has become less about the animals themselves and more about the landscapes that respond when they return.
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