Greater resilience to wildfire is being provided by the reintroduction of North America's largest rodent - the beaver, a creature many people regard as a pest, but is in fact a native, keystone species.

A fact the Tule River Tribe have known for centuries.

As they prepare to reintroduce it to their waterways.

“Beavers once thrived throughout the reservation.

” “We have the historical rock paintings to show that ” “which go back 500 to 1000 years.

” “By bringing the beaver back to our main river, ” “our creeks and tributaries, ” “the beaver will do what they do naturally ” “to hold the water back.

” ...and beaver dams have a significant effect during wildfires.

Ecohydrologist, Dr. Emily Fairfax is studying the impact beavers have in burnt landscapes.

“So this is a patch in the landscape.

” “that didn't burn at all... ” “...and the reason it didn't burn ” “is because beavers have engineered this ” “to be extremely wet and soggy.

” “So here is the beavers dam, ” “and along this crest of the dam ” “there's a lot of really fresh mud... ” “...and this mud was probably packed on ” “by the beavers last night.

” “In fact, in this one, I think ” “I can actually see some little paw prints.

” “If you look at that side of the dam, ” “it's starting to grow plants on it.

” “Every time they bite it... like five nutrients come out.

” A single family of beavers can maintain several acres of wetlands, as well as engineering the landscape to better resist fire.

“The beavers ” “can actually change the way that ” “fire moves through the landscape ” “instead of just blasting through ” “and burning everything ” “and leaving nothing but ash in its wake ” “like we're seeing now.

” “The fires would just hit speedbump, ” “after speedbump, after speedbump.

”