Beavers had it right all along; Gonzaga University and local partners are mimicking their dams to restore stream health

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When it comes to fixing unhealthy waterways, Gonzaga University undergraduates in professor Sue Niezgoda’s stream restoration and senior design classes are taking notes from nature’s engineers: beavers.

Working with Kat Hall from The Lands Council and Brian Walker from the Partners for Fish & Wildlife Program at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Niezgoda has installed a series of manmade dams in four regional creeks, most recently Thompson Creek northeast of Spokane.