Beavers are back at Clark County Wetlands Park, and experts say that could help Southern Nevada hold up better against drought and wildfires.

According to the Nevada Current, Clark County Wetlands Park spans 2,900 acres on the eastern edge of the Las Vegas Valley. It takes in runoff and channelized water carried by the Las Vegas Wash on its way to Lake Mead.

After decades of restoration, beavers are now part of that recovering area. Within the park, the 210-acre Nature Preserve has miles of trails through habitat that supports more than 370 wildlife species.

“It’s a unique feature in the Las Vegas valley where you can forget you’re in Las Vegas,” Ben Jurand, an environmental specialist, told the Nevada Current.

An official count of beavers in the region has not yet been done, but Jurand told the outlet he suspects the park’s ponds and streams hold dozens of them. The Nevada Current reported that this is especially notable in Southern Nevada, where limited woody vegetation can make it harder for colonies to thrive.

Experts say beavers reshape waterways by building dams that slow water, trap sediment, and help streams reconnect with nearby floodplains.

“Beavers do fantastic things to help out riparian areas and stream bank erosion,” Russell Woolstenhulme, furbearer staff biologist for the Nevada Department of Wildlife, told the Nevada Current.

As dams slow and spread water, water quality can improve and vegetation can recover. Wetlands that hold more water keep moisture on the ground longer and can reduce flood damage after storms. Stream corridors with better water supplies can also help limit how far and intensely nearby wildfires burn.

The Nevada Current reported that the wetlands’ recovery comes after about 35 years of restoration work. That work has included “pole planting,” which places branches directly into the ground where natural water flow can help them take hold without extra irrigation.

“We use the topography and hydrology to our advantage to help give the trees a start while they are getting established without having to do an irrigation system,” Jurand told the Nevada Current.

Across Nevada, restoration teams are also using low-tech, process-based tools such as Beaver Dam Analogs, human-built structures designed to mimic natural beaver dams. According to the outlet, those methods can help restart stream recovery and make areas more welcoming for beavers to return on their own.

At Wetlands Park, staff have mostly taken a hands-off approach to the beavers already living there. As Jurand put it, “Our motto is ‘Be zen with the beavers.’ We let them do their thing, and we work around them.”

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