In 2024, a beaver returned to a California creek after 19 years and began cutting down aspen trees beside a man-made dam

• Image: CanvaFor nearly two decades, there was no sign of beavers along Strawberry Creek in Great Basin National Park.
• Then, in 2024, park staff discovered evidence that one had returned, several quaking aspen trees had been freshly cut down beside a beaver dam analogue, a human-built structure designed to imitate the ecological effects of a natural beaver dam.
• The discovery was particularly encouraging because the nearest known active beaver dams were more than five miles downstream.