This class is ideal for passionate naturalists, conservation professionals, municipal staff, conservation commissions, and students of natural resources, planning, or similar disciplines. Participants must be 18+.

A two-day immersion in beaver ecology and river science, with a focus on the relationship between beavers, watershed health, and flood resilience. A combination of field trips, discussions, and classroom instruction, this retreat is for those who want to understand the complex role that beavers play in creating ecosystems, managing water, and sometimes causing headaches for humans along the way. Two full days of learning and exploring why beavers are important partners in towns dealing with floods. Instructed by Patti Smith of Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center, Skip Lisle of Beaver Deceivers International, and NBNC naturalist Sean Beckett. Qualifies for 16 hours of Prof. Dev. or Continuing Education Units.

Course Topics

Tuesday

• Beaver biology and ecology.
• Healthy streamscapes and stream table demonstration.
• Explore beaver wetland systems near North Branch Nature Center to examine the morning’s concepts and processes in action.
• Optional Evening Extension: Picnic with beavers: bring a picnic dinner to experience a local beaver pond complex at dusk.

Wednesday

• Beaver conflict management and flow devices with Skip Lisle.
• Lessons in co-managing riverside landscapes with beavers.
• Beavers and flooding.
• Site visits to beaver ponds responsible for preventing or contributing to flooding in Montpelier’s 2023 and 2024 floods.
  

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  Food & Accommodations

  Coffee, tea, and light pastries will be available each morning. Lunch and snacks are provided. Picnic dinner on Saturday evening is bring-your-own. Camping is available at NBNC, or local lodging options can be recommended.

  Accessibility

  About half of day one, and most of day two, will be spent around beaver ponds—places that are necessarily mucky, off-trail, uneven, and sometimes challenging to move around. Participants should be comfortable walking up to a few miles each day, and be able to navigate around fallen logs, thick vegetation, and knee-deep water. Participants should be comfortable in potentially rainy, muggy, and/or buggy conditions.

  

About the Instructors

Patti Smith: Patti is a naturalist at the Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center and has been immersed in the world of beavers for almost two decades. She has been adopted by the beavers who occupy the flowage in her backyard and has been documenting their trials and triumphs, as well as their day-to-day activities around the seasons. Her book, The Beavers of Popple’s Pond, published in 2014, is her account of the early years of the beaver project.  As a naturalist at the Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center, she has taken hundreds of people out to beaver habitat, and has worked with people to resolve beaver conflicts. As a wildlife rehabilitator, Patti has raised orphans of many species, including beavers.

Skip Lisle: Biologist Skip Lisle has devoted his career to solving beaver conflicts. He pioneered pipe and fence systems and has installed his high-quality flow devices across the country and around the world. They save taxpayers money, road crews frustration, and keep beavers and their wetlands in place. Skip’s passion for his work is matched by his refusal to be outsmarted by beavers. Because every site is different and every beaver is different, every installation requires new solutions. Skip’s approach to the work has evolved and diversified accordingly. Skip lives in Grafton, Vermont.

Sean Beckett: Sean is North Branch Nature Center’s Program Director. His background is as a field biologist and wildlife guide, working both in Vermont and in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem to understand and explain animal behavior and wildlife ecology. At NBNC, Sean teaches various lenses of natural history and ecology, from geology to birding to botany, and regularly teaches courses in river science and watershed health. Sean holds a BA in Biology and Environmental Studies, and a MS in Ecological Planning from University of Vermont’s Field Naturalist Program.