BUTTE — Admirers of the toothy rodents refer to the furbearers as ecosystem engineers.

Others view beavers and their dam-building expertise as gnawing nuisances, leading to the human equivalent of tail slapping.

But beaver dams, or structures meant to mimic them, can play an important role in watershed restoration and water storage.

Moose Creek is a tributary to the Big Hole River, which struggled this summer with low flows and warm temperatures. People have talked for years about the necessity for water storage on tributaries to capture some portion of spring runoff to inchmeal augment flows in late summer.

The Big Hole River watershed once hosted a proliferation of beaver dams but historic trapping for the fur trade and other impacts reduced their numbers.

Now, a collaborative proje

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