PORTLAND, Ore. (KPTV) — Conservationists in Oregon are turning to the state’s namesake animal to help restore wetlands and improve the environment in the Willamette Valley and Portland metro area.

Once hunted nearly to extinction in the 1800s, beavers are rebounding thanks to local restoration projects. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife says beaver dams create wetlands that help control downstream flooding and provide habitat for other wildlife.

This has become an important goal of different local conservation districts.

In Washington County, habitat conservation specialist Mike Conroy with the Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District has been working with landowners along Fern Creek, a tributary of the Tualatin River.

“We saw it as an opportunity to kind of invite (the b

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