City of Milton staff hosted a Wildlife 101 webinar that focused on beavers and how they shape urban wetlands, with DeKalb County park naturalist Jonah McDonald describing both ecological benefits and mitigation tools for human–beaver conflict.

McDonald, the DeKalb County Park Naturalist at Mason Mill Park, told webinar attendees that beavers transform creeks and wetlands in ways that increase biodiversity and can moderate both flooding and low base flows. "We call beavers keystone species," he said, adding that their dams and canals create slow-water habitat used by amphibians, fish, birds and mammals.

The webinar framed beavers as ecosystem engineers that can reverse some effects of urbanization. McDonald said impervious surfaces (roofs, roads, parking lots) accelerate runoff, incise stream banks and reduce floodplain connectivity. Where beavers are present, dams and wetlands slow water, trap sediment, raise the local water table and create habitat for aquatic invertebrates, amphibians and other wildlife. At Mason Mill Park, McDonald said, cameras recorded muskrats, wood ducks, river otters, mink, night herons and a wide range of amphibians using beaver-created canals and ponds.

McDonald described common sources of human–beaver conflict and nonlethal responses that communities can use:
- Pond levelers or "beaver deceivers": pipe-and-cage systems that keep water flowing through a beaver dam while limiting how high the wetland rises, preventing inundation of roads and infrastructure. McDonald said these devices "let the beavers do their beaver thing and stop spinning our wheels trying to move them and get rid of them."
- Tree wrapping: physical barriers around trunks to protect preferred trees from beaver felling.
- Beaver Dam Analogs (BDAs): human-built, willow-woven structures that mimic beaver dams to reconnect incised streams to their floodplains where beavers cannot build stable dams on their own.

McDonald discussed population and life-history details to explain beaver behavior: North American beavers (Castor canadensis) can weigh up to about 50 pounds and often live in family groups composed of a breeding pair, yearlings and kits; gestation is about 100 days and typical litters are two to four kits. He also described anatomical traits—orange iron-rich enamel on front teeth, webbed hind feet, a flat tail used for signaling and fat storage—and behavioral signals such as scent marking with castoreum.

The webinar included historical context: McDonald said precolonial North American beaver numbers were commonly estimated in the tens to hundreds of millions and fell dramatically during the fur trade; modern estimates are orders of magnitude lower than historical peaks, though beavers now occupy much of the continent. He noted reintroductions have restored beavers in some states and that introduced beavers have caused ecological issues where they are not native, citing Patagonia as an example.

Speakers also discussed restoration attempts and regulatory limits. McDonald summarized a recent local effort: BDAs installed at Blue Heron Nature Preserve (Buckhead) to encourage beaver return; the structures initially altered channel geometry and required maintenance, and some BDAs degraded after human and beaver activity. He said the Southeastern Beaver Working Group and local scientists have been active in studying and supporting beaver-friendly restoration, but that moving beavers or reintroducing animals would require coordination with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and applicable rules.

Resources and follow-up: McDonald recommended the books Eager (Ben Goldfarb) and Beaverland (Lila Phillips) and the Beaver Institute for people who want more detail. City of Milton staff said the webinar recording and program materials are available through the City's Wildlife 101 pages (miltonga.gov/wildlife101).