Provocative, passionate and populist, RMB Manifestos are short and
concise non-fiction books of literary, critical, and cultural studies.
Beavers are the great comeback story—a keystone species that survived
ice ages, major droughts, the fur trade, urbanization and near
extinction. Their ability to create and maintain aquatic habitats has
endeared them to conservationists, but puts the beavers at odds with
urban and industrial expansion. These conflicts reflect a dichotomy
within our national identity. We place environment and our concept of
wilderness as a key touchstone for promotion and celebration, while
devoting significant financial and personal resources to combating “the
beaver problem.”
We need to rethink our approach to environmental conflict in general,
and our approach to species-specific conflicts in particular. Our
history often celebrates our integration of environment into our
identity, but our actions often reveal an exploitation of environment
and celebration of its subjugation. Why the conflict with the beaver? It
is one of the few species that refuses to play by our rules and
continues to modify environments to meet its own needs and the
betterment of so many other species, while at the same time showing
humans that complete dominion over nature is not necessarily achievable.
