Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter

The fascinating story of how nature's most ingenious architects shaped our world, and how they can help save it.

In Eager, environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb reveals that our modern idea of what a healthy landscape looks like and how it functions is wrong, distorted by the fur trade that once trapped out millions of beavers from North America’s lakes and rivers. The consequences of losing beavers were profound: streams eroded, wetlands dried up, and species from salmon to swans lost vital habitat.

Today, a growing coalition of “Beaver Believers”—including scientists, ranchers, and passionate citizens—recognizes that ecosystems with beavers are far healthier, for humans and non-humans alike, than those without them. From the Nevada deserts to the Scottish highlands, Believers are now hard at work restoring these industrious rodents to their former haunts. Eager is a powerful story about one of the world’s most influential species, how North America was colonized, how our landscapes have changed over the centuries, and how beavers can help us fight drought, flooding, wildfire, extinction, and the ravages of climate change. Ultimately, it’s about how we can learn to coexist, harmoniously and even beneficially, with our fellow travelers on this planet.

SKU 7554. Copyright 2019, Softcover, 286 pages

About the Author

Ben Goldfarb is an award-winning environmental journalist who covers wildlife management and conservation biology. His work has been featured in Science, Mother Jones, The Guardian, High Country News, VICE, Audubon Magazine, Modern Farmer, Orion, World Wildlife Magazine, Scientific American, Yale Environment 360, and many other publications. He holds a master of environmental management degree from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

Praise for Eager:

“This witty, engrossing book will be a classic from the day it is published.” -Bill McKibben, author of Wandering Home and The End of Nature

"This book lodges itself among the ranks of the best sort of environmental journalism.” -Boston Globe

"A masterpiece of a treatise on the natural world." -The Washington Post