Castor Camp 2026 – Western Beavers Cooperative

September 10-13, 2026 | Prairie City, Oregon

Now in its second year, Castor Camp 2026 is a three-day, small-format gathering for people working to understand and prepare riverscapes and watersheds for the return of beavers to Eastern Oregon landscapes.

Castor Camp brings together contributors to learn from the land, from the beavers, and from each other through a loose, lightly guided agenda shaped by the questions, experiences, and perspectives of the group. Rather than a formal conference or fixed presentation series, it is built around community-guided topics, shared field learning, and peer-to-peer exchange.

We are interested in bringing different lenses into the same conversation: vegetation ecology, beaver biology, LTPBR practice, watershed restoration, tribal and agency perspectives, policy, coexistence, monitoring, paleontology, trust-building, and long-term riverscape recovery.

Together, we will step outside the usual boxes of our work and ask questions through a range of different lenses about what it takes to support natural beaver recolonization at riverscape and watershed scales.

While we will be asking campers to help shape the agenda, here's idea of what Camp themes may cover:

Beaver recolonization and metapopulation dynamics
Vegetation, forage establishment, and habitat needs at scale
LTPBR, process-based restoration, and field-based implementation
Beaver activity datasets, monitoring approaches, and survey methods
Coexistence, landowner trust, and public attitudes
Watershed-scale restoration efforts in the John Day basin
Tribal, agency, scientific, and practitioner perspectives
The historical debeavering of western landscapes
Where the beaver conversation goes next

Participation is intentionally limited to approximately 22 camp contributors to create space for meaningful conversation, field learning, and peer-to-peer exchange.

Camp Cost: $75 per contributor to help cover transportation, campgrounds, supplies, and materials.
(Sponsorship support is available.)

Camp contributors are asked to register by June 30, 2026.

Camp Schedule:

Friday 11th, 9am start time
(We encourage campers to arrive the day before, Thursday 10th to settle in with fellow campers)
Saturday 12th, 8am to 4pm Field Visits
Sunday 13th, wrap by 12pm

Location: Prairie City, Oregon - Campsite location close by, to be announced.

Important:
Because space is limited, registration represents a real commitment to attend and participate throughout the weekend. Castor Camp is intentionally small, and each reserved space affects group composition, lodging, food planning, field logistics, and waitlist availability.

Registration fees are non-refundable. If you are no longer able to attend, you may request to transfer your spot to another qualified participant, subject to approval by the planning committee. If for some reason the event is canceled, registration fees will be refunded.

Questions? Contact info@westernbeavers.org