Beavers have a long and illustrious history. There were beavers as big as bears for millions of years until some 10,000 years ago. Since then the beaver has dutifully carried out the work of an environmental engineer, creating dams and managing water flow, helping both wildlife and plants prosper.
"Beavers are the only animals apart from man that radically transform their environment," states  Leila Philip in Beaverland.
European fur traders nearly wiped out the North American beaver when the demand for beaver pelts reached a fever pitch after the French and English set up shop on the American continent. .
Tycoon John Jacob Astor created a trade empire on the backs of beavers, she noted. The fur of the beaver and other animals lined hats, coats and blankets around the world.
Estimates are that 60 to 400 million beaver were living in North America prior to 1600. Three hundred years of trapping later, the number of surviving beavers was so low, said Philip, that it took a major effort in the 20th century to restore the animal to a fraction of its former presence (less than 1 percent of the pre-1600 population).
But Philip maintains that the beaver's story is a positive one. There's hope now as efforts are taken to insure that the beaver's role as a wetlands creator and water diverter is protected.
"We're bringing beavers back. California is leading the country in free-thinking beaver policy, moving beavers where they can help in watershed restoration," she said.
"People are waking up to the economic value of beavers," said Philip, a professor at Holy Cross College near Boston.
"It's really important to be hopeful and take action. We need to take a look in our own backyard. I discovered beavers by accident (near her home in Connecticut). They're extraordinary and it left me thinking what else is out there," she said.