About BEAVER CRAFTWORKS
“The wisdom of the woods and strength of the rivers have taught me so much” says Beaver Craftworks founder Luc Lamarche.
“Mostly that healthy water is the basis of healthy life on earth and that working together outshines working alone.”
Lamarche has been surrounded by water and building projects his whole life.
“When I was a kid, my siblings and I used to get the county road department so mad when we’d build networks of dams in the rainwater flowing down our dirt roads. It was so fun.”
Later, Luc earned a swimming scholarship that helped pay his way thru civil engineering university. After a decade of different roles in building and engineering, he had the opportunity to live in a forest in Lewis County. Making space to listen to the forest itself and to watch nature cycle thru the seasons provided insight into the importance of water and how our community works.
“When I learned of the awesome history and potential of Beaver on this continent and of the network of people working to support coexisting with them, it just clicked. They are not only a keystone species, but are the swimming engineers that built out the main life network from the oceans to the mountains! The fertility of our lowlands, the salmon cycle, and all the networks of life that abound in the water they held in their beautiful dams. I was inspired and humbled. I saw that these ancient systems are damaged and relatively weak but still retain inside all the strength they ever had. How can we work together restore health?”
Luc spent several years learning about Beavers and Beaver coexistence thru observation, a field mentorship with Jakob Shockey of the Beaver Project, listening to speakers from the Chehalis Tribe, reading all the beaver books he could find, and via the Beaver Corps program from The Beaver Institute.
Beaver Craftworks was founded in 2021 to facilitate healthy coexistence between the needs of beaver and people. We now work together with several national beaver groups and are involved locally with various watershed restoration efforts.