Oregon legislation · 2025 Legislative Measures
Oregon HB3932: Relating to protecting beavers.
Status: Chaptered, July 25, 2025
Digest: The Act prohibits a person from taking a beaver from certain waters. The Act prohibits a person from taking a beaver on public land within certain watersheds or near certain waters. The Act does not apply to agency staff. (Flesch Readability Score: 61.3). [ Instructs the State Fish and Wildlife Commission to adopt rules that prohibit ] Prohibits a person from taking a beaver on waters or watersheds that are classified in a certain manner or on public land that is within the watersheds or within 200 feet of the ordinary high water mark of the waters. [ Creates an ] Provides exceptions, including an exception for employees of federal and state land management agencies.
What the bill says
From the enrolled text, June 17, 2025:
83rd OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2025 Regular Session House Bill 3932 Sponsored by Representative MARSH, Senators GORSEK, GOLDEN, Representatives BOWMAN, GRAYBER; Representatives ANDERSEN, CHAICHI, CHOTZEN, EVANS, FRAGALA, GAMBA, GOMBERG, HARTMAN, HELM, HUDSON, KROPF, LEVY E, LIVELY, MCDONALD, MCLAIN, NERON, NGUYEN H, NOSSE, WALTERS, Senators MEEK, PATTERSON, PHAM K, REYNOLDS CHAPTER ................................................. Relating to protecting beavers. Whereas beavers play an important role in improving water quality and temporary water storage, in helping remove pollutants and sediments and in regulating water temperature to ensure continuity of municipal water supplies and stream flows during drought for agricultural use and in improving the quality, connectivity and abundance of fish and wildlife habitat; and Whereas beavers play a significant role in decreasing the risks of wildfire; and Whereas the beaver is a keystone species that serves as nature's engineer and beavers' habitat can provide refugia, stimulate the recovery of other species and foster resilience; now, therefore, SECTION 1. Section 2 of this 2025 Act is added to and made a part of ORS chapter 498. SECTION 2. (1) As used in this section: (a) "Human-constructed water conveyance infrastructure": (A) Means infrastructure built by a human to move water from a source to a place of use. (B) Does not mean a section of a river or stream that is used to convey water between an upstream ditch …