Build Like a Beaver Training
2026

Build Like A Beaver 2026

Cal-PBR's fifth annual process-based restoration training · October 7–10, 2026 · Tásmam Koyóm, Plumas County, CA

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Already registered? Visit the BLAB 2026 attendee portal for packing guides, maps, pre-training webinar access, and updates. 

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At a glance

Dates: October 7–10, 2026 — four days, three nights
Location: Tásmam Koyóm (Humbug Valley), on Mountain Maidu homeland — Yellow Creek, Plumas County, CA
Cost: $325 per person, including morning coffee and evening meals
Capacity: 50 participants. Space is limited and a waitlist is expected.

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About the training

Build Like A Beaver is Cal-PBR's annual hands-on training in process-based restoration. BLAB 2026 brings participants to Tásmam Koyóm for four days of field study focused on working with natural processes to restore degraded waterscapes into dynamic, self-renewing systems — rehydrating soils, supporting biodiversity, building fire resiliency, and helping landscapes adapt to a changing climate.

Process-based restoration is an art, a science, and a technical craft, and balancing those three is what makes a project succeed. Participants work through the full arc of the work — landscape context, planning, design, implementation, and long-term stewardship — not just building structures in a creek, although there will be plenty of that too.

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Who it is for

BLAB 2026 is built for people who are serious about learning and applying process-based restoration in professional settings — practitioners, land and project managers, Tribal partners, agency staff, and others involved in planning, design, permitting, implementation, monitoring, and long-term stewardship. It is genuinely welcoming to people newer to these concepts while still offering a strong technical field experience to those who are not.

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What to expect

• Lecture-style instruction, small-group breakouts, discussion, field tours, and hands-on building.

• Onsite camping for three nights. Field days involve extensive walking over uneven meadow and stream terrain.

• Morning coffee and evening meals provided each day, with a vegetarian option every night. Participants bring their own breakfast and lunch.

• A live pre-training webinar the week before BLAB builds shared concepts before we reach the field. A recording is available for anyone who cannot attend live.

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Registration

Registration for BLAB 2026 is handled through our Humanitix event page. There you will find the full event description, agenda, instructor lineup, what to bring, refund policy, and the registration form.

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Two things to know before you register:

• No organization may register more than three participants. Part of what makes BLAB work is the range of people in the meadow — agencies, tribes, nonprofits, and private practitioners learning the same techniques side by side — and keeping any one organization to three keeps that mix intact.

• If you have ever attended a BLAB, please wait until September 1, 2026 to register. We would be glad to have you back, and making room for people who have not yet been through the training is a large part of how this work keeps moving through the network.

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Tribal registrations

A limited number of registrations are offered at no cost to members of Native American Tribes and their employees, up to three per organization. These are not listed on the Humanitix page. Contact Paige Tomson at events@calpbr.org and you will be sent a registration code to enter at checkout.

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Already registered?

Everything you need before you arrive lives in the BLAB 2026 attendee portal — the packing list, driving directions and maps, the camping and site guide, pre-training webinar access, the agenda, and any updates as the dates get closer. The portal link is also in your confirmation email.

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Questions

Please contact Paige Tomson, Training Coordinator, with any questions about the training or your registration.

events@calpbr.org · 303-901-1389

We look forward to meeting you and sharing in this training.