An important American conservation story began in the Adirondacks.

Long before scientists recognized beavers as a keystone species, Dorothy Richards understood that these remarkable animals were essential to the health of the landscape around them. With no formal scientific training, she spent decades living alongside and observing beavers at Beaversprite, the 600-acre wildlife sanctuary she created near Dolgeville, New York. At a time when beavers were still widely regarded as pests or commodities, Dorothy saw something different: neighbors, engineers, and indispensable partners in the living world.

Beaversprite: Dorothy Richards and the Kinship of Wild Things brings this largely forgotten conservation pioneer back into view. Drawing on never-before-seen films, photographs, correspondence, and recently uncovered journals, the documentary explores both Dorothy's extraordinary public legacy and the private, complicated woman behind it. Her story unfolds against the remarkable return of beavers to the Adirondacks, and a growing realization that the wetlands they create can help restore biodiversity, protect water, and make landscapes more resilient. More than a story about beavers, Beaversprite is the story of one woman's lifelong conviction that the wild things around us are not separate from our world, but essential to it.