Cattail tubers and bark from smallish hardwood trees that they embed underwater for winter food. Hidden affect of that is the cattail is not particularly good habitat or food source for waterfowl so then you have one more item pushing down on waterfowl populations.
Sadly, not amazed. Flooding is a natural concern (but not natural enough to not build in a freaking flood plain), and most communities are not forward-looking enough to look upstream for solutions likely because it may be out of their township and "not my worry".
That's a an oversimplification since beavers don't obviously adhere to property boundaries and the areas that are good for beavers are more then likely to have originally been flooded to begin with before the beavers were killed off.
There are many ways to prevent blockage of culverts and even control the water level behind beaver dams it's just that people don't want to bother, are ignorant, or just don't care.
You'd be amazed at how ingenious they are. It's a constant war at my parent's place to stop them from blocking the culverts. It drives beavers absolutely mad to hear the sound of free flowing water from an area they've colonized. They will work themselves into a fit trying to plug it up.
My dad is a crazy old German retired machinist/tool&die maker. I think he enjoys the challenge. Not everyone would.
My dad shoots one or two every couple years to keep the population down. But leaves them dumped because actually there's lots of scavengers that appreciate the meal. No free food lasts long out in the woods.
I actively allow beavers to exist. They have two dams on my property.. Previous owners a long time ago actively exterminated them. The county also actively exterminates them instead of simply putting in simple flood/beaver control devices where necessary.
As a pre-teen I had my first encounter with the law when they figured out that I was triggering the town traps to save the beavers. My parents had to haul me down to the station so the police chief could lecture me on vandalizing town property.
We had a beautiful set of beaver ponds, but the town won. Now it's just underbrush with a stream running through it. I'll never forget though: don't let your laws get in the way of doing the right thing.
I also and have gone to -46F and for me a thick wool sweater and wool felt coat makes huge difference. I can not even wear my wool sweater until it gets to -20F otherwise I will burn up :)
My record was -63f/-53c. But it isnt all that bad. There is literally no weather/wind below about -40. No snow. No wind. No clouds. Only strange stuff like ice crystals falling from a clear sku, and snow that squeeks like walking on styrofoam. -35 and windy always felt colder than -50.
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