CLMs & Real Priorities

Linda Meza

Yesterday afternoon after a two week hiatus I sped home, gobbled down dinner and rushed off to city hall. Once there I scratched my head baffled by the empty parking lot. My one consolation being I wasn’t the only one who had failed to look at the city’s website before heading over. But wait let me go back to an hour before when I scooted out of the office despite learning the surprising news that a birthday celebration for our CEO had been planned, oops! Well he has his own altruistic bend; I’ll address any quizzical glances when and if they should arise.

This is just the latest example of my determination to carve out time (precious little as it is) to seeing this exercise in stewardship through to what ever end lies before us. But it also has me questioning the why of it all. Why is it that I: can shrug off what could be perceived as a career limiting move in order to attend a cancelled meeting or suddenly care enough to pick up and throw away half full liters of coke carelessly discarded within a relative whisper of the watercourse now suddenly burgeoning with life?

I heard one observer at the foot bridge commenting on the chorus of frogs serenading the setting sun, “I don’t know why but I just feel happy.” Yeah that’s it, I just feel happy. For me it’s like someone unlocked that room in my heart entitled “child like wonder” and a flood of feelings, deeper than any perceived threat, came pouring out. Last night while straining to hear the sound of frogs under the train whistle I also heard something else; like a drip from an icicle when the water refuses to give up its crystalline advantage until its sheer weight rips it from the source, plop!

After careful study I realized the sound was originating from beneath the water’s surface. What the!?! A moment more and a fish head breached the surface. I’ll let the anglers of Martinez tell me what it was I saw; some whispered Steelhead I understand it’s entirely likely. What ever the fish it’s just one more thing to marvel over. I’m a fan of dark chocolate and had one of those Dove bites left on my desk. You know the ones with the corny little sayings on the inside of the wrapper? Mine said, “watch reruns they replay your memories”. I’ll continue to watch our beavers and all the rest, thank you very much and be richer for it.

The Beaver is often called a “Keystone Species”, but what does this mean? If we want to be good advocates of our beavers we should all understand this concept. It was introduced in 1966 by R.T. Paine who studied the impact of removing one predator from an ecosystem. (In that case a starfish) Starfish take mussels from rocks and the space they create can then be used by other species.

Paine found that the original 15 species community was quickly reduced to only 8 species when the starfish was removed, prompting his analogy to the collapse of an archway if a “keystone” is taken out. (The keystone is the center piece which holds up both sides of the arch) Beavers have a similar role because their dams create habitat which are used by other wildlife. They raise the water table, create richer sediment, alter the vegetation, and spur bushy tree growth by “coppice cutting” trees. By protecting one keystone species, you actually make conditions better for an entire eco-system of other insects, fish, birds and animals. By the same token, in removing one keystone species, you threaten the viability of an entire habitat. Just another reason why our beavers are worth fighting for.