Enlightened Coexistence with Nature

heidi08 Beavers, Friends of Martinez Beavers June 6, 2008

Sharon Brown of Beavers:Wetlands & Wildlife

City leaders and citizens of Martinez, CA deserve much credit for their enlightened response to the presence of a beaver family in a downtown park. It is fitting that the home of John Muir demonstrates how cities can coexist with our land’s keystone species.

Martinez has done the right thing, despite some obstacles. People and officials have spent considerable time and resources to find and implement a win/win solution. In the process, Martinez is becoming famous as one of the best sites for urban wildlife viewing nationwide.

Since California has lost more of its original wetlands than any other state, it is appropriate that a California city shows the ways to restore these vital life support systems. When the beaver pair moved into a man-made wetland in Martinez and began to improve it, they reminded us that working with nature gives the best results. Making use of the beaver’s ability to restore vital wetlands can alleviate today’s major environmental problems.

As the climate crisis brings more costly floods and droughts, it becomes even more important to understand how restoring beaver dams and wetlands can decrease the damage done by such extreme weather events. When water is held in a series of beaver ponds, there are less droughts upstream and less costly flood damage downstream. Plus, the lush plant life of beaver wetlands absorbs carbon dioxide, the major greenhouse gas.

Beaverworks also slow the flow of streams and keep water on the land longer, so that pesticides and other toxics can be broken down. Silt is filtered out at the dams. Thus, beavers can help solve our problems with both water quality and quantity.

Yet another benefit of the Martinez beaver pond, and others, is providing habitat for many other species—including almost half the threatened and endangered species, according to U.S. EPA. Having a beaver wetland within city limits gives residents and tourists a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with nature.

We urge the city’s leaders to continue their good work and not be swayed by a few complaints. Our nation’s future wellbeing depends upon the enlightened coexistence with nature that Martinez demonstrates so well.

Sharon T. Brown, Wildlife Biologist
Beavers: Wetlands & Wildlife

Pickles & Ice cream? Mama Beaver Craves Fennel…

heidi08 Beaver News, Educational, Friends of Martinez Beavers, pictures, Video April 13, 2008

Several of us watched the show today of mom eating stalks of green leafy fennel under the footbridge. She’s still enormously pregnant and we must be days away from the blessed event. It turns out trappers sometimes use anise in beaver lures, so I guess that makes sense in terms of pregnant beaver cravings. Check out her fragrant concentration in the fennel video. I’m including today the letter to the city sent by resident Jean O’Neil, avid beaver supporter.

I’ve been a Martinez resident for 33 years. I raised my two children in this wonderful town. The beavers are absolutely the neatest thing that has happened in Martinez since I’ve lived here. It’s so much fun showing them to out of town friends, my visiting daughters, nieces from Portland and their 4 young children. It’s always an event. To take them away and destroy the beavers way of life here and all the enjoyment received from the beavers to the people of Martinez would be a cruel and sad thing to do. I’m very much against any action taken to remove them. And it would be an unfortunate statement about our city and a blight on our history.

Thanks Jean, for your concern and perspective! And here’s hoping Mama enjoys a good days sleep. If you need a little reading before bedtime, you might recognize this familiar story.

Martinez Beavers and Hydrology

heidi08 City Reports, Creative Solutions, Educational, featured April 26, 2008

Martinez Beavers and Hydrology

Subcommittee member Igor Skaredoff summarizes the hydrology section of the report here for the website. In case you don’t already know, his name is synonymous with the stewardship of Alhambra Creek and he has been long honored for his tireless work and dedicated community spirit. Having watched him at close quarters these past three months, I would add praise for a cooperative and diplomatic personal style that allows him to find friends where others would only find argument. He writes:

The Martinez Beaver Committee’s report to the City Council contains a proposed solution to the Beaver coexistence/Flood protection issue.

This proposal leaves the dam in place and controls its height. It also provides some low (2ft tall) “seating walls” to fill in the gaps in the existing structures that help protect against flooding. Additionally, the proposal improves drainage at the Castro/Marina Vista intersection to allow a controlled overland flow to re-enter the Creek north of the Marina Vista Bridge. The floodplain would also be expanded in the section of Creek between the Escobar and Marina Street Bridges by excavating a terrace.

Taken together, these measures would provide flood protection that is equivalent or better when compared with the “pre-beaver” situation.

Additional enhancements, such as interpretive signs, habitat improvement by planting California Native Plants and enhancing the educational improvements are also included.

Several local and county groups and agencies are prepared to partner with the City to develop, execute and steward this project, and to help write grant applications for funding to supplement the City’s investment.

This proposal offers a way for the Martinez community to coexist with the beavers while protecting itself from flooding. The opportunities offered by successful coexistence for stimulating downtown visitation and enhancing education and habitat are also part of the proposal.

The proposed flood protection improvements are shown in the illustration below. For more detail, see the complete report available elsewhere on this webpage.

Igor Skaredoff

Thanks Igor for your hard work on this report and your calming influence on our beaver-passionate spirits!

Heidi P. Perryman, Ph.D.

The Power of the Pulpit

admin Beaver News April 12, 2008

(Originally printed in the Martinez Gazette, Letters to the Editor January 26-27 weekend edition. Since we’re on the cusp of yet another crucial vote I felt it bore repeating.)

While in another time or forum I could be referring to an actual pulpit, let me be clear it is the Bully Pulpit that I am referring to. A bully pulpit as defined by the online version of the American Heritage Dictionary is: an advantageous position, as for making one’s views known or rallying support.

Recently a council member was overheard discounting what seems to be overarching support of leaving the beavers put. Citing such noteworthy sources as the Contra Costa Times blog spot as their barometer the conclusion was the citizenry is evenly divided. I’m not convinced.

I have to admit that the only time I bothered to read past the initial blog entries was shortly after the city stayed its decision to euthanize the beaver family. Having first hand experience in being flamed for positing my position over the war in Iraq (Navy mom) on blogs such as Yahoo! once offered I’m of the opinion that the vast majority of those responding do so because of the anonymity of the internet. Sadly my opinion was reinforced by the remarks I did read. How is it that people coalescing in support of maintaining the eco incubator we’ve created with our flood control canal found ourselves in diametric opposition to those who value life baffled me.

However misdirected the sentiments, the apparent frustration pointed to an undeniable truth – the will of the people once awakened around a single solidifying event is a force to be reckoned with. In this political season where ‘change’ is the buzzword a bully pulpit handily mastered is the best change agent available to those who wield it.

During all of the initial fervor in October an online news headline read; “Martinez does give a dam,” that one line summed up what had just taken place. The citizens of Martinez found themselves firmly resolved to be heard, we rejected the patriarchal edicts issued by city hall; we stood up and we were counted. That is the power of the pulpit and again it is a force to be reckoned with.

There’s talk afoot of building a bridge between Scotland and Martinez. I can think of no better tribute to the vision of John Muir than to protect this small sliver of water and its inhabitants and no greater shame than to disrupt a wildlife corridor. Now how’s that for diametrically opposed?

Linda Meza

Beaver Taught Salmon to Jump.

heidi08 In the News September 7, 2009

It’s official. There will be no Salmon fishing season this year off California or Oregon Coasts. An unprecedented reduction in fish population has called for drastic measures that have signaled both governors to declare a State of Emergency and ask for federal assistance. In the Sacramento River alone, our estimated population has dropped from 800,000 fish counted last year to a mere 70,000 seen this year. Keep in mind that a “drastic” reduction is defined as a 20% loss in population. This change is closer to a 90% decrease and experts disagree about whether it is even reversible. Environment California has led this research and pressed the administration for better regulation of the fishing industry.

So why is the lost Salmon an appropriate subject for a beaver blog? Because there is a strong relationship between the species. Research has consistently shown that dams are instrumental in providing necessary still habitat for young Salmon. A Haida legend tells of the beaver producing the salmon and teaching it to jump. This year at the TWS conference attended by s/c member Igor Skaredoff, there was a lecture on using the beaver as a restoration tool for the salmon population. Kelly Moore, the NW manager of Oregon Department of Fish Game and Wildlife described the relationship thusly:

As for the relationship between beaver and fish populations, staff at our lab has conducted research that clearly showed the importance of beaver ponds and associated habitat features to coho salmon, steelhead, and resident cutthroat trout. The primary effect is on over winter survival of juvenile salmonids – streams with abundant beaver created habitat had 2-3 times better over winter survival rates than streams with simpler riffle-pool structure.

So as California and Oregon see thousands of fisherman go without work, a booming food industry dry into decay and find themselves asking FEMA for help, they might consider asking beavers for assistance too. The pacific northwest clearly needs its salmon; more people need to understand that this means we desperately need our beavers too.

Heidi P. Perryman, Ph.D.