Riddles and Riders

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions January 3, 2011

Photocopy of historical Fur Trade Districts Map.
R.M. Bone fonds, University of Saskatchewan Archives
Box 28. II. Stony Rapids Project. Historical material – nd, 1954-1971.

One of my favorite parts of the Lord of the Rings is the council of Elrond where the nine were chosen for the mission to Mordor. I always enjoyed the introduction and identification of power, liked meeting faces you thought you knew but now understood in a completely different way, and was comforted by the idea that Sam and Frodo weren’t going to be alone.

I mention this because yesterday was the first ever conference call for the “historical beaver presence in california” for which it looks like there are nine of us involved. It was the most natural and still surreal thing, hearing truly thoughtful strangers obsessed with the goal of showing how the reintroduction of beavers could restore the watershed. They all came from their own particular point of view; “beavers are good for meadows, beavers are good for salmon, (or me): beavers are good!’

I was so interesting hearing about the different places the archeologist sampled the historic dam for carbon testing, hearing how to identify a likely beaver site by the shape of the valley, hearing how to construct an argument against the myth by understanding the myth itself. I was dazzled when a biologist from USFS asked someone to write up something about what to look for so that she could distribute it to all their field agents in the state and find more sites for research. At that moment it was clear to me how many resources and powers were assembled in that phone call.

I was especially amused when everyone admitted they were “addicted to beavers” and required a 12-step program to help deal with their need to compulsively look up information, follow links and return email. I just smiled at that, of course, knowing nothing of the condition myself!

Clearly we needed more evidence than just one dam. Was their tribal lore adequate to establish beaver in the high sierras? Was there evidence of soil changes or step plateau sedimentation of a beaver dam? Was their evidence of castor bone in midden piles in the area? Was their trapping records that would pinpoint colony location? Is their correspondence from the time that would prove beaver range? All we really need are a few letters from squinty-eyed pioneers living in the sierras and complaining, “Pa made us eat beaver again today!”

The entire conversation is still playing over in my mind, but the most easily recognizable delight came from early in the call when one researcher said that he had given a talk in Washington the night before and ran into several people who had heard about him from this “beaver woman in northern california!!!” hahaha

It was a great, collaborative, and creative conversation. The beavers would have been proud.

UCB School of Journalism

heidi08 Friends of Martinez Beavers, Video March 5, 2010

Beaver City, USA from Ribbon Made Productions on Vimeo.

Richard Parks was the editor of the Martinez News Gazette who first published my beaver articles way back when. He is now a graduate student at the UCB school of Journalism. He chose to cover this story for some quirky reason. It appeared yesterday in the East Bay Express. The beaver/muskrat footage should be familiar. It’s mine.

The Martinez Beaver Dilemma Cute and cuddly or a flood threat? By Richard Parks In Martinez — the hometown of baseball hero Joe DiMaggio and naturalist John Muir — a family of beavers has made its home in a downtown creek. Some love them because they’re cute and snuggly; some hate them because they allegedly add to the flood threat in downtown.

Loaves and Fishes

heidi08 Uncategorized March 4, 2010

Martinez Beaver friend Mike Callahan is launching a beaver management facebook forum for questions and issues that arise in dealing with beavers. A million years ago when our beavers were on death row, it was hard work tracking anyone down to get questions answered. Ahh those were the days. Now he’s hoping for a simple point and click. Stop by, meet a few friends, show some support, and give him some more practice at answering the really tricky ones.

In news a little closer to home, Washington state columnist Nancy Bartlett wrote a lovely article discussing the beaver issues on Whidby island. Her basic theme was that we open-minded outdoorsy types proclaim to “love nature” until it gets in our way and causes interference in our plans, of which the beaver was an excellent example.

This was the quote that made me spurt coffee onto the keyboard and write her in admiration:

In yoga class one day, I heard a couple discussing which one of them would stop by Cenex on the way home to buy poison for the raccoons. Ohhmmm.

So we started chatting about beavers and flow devices, about the role beavers play with birds and salmon, and I mentioned was she aware of the researcher, Michael Pollock, in her neck of the woods and what he had to say about their relationship? She was not, but she was intrigued and said she would follow up. I was greeted yesterday morning with this column on her blog;

One thing I’m especially looking forward to is hearing from Michael Pollock. I first heard of him from Heidi Perryman, who wrote to me after reading a recent Tidal Life column. Heidi is the founder of Worth A Dam an organization formed to save the beavers of Alhambra Creek in Martinez, California. The group has done wonders, coming up with creative ways for humans and beavers to coexist. The town has embraced the effort and now has an annual Beaver Festival.

Ahhh well. It makes our city sound slightly more noble than its scaly underbelly would indicate, but still, it’s spreading the beaver gospel and we’re happy about that! Thanks Nancy, and stop by Worth A Dam any time for friendly beaver information!

A Tolkien of Good Faith

heidi08 Beaver News, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions March 3, 2010

And Great News from our beaver friends in New Jersey

Beavers Program – March 6, 2010
Come learn how to enjoy and outwit the beavers of Franklin Lakes! A beavers program on “Understanding Beavers and Resolving Conflicts” will be held on Saturday March 6, 2010 from 1:00PM to 2:30PM at the Franklin Lakes Borough Hall. Laura Simon and Skip Hilliker of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) will give an informative and fascinating look at the ecology of beavers and how their unique engineering skills can sometimes create conflicts, as experienced recently in Franklin Lakes. You’ll learn how the “Beaver Baffler,” a simple device, can be used to stop the flooding caused by their dams. We’ll also show how to properly wrap trees to prevent them from being felled. Skip Hilliker has worked with beavers for 35 years and installed beaver baffling systems throughout the northeast, and also done projects in collaboration with various Land Trusts and the Army Corps of Engineers. This presentation should be of keen interest to anyone who is currently experiencing beaver-related problems or simply wants to learn more about them. If you have any questions please call Nancy Yarish at 201-891-0048 Ext. 1204 or E-mail: nyarish@franklinlakes.org.

The Hydra – Martinez Style

heidi08 City Reports March 2, 2010

Are you familiar with the myth of the Hydra? It was one of the labors of Hercules to fight this poisinous nine-headed water beast. The swamp where it lurked was filled with deadly gasses, but he covered his mouth and nose with a cloth, and carried a trusty scythe to battle. He soon found that every time he chopped off one head it immediately grew back two in its place. Fortunately, only one head was immortal, the others were just really really successful. In the end, the only way to keep it from getting stronger was to cautarize the neck to stop it from regrowing, and use the venom of the severed head to stop it from coming back. Smart work, but he was Hercules, and he had the help of gods, because Athena was really a sucker for a pretty face. So he killed the monster.

Malibu 83.AE.346, Caeretan hydria, c. 525 B.C.
Main panel: Hercules slaying the Lernean hydra
Collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, California

Martinez, of course, has its own Hyrda. The Redevelopment Agency. At last count it had been effectively killed seven times in the last 50 years. We are actually one of a handful of cities in California without one. (Make that a very small handful.) The RDA is self-governed body that has the power to take loans, declare blight and make decisions without any public input whatsoever. Don’t confuse “redevelopment” with an RDA. A cute new restaurant block or some satellite shops downtown isn’t the same thing. One is influenced by the will of the people, the needs of the community, and the demands of the city. The other is a wholly uncontrolled shadow government that operates without public input. Once any redevelopment area is defined, the RDA can expand its powers to any single part of the city. Although there are highly respected and successful RDAs, like in Danville or Lafayette, they usually occur in cities with strong voter representation, active neighborhood alliances, and government that is forced to be respectful of its citizens—a city council you can trust or at least control.

Tomorrow night our city council will vote on an ordinance to establish a Martinez RDA. The group “Open Martinez” sends this call to action. Learn more by reading their newsletter here:

It is, of course, the last item on the meeting agenda. But it is essential you attend. The city needs to see the reaction they create. Like Hercules I’d advise you wrap your nose and throat to ward off the toxic air.