So I picked up my luggage in Eugene last night and as luck would have it got settled at the VERY moment Mike Callahan drove down from Portland (via Massachusetts) to pick me up. We had a beautiful drive through rural Oregon to Canyonville and the sun seemed strangley reluctant to set. There was, of course, lots of flat-tailed things to talk about, and some bipedal ones as well. We made it safely to the hotel, checked in and went for a late dinner.
As we were leaving Leonard and Lois swooped in and surprised us with greetings and hugs. They wanted to show us the conference room and get us acquainted. Apparently it was so impressive it startled the keynote speaker. There was a raised long table at the front, rows and rows of chairs and tables, and two huge screens on either side of the panel.
Martinez Beavers in Dolby!
They ran through the cast of characters, who had arrived, who was having trouble escaping the snowy conditions, and who was in transit. Sherri Tippie was here but I haven’t met her yet.
Sherri Tippie inscribes a colony of 5 clay beavers for Worth A Dam
Now THIS feels like a send-off! I got a call from the Gazette yesterday about the upcoming conference and a note from Leonard Houston (conference organizer) that they called them about it as well. When I called Greta back she was on the phone with (wait for it) APHIS. Go read Greta’s outstanding article!
Seems someone sent her the 2009 stats for the numbers of beaver killed in CA by the USDA. (I wonder where someone could have gotten that?) Anyway she was startled at the numbers, and more stunned when I told her that APHIS was a small fraction of the number of beavers killed each year.
APHIS told her predictably that ”Flow Devices Don’t Work” and she wants to know what’s going to change this! When are attitudes about beavers going to keep up with current research? Will the conference help? Does Martinez prove anything? When is it going to be different?
I said…hmmm…have you ever seen an ocean liner try to do a U-turn? It takes a LONGGGGGGGGGGGG time. Change is coming in increments you can measure in nano tools. That’s what the conference is about. Do some flow devices fail? Absolutely. it depends on how skilled the installation is. If your plumber did heart surgery on you it might fail too, that doesn’t mean the technique itself is unsuccessful.
She did a bang-up job talking about the pragmatic benefits of beaver in today’s paper and wants to have a longer conversation about it when I come back. I always love to get folk riled about beaver stats, and I’m sure I’ll come back brimming with things to talk about.
State of the Beaver Conference 2011 takes place in Canyonville, Oregon Feb. 2-4, and Heidi Perryman of Worth A Dam, the Martinez Beavers’ protectors, is a presenter. Heidi will speak about Urban Beavers and management in the urban setting. The Martinez Beavers are the beacon of hope for beaver protection – and appreciation – in a protected and managed habitat.
Go read the entire thing. Susan does such a graceful job outlying upcoming events that she even manages to plug the beaver festival! Thanks all for an excellent send off. I’ll try to post pictures of beaverly famous people soon wearing Worth A Dam t-shirts. In the mean time I’ll leave you in Lory Bruno’s capable hands until I get back or burst with gossip and have to sneak in and share. Be nice to your debut blogger! Make her love this job a lot so I can sneak a day off once in while!
Go Beavers! And don’t laugh about the music. I actually exchanged emails with Dr. Townsend about the possibility of sending a pep band to the conference. He liked the idea, but the timing was off. Still, maybe next year?
Now THIS feels like a send-off! I got a call from the Gazette yesterday about the
