Full Circle

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers elsewhere, History September 26, 2011

Dear Editor:

One of Estes Park’s tourist and local resident’s most outstanding attractions is the 6:30-8:00 P.M. nightly “show” put on by the Beaver at their dam sites on Fish Creek Road near Cheley Camp Road.

Now comes word that the Town Trustees, County Commissioners, EVRPD and Department of Wildlife (DOW) have given the okay to seek funds and build a bike/hike Trail along Fish Creek Road, which will intersect the Beaver dams. Why? As a frequent visitor to the area to watch the “show”, I see many people parking or stopping to watch, but never have I seen a biker or hiker in that area! So why now?

Estes Park has been labeled “Nature’s Wonderland”, thus it is unimaginable to me that the Officials entrusted with the sanctity of wildlife in the community appear to be supporting this action. These “community Beaver” need to be protected. They are an asset to Estes Park and the Proposed Trail will simply drive them away or worse. How would Enos Mills react to this Proposal?

The citizens of Estes Park need to contact their community leaders and the DOW and help put a stop to this Plan now, before it’s too late, if that’s not already the case.

Bill Melton, Estes Park Colorado

Ahh Bill, that might be my favorite letter to the editor, EVER. Estes Park is where Enos Mills lived and wrote his famous “In Beaver World”! Of course I wrote back that Bill was from the home town of MY hero and as it happened I was from the home town of HIS hero, so we obviously had alot in common. For the record. Here’s what Enos Mills had to say about beaver dams.

The dam is the largest and in many respects the most influential beaver work. Across a stream it is an inviting thorough fare for the folk of the wild. As soon as a dam is completed, it becomes a wilderness highway. It is used day and night. Across it go bears and lions. rabbits and wolves, mice and porcupines; chipmonks use it for a bridge, birds alight upon it, trout attempt to leap it and in the evening the deer cast their reflections with the willows in its quiet pond. Across it dash the pursuer and the pursued. Upon it take place battles and courtships. Often it is torn by hoof and claw. many a drama, romantic and picturesque, fierce and wild is staged upon the beaver dam.

The Beaver dam gives new character to the landscape. It frequently alters the course of a stream and changes the topography. It introduces water into the scene. It nourishes new plant life. It brings new birds. It provides harbor and a home for fish throughout the changing seasons. It seizes sediment and soil from the rushing waters and it sends waters through subterranean ways to form and feed springs which give bloom to terraces below.

p.74 Enos Mills In beaver World

And here’s a reminder of Mills trip to Martinez as Muir’s guest 1908, five years before the publication of his book.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is called destiny (and history, even though its not on a mural or anything….) YET.

The Trusted Backhoe

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions September 25, 2011

Looks like Ontario’s Frontenac is on the good side of a learning curve about beavers. You’ll remember that back in May we posted about the bruhaha of neighbors being upset over the beaver cull that happened after the spring rains. To their credit, Frontenac agreed to accept some help from Fur-bearer Defenders and brought in Adrian Nelson to talk with them about flow devices. Well it looks like the message took – mostly….

This week’s EMC says that Public Works director Mike Richardson is going to try on of these new-fangled flow devices all the kids are talking about.

“I have reviewed the possibility of putting up a beaver fence on a culvert that crosses Long Lake Road at Opeongo Point Lane,” Richardson told Council at the regular meeting last week in Sharbot Lake. “This location was suggested by the cottage association from Opeongo Point.

Putting in a beaver fence? In Ontario? That’s very encouraging. It’s almost like you listened to Adrian and the rest of the world when we wrote you about options and humane tools for beaver management.I’m impressed Ontario.

Almost.

“I did say that I did not expect that we could stop the beavers from plugging the fence once it was built, but it would take them longer than just filling a culvert, and if we build the fence so that it is easy to clean by backhoe then we should come out ahead with respect to water management,” he said. “It’s somewhat manageable but most of the factors are in favour of the beaver.”

And if you slept in a tent without a roof it would be easier to sweep out afterwards, and if shoes didn’t have soles they wouldn’t wear out so quiclky or if you drove on only wheel rims you’d never have to worry about a flat tire! Okay, Mike. Listen carefully! The trapezoidal culvert fence or “Beaver Deceiver” is a particular design based on beaver behavior, and if you alter that design so that its easier to get in with a backhoe then the thing won’t work at all and you will be wasting your time and your taxpayers dollars.

I know you’re worried about this failing, but, to paraphrase lady Macbeth, do it right it WON’T FAIL!!!

Macbeth: If we should fail?

Lady Macbeth: We fail!

But screw your courage to the sticking-place,

And we’ll not fail.

Act I Scene VII

Let’s hope that Frontenac is willing to risk success and put some faith in the new tools it says its willing to use!

Name dropping….

heidi08 Beavers September 24, 2011

Well the news is in from Toronto and the conference was a sold out wall to wall success! There are three articles reviewing it this morning and I heard from the documentary filmmaker and Mike Callahan that it was a fantastic teaching moment where the names WORTH A DAM and MARTINEZ were repeated several times!

Martinez mentioned in TORONTO! Well that’s a headrush! (Gosh, should I sit by the phone in case Margaret Atwood calls?) Even better news came from Mike’s comments about hearing the filmmaker talk about the production over dinner.

I am really impressed with her vision for the film and her clear ability to make it happen. I am so excited by it. I think it is going to halo shift human consciousness is a positive way for beavers.

Whoohooo! A sea change for beavers! Let’s hope. In the mean time, I’ll share a little from the good press the conference received. This is from the local paper Burnaby Now about a family who found a beaver in the creek in their backyard.

When Chomper started gnawing close to Piché’s home, she worried trees could fall on her property.

That’s when the family contacted Burnaby’s Fur-Bearer Defenders, an animal rights group that’s hosting a sold-out Sept. 23 Toronto conference on wildlife conflicts like Piché’s. The Fur-Bearer Defenders wrapped chicken wire around the trunks to discourage further chewing, which helped secure Piché’s property.

Then

The conference features wildlife experts and sold out about a month ago with roughly 100 seats and very little publicity. Attendees include government officials, municipal workers, the general public, hunters and trappers. Because of the conference’s success, the group is considering hosting another one in Vancouver next year, Fox says.

The event has even attracted attention of filmmakers and will be featured in an international documentary affiliated with David Suzuki’s The Nature of Things, likely released next year, according to Fox.

What a great boost for our friends at Fur-bearer Defenders, who do a valiant job of standing up for wildlife in their neck of the woods and beyond. Of course I also enjoyed the article from the Star which discussed Sherri Tippie.

Tippie is a hairdresser by day but has moonlighted as a beaver relocator since 1985. She claims to have “the best record of anybody in the United States, if not the world.” She finds landowners and government agencies that need the beavers for habitat restoration.

Tippie was on hand to explain ways to prevent beaver-related flooding — such as a pipe system or water-flow device — rather than the oft-preferred method of simply shooting them.

“These animals are literally a keystone species to an aquatic ecosystem. And when you shoot them, they always return,” she said.

If you wanna imagine what it’s like to sit and listen to Sherri Tippie here’s a reminder.

Speaking of articles, the great Martinez cover-up has its own this morning and you should check out Lisa White’s nice piece in the Contra Costa Times. Greta’s smart front page at-the-last-moment piece from the Martinez News Gazette Thursday is online now too, and if you haven’t read it, you really should. Don’t you wonder who called the mayor and director of public works to complain about the beaver? How many syllables do you guess their name had? Three?

heidi08 Beavers September 23, 2011

Beaver-gate?

heidi08 Beaver-themed merchandise, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports September 23, 2011

Honestly, my phone rang off the hook yesterday, and every reporter who called me began the call by laughing hysterically. As civic marketing strategies go this ‘make-yourself-look-petty and incapable-of-learning-gracefully’ campaign is certainly paying off. I should really send the darlings at Mainstreet Martinez a thankyou note, because the beavers haven’t got a story in the SF Chronicle since 2009, and we didn’t even have to throw a festival or take anyone to court for this!

Let’s be reasonable. I wasn’t crazy about the beaver on the mural in the first place and I’ll tell you wby. It makes the city look to REASONABLE – as if they eventually saw the light and recognized the beaver as an asset to the community. It erases the gasping struggle that left claw marks down the length of Castro street where we had to drag them kicking and screaming every inch of the way to even approach doing the right thing. The mural inclusion of the beaver was a beautiful, responsive, act of ultimately false advertising right in the middle of town. It made our leaders look GOOD and even though we ultimately depend on them and want them to BE good, we don’t want them to get away with appearing to be good when they haven’t earned it.

So, in retrospect, this bit of participatory theater beaver cover-up is a more honest, community minded depiction of our history than anything the artist could have painted. And once again, Martinez shows to the world that its community heart is in the right place but its civic head is too busy (cutting off its nose to spite its face) to pay attention.

Which I’m never happy about, but as a piece of beaver attention-getting drama, works for me.

Meanwhile in the actual beaver world, Sherri Tippie and Mike Callahan are delivering their speeches today at the Living with Wildlife Agenda Conference. Their presentations are in the afternoon, and they met last night for dinner with the Canadian Documentary filmmakers who are interested in changing the story about beavers in the country. The entire venue got twice as big as it was planned and had to be move to a new setting. You can imagine how jealous I am that I can’t be there. I expect reports back from them and from Adrian Nelson who is kicking off the beaver discussion and I’ll let you know what I hear.

In the meantime guess what arrived at my house yesterday? I’ll give you a hint. The last word is Manifesto and the first word ain’t communist! I’ll be pouring through the pages post haste, and make sure I let you know when I get to the good parts.