Month: October 2013

Beaver Boo!

heidi08 pictures October 31, 2013

Beaver Dressed As Bee For Halloween Is Awesomely Canadian

Now we’ve seen it all in the Halloween costume tickle trunk. A beaver dressed up as a bumblebee has become a viral hit on Imgur and Reddit. Partly because it’s just so adorably Canadian but also because who keeps a beaver as a pet and walks it on a leash?

Well, we’re not sure who took the photo or what the story is behind this well-dressed little beaver, but it may not actually be anyone’s pet. Judging by the dirty workman slacks on the handler, we think this photo may have in fact been taken at a particularly festive zoo somewhere.

This is from the Huffington Post, so there’s a long discussion of how it’s immoral to dress a wild animal in a costume or keep a beaver as a pet when it should be free to dam and dream. And less attention than you’d expect to the age old question that this might answer as to which, in fact, is the busier. But obviously the real crime is the seasonal atrocity in the abysmal failure to comprehend that there is no costume on earth or in heaven, or in the murky caverns below that could possibly make that face any cuter.

Timor Mortis Conturbat Me

Beaver Farmer – Derek Gow (Devon, England)

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, Educational, Environmental October 30, 2013

Earthrise Al-Jazeera

I like this snippet of beaver wisdom as much as any I’ve ever seen. Very clear understanding of permaculture and the importance of beavers to water storage. Clear language about keystone species. An obvious explanation about why we should do better. And beavers kissing at the end. It gives me a feeling of inevitability about beavers in the UK.

Of course, Derek is a little rough on those poor beavers, picking them up by the tail (which Sherri says you should never do) but remember he’s a Cornish Farmer in a land that has treated beavers much worse. And he bungles the native American quote – I think it was probably a groovy ecologist in the 70’s who coined the term ‘Earth’s Kidneys”, because I’m pretty sure the tribal nations didn’t have autopsies or pathologists. Heck, we didn’t even know what kidneys did until the late 1700’s, so I doubt natives named a beaver based on its similar function.

He meant to say “Native Americans called them the Sacred Center.”

Which they are. But we understand. And beavers are on Al-Jazeera. This means we’re past the “ignoring” stage an onto the fight! (First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight with you. Then you win.) Nice work Derek! You and your very-cornish neighbor did a perfectly cast job explaining how beavers shape the landscape. Since Jon went to school in Cornwall he practically recognized both of you, and the Perryman family hails from just to the west in St. Austel, so I can tell we are going to be great friends. You are the perfect man for the job of bringing beavers back to England.

Backdrafts and Beavers

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers October 29, 2013

You’ll be happy to know there was lots of follow-up to yesterday’s post about Dr. Maughan’s article proposing beaver re-introduction as a partial solution to reduce wildfires. He wrote me himself and thanked me for the comments on his article, and I’m hoping to get him invited to the next beaver conference. Meanwhile I got these comments from Amy Chadwick who was less than rosy about the idea. Remember she’s the one who is working with Skip Lisle installing flow devices in Montana. She did eventually agree that we need an intermountain area beaver conference soon where everyone can talk over these ideas.

I’m not sure there’s a lot of merit to what he’s saying, at least for western landscapes, especially in mountainous terrain. I could see in some wide valleys where beaver have been removed, conifers are encroaching, and the area hasn’t already been cleared for development, that beavers could make a difference, but any effects from more beaver would probably be pretty localized, and in large fires that isn’t enough. A burning ember can travel up to a mile, they say. One could even make the case that increased humidity may increase growth of trees near the stream corridor, increasing fuels.

My point is, it’s probably over-simplified and definitely optimistic.
In my work this summer I have been looking at the other end of this issue, and seeing where fire suppression has been allowing too dense tree growth, conifer encroachment, and eventual drying up of headwaters, as well as shading out willows and aspen, so beaver don’t have the food they need to move back in even if there still were adequate flow. I have seen lots of areas with signs of historic beaver activity where there’s no longer any water, and some struggling or dead aspen or willows left under a conifer canopy. A lot of our headwaters are drying up. I have also seen a case where aspen re-sprouted everywhere and the stream started flowing again within 3 years of a big burn. We need more fire on our forests, in a big way. Most of the forest management budget goes toward fighting fire in the urban interface where people build homes. According to one model we need to thin and burn 20% of the forest for the next 10 years to restore balance. So stopping fires is the wrong goal.

Massive fires are the new norm due to a century of fire suppression and poor forest management. What beaver ponds CAN do is improve habitat and critter population resiliency under fire, and trap the increased sediment and mitigate flood flows after forest fires. The huge floods in Boulder after the fires the previous year probably would not have been nearly as severe if the wetlands in the headwaters had been intact. They probably still would have flooded where they built within the greater floodplain, but you know… that’s another issue.

Well, that’s certainly another perspective on the issue. More fires not less? I daresay that’s an opinion that would get even less public approval than beavers! Especially right now after the recent Yosemite and Idaho fires. Thanks Amy for your thought-provoking remarks, and don’t ever say we’re a monotheistic society here at beaver central.

Now onto a nice, (if somewhat invasive) look at the free beavers of the river Tay. I bet these beavers keep telling themselves it’s [slightly] better than being dead.

Beaver Creek Fire

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers elsewhere, Educational, Environmental October 28, 2013

Beaver restoration would reduce wildfires

By Ralph Maughan

More effective and less expensive than logging, beaver also provide fish, wildlife and flood control benefits.

After almost every large wildfire or fires that do significant damage to structures, people ask for proactive measures. One idea that is rarely mentioned is to keep the stream bottoms green and raise the humidity. How could this be done? Let’s restore beaver to the creeks of the Western United States. This is much less expensive than cutting out or clearing potential fuels. It also has significant fish and wildlife benefits. We can often add flood control too, plus the recharge of aquifers.

A string of beaver ponds up a drainage is like a permanent fire break. The ponds not only enlarge the area covered with water, more importantly, they increase the portion of the creek or streamside area (the riparian zone) that stays green all summer. They raise the ground water level. Beaver ponds also increase the humidity of air in the drainage. The result is fewer hours in a day when wildfires can burn hot and hard.

Well said, professor Maughan. We reviewed a column of his not too long ago, and I approached our Idaho beaver friend to see if they were acquainted. Not yet – was the answer. Dr. Maughan seems to be a new voice on the beaver stage. Road to Damascus moment? Or movement from active to emeritus professor changed the list of topics he could address? I’m going to guess the latter and keep pestering him with invitations to come to the State of the Beaver conference next year. You know the raging fires in Idaho burned through the famous Sun Valley and BEAVER CREEK right?

Idaho’s general attitude towards beavers is a ‘shoot first ask questions later’ policy. Not unlike the one reflected in this comic strip: Mark Trail by Jack Elrod. His lovely wildlife drawings have captured attention of readers for many years and his plots unfold over days or weeks. I encountered in the Sacramento Bee and my father would call me to make sure I read when an issue featured you-know-whats. In one chapter it followed the adventure of a young dispersing beaver, through danger, past crocodiles, back out of a trap, and into the whiskers of a new mate where they started their homestead. They thought their future was bright until the land owner reacted predictably:

It’s a comic strip remember so there are no hats or perfume are made on the pages. As it happens, a raging fire breaks out near the remote land and several adjacent structures go up in flames. The crew on hand is working valiantly to put out the blaze but it’s hard work with no water lines and a limited supply of pumping stations. Alert readers could guess what followed next.

Beaver ponds save the day again! Maybe Dr. Maughan reads this comic strip too?

Additional fire related benefits of beaver are that their ponds offer remote, dispersed water storage reservoirs that could be used by firefighters during fires. Areas with beaver may serve as refuges for all animals during a fire.

Go read the whole article and tell Dr. Maughan that beavers are a good subject to write about! Idaho has a lot of homework to catch up on, but he’s making a great deal of headway. There are a whole bunch of people in Idaho that are scratching their heads this morning, and that’s definitely a start. (And thanks to B.K. in Georgia who gave me the heads up on this article in the first place or I might have missed it.)

Another fish tale

heidi08 Educational, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers October 27, 2013

This has been a strange week. It all began when I was approached by Tim Robinson, the senior resource scientist at Cachuma Operation and Maintenance Board in Santa Barbara. He wanted to know if I was interested in presenting in a workshop on steelhead and beavers for next year’s Salmonid Restoration Federation Conference.

What is a salmonid? For beginners like us it’s a member of the salmon family, including salmon, trout and white fish. (Steelhead is rainbow trout that made it to sea and was changed by the experience.) The conference draws some 800 people from around the state, and last year the keynote was given by the new head of Fish and ~~Game~~ Wildlife. It is a big deal because there are a lot of dollar interests in the health of our salmonid population.

Very quickly I talked myself out of saying yes. What do I know about steelhead? Santa Barbara is 5 hours away and that would mean I need to pay for the trip and the hotel. And I would be talking beavers to people that weren’t really there to talk about beavers. I asked all the voices of Worth A Dam who all thought it was a good investment, and I laid awake at night thinking wistfully that last year’s SRF conference was in Davis and why didn’t he ask me then?

I must have worried myself into a cold, because both Jon and I woke up with the mother of all illnesses. But I did decide I should go. And that the salmonid audience was the best place to preach the beaver gospel right now. I talked to Tim and found out that the workshop would be full of friends, Wikipedia Rick presenting our research on coastal beavers, Michael Pollock on steelhead in beaver ponds, Brock Dolman and Kate Lundquist on Beavers in the North coast. So I was a little comforted, but still dazed, as I pounded out my abstract.

Abstract

In 2007 the city of Martinez was prevented from responding to a problematic dam in Alhambra creek using trapping. Public pressure forced the city to try instead the installation of a flow device which successfully controlled flooding and allowed the beavers to remain. The subsequent wetlands created drew a succession of at least 15 new species to date, increased the range of rare and shy animals to make them more observable, allowed close observation of beaver behavior with opportunities for broad field education and encouraged civic participation through ecological awareness. The effects of beaver-assisted creek restoration in an urban setting and the role of citizen science are discussed.The effects of beaver-assisted creek restoration in an urban setting and the role of citizen science are discussed.

With my cold well on its way I cancelled work and tried to remember that the conference wasn’t until March and I would worry about that when we were closer to it. It’s probably just as well I had no voice at all when I got an email from A.L.Riley, the author of the most famous book on creek restoration and someone with interest in Worth A Dam and our beavers because of a very close mutual friend. She was putting together a workshop on restoring urban creeks for the salmonid restoration conference and would I be interested in talking about the restoration our beavers did in Martinez?

Abstract # 2:

In 2007 beavers dammed Alhambra creek in Martinez California, potentially harming roadways and prompting the city to recommend trapping. A dramatic resident response spurred media attention which forced city officials to find another way to solve the problem. Expert Skip Lisle was flown in from Vermont to install a flow device at the dam site which lowered the dam permanently and prevented flooding. The beavers responded to the water loss with a series of smaller secondary dams which expanded and enriched the wetlands, drawing new wildlife to the creek including otter and mink. The group “Worth A Dam” was formed to advocate for the beavers and educate the public about their role in creek restoration. Community events and a yearly beaver festival have been celebrated since that time, and Worth A Dam has assisted other cities in learning how and why to live with beavers. The effects of beaver-assisted creek restoration in an urban setting and the role of citizen science are discussed.

So now I’m at the tail end of a monstrous cold and committed to presenting twice at SRF in March. It is starting to feel like the right thing for me to do, but honestly I’m more than a little hesitant. Beaver voices are hairdressers and teachers and construction workers and authors. There are hydrologists and scientists in the club too but we are a mixed bag to be honest. Fish people are all biologists. They are steeped in science.

Well at the moment the science is telling them to think about beavers: And that means Heidi gets to talk at their conference. But you can bet I’m going to be doing a lot of reading between now and then.