Month: March 2014

Oh look! It’s noble misunderstood trapper season again!

A country built on fur

Trapper Gordy Klassen works to build awareness about Canada’s oldest commercial enterprise

Not everyone likes what he has to teach – people in Israel once called him a wolf murderer – but Klassen has carved out his “own little brand of activism” by educating the public on the importance of managing animal populations in urban river valleys, for ranchers, oilfield workers and municipalities.

“Trapping and fur trading are traditions dating back long before Alberta became a province, and they remain important commercial and recreational activities today,” reads an Internet message from Diana McQueen, former minister of environment and sustainable resources development. “Modern trappers have a deep respect for the land and its wildlife – and are proudly carrying on this long standing commercial enterprise.”

How many pages has the Vancouver Sun dedicated to this noble savage, you ask? FIVE. Obviously it takes a special kind of man to justify doing exactly what people want him to do to protect property interests and make it seem like the right thing. Once it would have surprised me, but now I understand how this game is played.

Edward Albee: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf

What I don’t understand is why people assume trappers actually KNOW THINGS about the species they kill. I mean I can understand that they have to know where they hang out and what attracts them, but that doesn’t mean they know anything at all about their natural history, does it?

Moving beavers or other animals isn’t a good option, says Dave Kay, commercial wildlife and priority species specialist at Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resources Development. Beavers, for instance, then have to compete for territory and often end up killing each other. Leaving the rodents to their own devices also doesn’t work, Kay says. When beaver populations become too big – the rodents reproduce many kits, he says – natural forces such as the disease tularemia move in, killing them off in unhealthy masses.

First of all, if beavers killed each other, wouldn’t that be easier than having you kill them? Saves everyone time and money, right? And second of all, have you never in your trapper life heard of dispersal? Do you really think kits stay with their parents forever if it wasn’t for you and your trusty conibear? Maybe your kids did?

It’s passages like these that make me want to swallow paint-thinner while singing “Oh Canada”. Read for yourself.

Klassen is motivated by managing the ecosystem – yes, even manipulating it – to use its renewable animal resources while balancing its health with the health of people and industries around it.

“It has to be done sustainably,” he says, explaining that if someone traps too many marten or beaver one year, there won’t be any left for the next. “I can’t think of a trapper where sustainability is not in the best interest. … You get as much as you can without hurting things.”

Why is it that when reporters write about Bosnia or fracking or the robbery on 23rd street they present different opinions to get the full story, but when reporters write a trapping homage they let them spew their rugged lies without any hint of a challenge? As I’ve said before, I think the reporter spends so much time typing at the computer that they have walter-mitty fantasies about chucking it all and living off the land to strangle animals (and their editor) with their bare hands. They admire trappers because they live the life they can only imagine.

The article comes with a video, but be warned it’s not for the feint of heart. In fact, watching it I’m reminded of that sneaky camera man who filmed Palin’s interview in front of the turkey slaughter. Someone behind that camera just might have an agenda that’s not too far from our own.

“The fur trade and traditions date long back before Alberta became a province and they really are what defined Canada in its day,” Kay says. “When you hang around trappers enough, you really get a sense for how much they actually do care about wildlife and wildlife habitat. It’s a passion. It really is. They do care deeply for them.“

And I care about trappers. I really do. I care deeply for them.

Take a walk on the Wild Side of Vancouver…

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers elsewhere, Beavers or Social Ambasadors, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental March 5, 2014

Eco Engineers

Maybe the most talked-about stat from the show: microloft apartments in Vancouver average 250 sq. ft. size, while a large beaver lodge can measure 300 sq. ft. Vancouver was once a beaver’s paradise of wetlands and forests. Some trees cut here were larger than any still standing in Canada. Today, the Vancouver region is the province’s largest clear-cut.

Making Vancouver a Wilder Place

J.B. MacKinnon’s RBC Taylor Prize Shortlisted non-fiction book, The Once and Future World, is now the inspiration for a new exhibition at the Museum of Vancouver, curated by the author. This is an exclusive look for Huffington Post readers into the new exhibition — Rewilding Vancouver. The author / curator worked with photographer Flora Gordon to visually explain how the exhibition and the book co-exist. His exhibition opened February 27, 2014 at Museum of Vancouver.

Remember when I came back from vacation full of ideas about Mr. MacKinnon’s book? Well, this morning the Huffington Post finally caught up and let the author do a nice story about his exhibit in Vancouver of what wildlife there used to look like. You should definitely check it out and while your there, comment and help me remind them that they need a full-page article on beaver benefits soon!

Rewilding Vancouver is an exhibition of remembering. It allows the public to reconnect with a forgotten history in order to look at the present and the possible future with new eyes.

Biggest beaver ever?

heidi08 Beaver-themed merchandise, Beavers elsewhere, Educational, Environmental March 4, 2014

Sadly this is not the work of a beaver chew, but a redwood poacher at Redwood National State Park. Folks have apparently been sneaking into the park at night and cutting out burls to sell or carve. The problem has gotten so common that they are closing the state and National park at night.

I hate the idea of these big trees being hunted like rhinos for their horn. I hope closing the park does the trick, but it may come down to some hidden security cameras on trees to find the bastards. My favorite trees in all the world are the Giant Sequoias they have at Calaveras, where I visited every summer as a kid. They are shorter and more massive than coastal redwoods, gnarled old giants that look like something from animation. Just standing under them makes you feel older and wiser. I think of Legolas visiting the ent forests in Tolkein:

“It [the forest] is old, very old,” said the Elf. “So old that almost I feel young again, as I have not felt since I journeyed with you children. It is old and full of memory. I could have been happy here, if I had come in days of peace.”

― The Two Towers, “The White Rider”

DSCF0067 — “The Bachelor” @ Calaveras Big Trees North Grove – Heidi

This is as good a time as any to tell you beaver-trackers that Bruce Thompson of Wyoming is printing us a set of track and scat scarves that will look like this. They should be ready for you to snap up in 6 color choices by Earth Day. Bring your checkbook! Looks like we will be working together to design just a wetlands track scarf soon.

What’s wrong with Renton?

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, Environmental, Who's Killing Beavers Now? March 3, 2014

City of Renton is dealing with beaver problems

Apparently beavers chew cottonwood trees! Who knew? After most of the horses were gone Renton closed the barn door and wrapped some of them, but sooooooo tightly. (They better not dare grow!) Why are these horrid rodents attacking the trees now? I mean it’s not like beavers survive on wood in the winter and plants in the spring and summer. It’s not like the head of the urban forestry department should know anything about coppicing, or beaver behavior for pete’s sake.

And it’s not like Renton is 40 minutes away from the smartest beaver county in the entire nation.

They got a letter, but I’m not holding my breath for these beavers. In Washington State you have to work hard to be this beaver-challenged. Sigh.

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Life as Performance Art

By Fr. G. Corwin Stoppel

I was doing a bit of archeological work in my closet during a recent snowstorm and unearthed a “Beaver Stick” carved by the late writer and historian Grant MacEwan.

MacEwan believed beavers were nature’s perfect animal. He wrote often about how industrious they are, look after their families, balance work with play and more. To be presented with one of his Beaver Sticks was a sign of honor and friendship.

I’d never heard of Grant MacEwan before so I visited wikipedia. He was a Canadian politician who became a well written historian and instructor after his retirement. MacEwan continued to be physically active, and was not known to waste any time. He believed that if you were awake you better be doing something. In his eighties, he still rode horses, hiked and walked, outpaced reporters while on morning jogs, built a log cabin and chopped logs with an axe.

He sounds pretty formidable, and to imagine a pro-beaver politician in Ontario makes me a little dizzy. Fr. Stoppel goes on to disagree with his praise of the animal:

As much as I appreciate Dr. MacEwan’s dedication to this species, it may have been shortsighted. All that hard work and industry comes when beavers build dams to create small lakes deep enough for their lodges. But after a few years, the ponds behind the dams start to fill with everything coming down river.

Eventually the water level drops and the lake turns into a pond, then marshland. The water flow was impeded and could not keep draining because of silt. The result oftentimes is flooding.

Yes, its horrible when beavers turn perfectly reasonable streams into functioning meadows. The geologists at USFS hate it, which is why they wanted to use beavers to do just that in the Sierras and needed to prove they were native to do so. (Which started the basis for our whole papers! Memories).

Well, it’s not the worst thing to remind Michigan that SOMEONE used to like beavers. They need about a million more reminders. Thanks for the history lesson!

I have no more donations to show you for the silent auction at the moment. Find me some! And wish me luck. First day back at the office post-hospital today.

Beaver App

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental March 2, 2014

I just got word from Mary Obrien about Utah’s new beaver-based water quality website. Check out the new tools and the way they rely on volunteers to monitor the health of their streams. I love seeing beaver science taught on a policy level, but the website looks a little sparse to me. No good photos of beavers and zero reference to Worth A Dam!

Why Beavers?

Beavers are an important part of aquatic ecosystems in Utah. As “ecosystem engineers” they help restore streams, clean the water, and create habitat for other wildlife.

Scientists at Utah State University need your help in identifying where beavers are located in Utah. Use the fun and easy iPhone or iPad app the next time you see signs of a beaver.

Beaver Effects on Ecosystems and Water Quality

Water Quality – Beaver dams filter excess nutrients and pollution, which improves water quality. Beaver dams also reduce stream channel scouring and erosion of stream banks and decrease sediment loading in lakes and streams.

Hydrology – Beaver dams slow water currents, increasing deposition of sediment and organic material. This stores both water and sediment behind the dam in the beaver pond.

Plants and Animals – The wetlands created by beaver dams provide habitat for plants, which provide food and cover for many types of animals. Beaver ponds help support high diversity and density of bird species. The variety and density of aquatic macroinvertebrates (water bugs) and fish have both been shown to increase in the presence of beaver dams. Beaver dams create ideal habitats for amphibians such as frogs, salamanders, and toads.

Well that’s a good start anyway – (beaver benefits are obviously too myriad to list on a single page, but I like how this is beginning!) There are some great videos on the site teaching volunteers to do basic and not-so-basic water tests, like this one on measuring Dissolved Oxygen.

Want to try monitoring beaver activity yourself? Click here to down load the app.

I just found out that Mary isn’t going to be joining us in Santa Barbara and am so disappointed! Something to do with Idaho and long-horned sheep. The beaver-steelhead conversation will miss your input, Mary. And I will personally miss your steely resolve! Just in case you forgot who Mary is on the beaver who’s who list, here’s a reminder from NPR.