Month: July 2014

Think of the children…

heidi08 Beavers and Birds, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental, Who's saving beavers now? July 6, 2014

This morning’s very important cautionary tale is taken from the opinion columns of New Mexico, where a well-meaning landowner is feeling like her good dead is getting punished, and a team of champions feel like befriending the water means making enemies on the land. The truth is that their positions are so close you can barely find daylight between them, but their hackles are so raised no one can see what shapes they take underneath. Read for yourself and then pass this on to every landowner and environmentalist you know.

My Turn: Caring about the environment by Ceilidh Creech

A little more than two years ago I started noticing sticks in the river that bisects my property.

Over time the stick piles grew, rocks and mud were added, a dam was formed and an environmental wonder began. Fascinated, I watched new dams at different angles being built on dry land and wondered if there was something mentally wrong with my new little residents. Why would they be building on dry land, I wondered, only to discover they knew exactly what they were doing when shortly thereafter I observed the water they had diverted to the once dry land.

New visitors began appearing. Osprey, bald eagles, great blue heron, merganzers, mallards, teal, wood ducks and Canadian geese. Nests were built. Babies were born. The cycle of life was a joyous event that I have been privileged to observe. Birds that were not observed here before are now regulars. western tanagers, Lewis woodpeckers, red winged black birds, Bullock’s orioles, black headed and evening grosbeak, pinon, stellar and scrub jays, warblers in every color imaginable.

For more than two years I watched the wetland environment grow, and a river that once was a puny little stream swell. And as my dry land was taken over by wetlands I defended the beaver’s right to be on my property. I spoke before the interstate stream commission, I answered to complaints (made by a seasonal resident and well known trouble maker) to state Fish and Game, The Department of Transportation and Sen. Tom Udall’s assistant.

It was finally determined that the beavers weren’t causing problems. I made a routine of managing their activities to keep them out of trouble. I installed three flow devices to control the water levels. I began to take a sledge hammer to regularly breach their dam in five places to alleviate some of the run off. Everything seemed to be under control and the little furry family created what they were put on this earth to create. A habitat.

I was happy to learn that the beavers are recharging the river and that an underground pond is forming below the dam, under the river, that will release water into the river during times of drought.

I finally became secure in the knowledge that the beavers could stay and would be safe from harm and would not be killed. And then a final blow was delivered from a source I would have least suspected. Amigos Bravos.

By allowing the beavers to create a wetland on my property the water source boundaries on my property changed. Amigos Bravos, owners of nothing, champions of determining what is best for other people’s property, pushed their agenda on the county, rules were made. County rules dictating that I cannot build anything, not even a sidewalk, within 150 feet of any water source. Even though the feds, state and acequia associations already have established setbacks, the county voted to meddle in the business of water and impose harsher regulations.

So Ceilidh allows beavers to make a magical wetland out of her dry sedge and is told that now she can’t build closer to the water than 150 feet. Which means that shed or gazebo is out of the question. Why did she ever let those beavers stay? She used to own nine acres, and now she barely has two? Should other landowners take caution from her story and prevent beavers from drowning their land?

My Turn: ‘Our rivers need a voice‘ Rachel Conn

In her “My Turn” column (The Taos News, June 19), Ms. Creech makes an eloquent argument for the protection of beavers and for the fertile environmental habitats that wetlands create – habitats that enhance wildlife, raise the water table, and revitalize rivers. I certainly could not have made a better case for the importance of protecting wetlands and riparian habitat – which is the mission of Amigos Bravos and the intent of the new river protection buffers put in place by the County Commission.

Commissioners Gabriel Romero, Dan Barrone and Tom Blankenhorn are to be commended for bringing river protection into the 21st century.

Our rivers need a voice. The new land use regulations provide space for this voice by ensuring that rivers and the creatures that depend upon rivers have the room to thrive. Prior to the new regulations, there were no restrictions on building along the banks of rivers in Taos County. As a result we have seen development in the form of residential houses, parking lots, and commercial buildings built right up to, and sometimes even hanging over the precious few rivers and streams we have in Taos County. This has resulted in problems for the river and wildlife, as well as problems for homeowners.

Amigos Bravos believes beavers are crucial for protecting and restoring river health. On numerous occasions Amigos Bravos has fielded calls from the public concerned about beavers being trapped and killed. We have found, when taking action to stop the destruction of beavers and their dams, that beaver removal is more often that not prompted by landowners complaining that beavers are causing flooding in nearby homes or septic systems. The new comprehensive land use regulations will help to minimize these conflicts — and thus protect beavers — by ensuring that houses are built at least 85 feet from the stream.

Many of the rivers in Taos County are not meeting water quality standards for dissolved oxygen, temperature, E.coli, and conductivity. Setbacks (buffers on either side of rivers) are effective at reducing all of these pollutants. Research has shown that setbacks are effective at removing sediment in runoff; reducing stream bank erosion; removing phosphorus, nitrogen, and other nutrients that can lead to low levels of dissolved oxygen in aquatic ecosystems. In addition, by protecting the riparian corridor along rivers and streams, the capacity of the river system to store floodwaters is increased, thereby decreasing the risk of flood damage to property. Healthy riparian corridors also help to maintain habitat for fish and other aquatic organisms; maintain base flow in stream channels; and improve the aesthetic appearance of stream corridors (which can increase property values).

Rachel has a point. And most landowners dislike E. Coli.

The truth is Ceilidh and Rachel need to sit down together over a few beers and realize that they both want the water and land protected. Rachel should be working with her team to incentivize landowners for allowing wetlands through environmental tax credits, and Ceilidh needs to recognize that even through her land seems valuable now, it’s nothing compared to what the water’s going to be worth in a few years.

Have another beer. First one’s on Worth A Dam. It’s Taos for chrissake, so we’ll chip in for some chips and salsa too. Keep drinking and talking. Just do it.

Oh the owner and Amigo should be friends!

One gal likes her dry lands wet

The other wants what’s built back set

but that’s no reason why they can’t be friends!

Beaver-lovin’ folks should stick together!

Beaver-lovin’ folks should all be friends.

Owners thanked with a wetland credit

Buildings kept off the waters ends!

After you’ve had a few, stagger back to her land and watch the beavers swim around in the water and play. It’s summer so their are probably little ones to enjoy. That always helps us get along better.

Beaver Independence

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Environmental, Who's Killing Beavers Now?, Who's saving beavers now? July 5, 2014

Beaver Believers has hit the final 12 hours of their Kickstarter, and producer Sarah Koenisberg says she’s proud, humbled, and excited by how it’s gone! Someone has stepped forward and will match all funds raised above $15k – pretty awesome! So we have until 3pm today to make one final press to support this important film – the only film to feature our own Martinez Beavers and their festival! Please check your penny jar and see if you have anything left to spare.

Jon and I were on the bridge last night watching out for beavers with the massive foot traffic that was making its way down to the fireworks. Many surprised passers-by saw 4 beavers, including the little peanut who was taking advantage of the very high tide to get out of his playpen, over the secondary and swimming through the secondary to look for treats! This is the most horrible footage in the history of the world with all the bouncing foot traffic on the secondary, but at least he had the good sense to go back inside after this. Fun to hear so many visitors saying they saw the documentary on PBS about beavers and they couldn’t wait to come back to this years festival! Even a family from Walnut Creek who were all members of the SF Scottish Fiddlers and wanted to play this year but there wasn’t room!

It looks like Derek Gow in Scotland is thinking about a legal battle over the Devon beavers and that’s music to my ears. The sinister part of DEFRA’s decision is that the conclusion of the Scottish Beaver Trial means the final decision will be made in 2015, which means beavers will be formally back in the UK and protected. So they want to get rid of these refugees NOW while they’re still unsafe. Isn’t that rotten?

Expert may mount legal challenge to Defra’s beaver removal plan

Mr Gow said: “The Eurasian beaver is a former native species. There is significant national and local support for the restoration of this species and a wider appreciation within society of the ecological benefits that would accrue from its presence. Britain is now the last large western European nation state where the species has not been reintroduced.”

In conclusion, he said the beavers on the Otter should be captured and tested and – if clear of the EM disease – be tagged and re-released following a survey to ensure the river was a suitable home for them.

Mr Gow added that he and his colleagues would consider a legal challenge if Defra went ahead with the capture and re-homing programme.

Go Derek Go! He has been lone voice for beaver in the region for so long, but the tide is changing and he’s not alone anymore. And this is just the kind of negative ad campaign Martinez learned was so effective in raise public support for beavers! Nice work DEFRA!

I was a little more surprised to see the Austrian version of this story running Cheryl’s photo! But it’s on wikipedia so that means everyone in the world can use it. Your welcome!

And even if you had your share of fireworks last night, you HAVE to watch this because it’s a historic first that was never possible before and may never be legal again. This was filmed by drone last night from INSIDE the explosion of fireworks in West Palm Beach Florida in May. It had a couple thousand hits when I first saw it last night, now it is cresting 2 million. Aside from being the single best use of a drone ever, watch all the way through, because it will blow every part of your mind.

Apparent this amazing use of the drone caught the attention of authorties and is illegal. Check out the disapproving article on Forbes. But if Jos Stiglingh does ever get in trouble for this his attorney only needs to show the video to the jury. Because it’s awesome.

Bringing out the big guns…

heidi08 Beavers and salmon, Beavers elsewhere, Beavers or Social Ambasadors, Creative Solutions, Who's saving beavers now? July 4, 2014

Stop the control freaks who want to capture England’s wild beavers

The government is going against public opinion, and its reasons for wanting to rehome beavers in Devon fall apart easily

British people love wildlife, but the government, yet again, seems determined to show that it hates it.

An opinion poll in Scotland found that 86% of respondents were in favour of reintroducing the beaver. As most people seem to understand, it’s a magnificent animal which can enrich our lives and our countryside. It was once part of our native fauna, but was exterminated by hunting. It’s also a critically important species, essential to the functioning of aquatic ecosystems.

So when beavers were discovered, living and breeding on the River Otter in Devon, after they escaped from a collection somewhere, the public reaction was, overwhelmingly, delight. It’s the first population to live freely in England for hundreds of years.

So how does the government respond to this enthusiasm? “We intend to recapture and rehome the wild beavers in Devon,” says the environment minister, George Eustice. Why?

The government gives the following reasons for capturing England’s only free beavers:

Depending on the source of the animals, they could be carrying a disease not currently present in the UK. In addition, beavers have not been an established part of our wildlife for the last 500 years. Our landscape and habitats have changed since then and we need to assess the impact they could have.

Let’s take these one by one. The disease it’s referring to is alveolar echinococcosis, which infects animals and (less frequently) humans, and is caused by the fox tapeworm (Echinococcus multilocularis). It can be carried by many species. As the government says, the disease is not present in the UK, and it should certainly be kept out.

A government assessment notes that the probability of a beaver brought to Britain being infected with this tapeworm “is negligible if sourced from a free area (e.g. Norway) and low if sourced from an endemic area (e.g. Bavaria).” Free means places without fox tapeworm; endemic means places where some animals are infected.

We don’t yet know where the Devon beavers (or their ancestors) originated. But there’s a straightforward, single-step test for determining whether or not they are carrying Echinococcus multilocularis: a DNA analysis of their faeces. It’s so accurate that you can detect the presence of the tapeworm from less than a single egg. In other words, you can discover whether or not England’s only free beavers are carrying the disease without having to capture them.

This is one of those articles that’s so well written and spot-on in every single way that it’s impossible to choose the ‘good bits’ to quote. You need to go read the whole thing, especially the part where he talks about staying with Paul and Louise in Bamff and delighting in their beavers firsthand.

A couple of months ago, I visited Bamff in Perthshire, where beavers have been allowed to recolonise the valley of a small stream. The results are astonishing: a transformation from dull pastureland to a mosaic of ponds and marshes, little lawns (maintained by the beavers) and coppiced trees, swarming with life of all kinds.

In the evening, hiding under the trees, I watched the beavers, which are shy animals, emerging from their dams, swimming around the pools they have created, feeding and playing. I defy you to do the same without becoming entranced. Watching them turn from hippo to dolphin and back again as they moved between land and water, picking up hints about their elaborate social structures as they groomed each other and swam together, seeing them navigate the marshy maze they’ve built, I was overtaken by an awe and enchantment that I have seldom felt in this country.

Good lord. Can you imagine the conversation that night sitting down to a pint (or a sherry?) with Paul and Louise by a crackling fire in the great room and talking about a UK filled with beavers? I am so jealous I can almost taste it. But thank God for the Ramsay’s and their gentrified protection of beavers. They bring a very classy element to the discussion.

As for the claim that “Our landscape and habitats have changed since then and we need to assess the impact they could have”, Miles King has neatly swatted it on his excellent blog:

Sorry? Defra are suggesting that a once ubiquitous native mammal, which was hunted to extinction, might not fit into our modern landscape and habitats. Surely that’s a problem with our perception of landscape, not an argument for removing a native mammal. As for habitats, look at the equivalent habitats in Europe with beavers and compare them with the UK habitats without, then tell me we will be better off without them … The point is that beavers create habitats and public environmental goods that we have missed for the last 500 years; habitats that support a whole range of other species. Is it better to create a pond with a Hy-mac, or have a beaver create one?

When the given excuses fall apart so readily, we need to look for other explanations. One, perhaps, is this government’s obsession with control, and its apparent desire to imprison anything and anyone that does not conform to an ever narrower range of prescribed behaviour. Another is its determination to appease powerful interest groups, even if they carry almost none of the public with them.

In this case the group lobbying hardest for their removal is, incomprehensibly, the Angling Trust.

Hand me the popcorn. If George Moonbiot is really going after the beaver-phobic anglers, I want a front row seat. I am sick and tired of pretend fishermen being revered when they lie about beavers.

I find the trust’s position astonishing. Throughout the period in which beavers last lived in Britain, almost all our rivers swarmed with vast runs of migratory fish such as salmon, sea trout, lampreys and shad. Giant sturgeon swam from the sea into the heart of Britain. Huge burbot lurked on the river beds. Today, burbot and sturgeon are extinct here and the populations of many other species, especially the migratory fish, have been greatly reduced.

Studies show that in both Sweden and Poland, the trout in beaver ponds are on average larger than those in the other parts of the streams: the ponds provide them with habitats and shelter they cannot find elsewhere. Young salmon grow faster and are in better condition where beavers make their dams than in other stretches.

I’m an angler, and the Angling Trust does not represent me on this issue. I know others who are disgusted by the trust’s position, and it would not be surprising to discover that the majority of its members belong to the 86%. Most anglers, in my experience, have a powerful connection with nature. The chance of seeing remarkable wild animals while waiting quietly on the riverbank is a major part of why we do it.

When I visited Bamff in May, the pools and runs the beavers had created were stippled with rising brown trout, feasting on the resurgent insect life. Hawthorn flies and iron blue duns – species of great interest to anglers – clouded the air, in greater numbers than I’ve seen anywhere else in Britain. Why would people who fish not want this?

Oh my goodness. I think I have a crush on Mr. Moonbiot. I haven’t read anything so fun in a while. This should throw a monkey wrench into the works at DEFRA. I hope so anyway. In the meantime I’m just happy Paul and Louise are out there on the front lines, making a difference.

Oh and guess who just came back from a visit with them? Our old friend from New Zealand, William Hughes Games. He wrote about his lovely adventure here, you’ll definitely want to see the visit through his eyes. He also took on those stubborn anglers, well armed with research.

Benefits of Beavers to Fish

However, it would be hard to justify beaver dams just on the fact that they don’t impede the migration of salmon and trout. The really important reason for beaver ponds vis a vis fish is that they are fantastic nurseries for fish. Rather than typing the whole story again, have a look at this site. In point form, Beaver ponds:

* catch twigs, wood chips leaves and so forth which powers a cellulose based detritus cycle which feeds juvenile salmon

* catch spent adult salmon in the fall and incorporate their nutrients into the pond ecology and ecology of the surrounding area – also feeding juvenile salmon when they hatch out in the spring.

* increase the total amount of salmon habitat by turning seasonal streams into perrenial streams and providing perennial ponds.

* clear the water of silt making the habitat more acceptable for salmon and trout and allowing light down to the bottom of the stream so that water plants can root and grow.

* provide deep water where predatory wading birds can not operate

* provide many nooks and cranies around the lodge and dam were small fish can hide.

* provide quiet water so that the energy the fish takes in with its food is used for growth instead of for fighting currents.

* evens out stream temperature.

Oh and because the Gods of beavers combine all intelligent things eventually, William ends his entry with a quote from Mr. Moonbiot on re-wildling.

Lastly a word about rewilding, not from me but from George Monbiot. I put this in because many people in Scotland, amongst them beaver enthusiasts, are determined, in so far as possible, to bring back the exact variety of Castor fiber that existed in Scotland before it was extirpated. The Norwegian variety seems to be the favored one. I can see where they are coming from but I would be inclined to bring some beavers from all over Europe, introduce them into various catchments and see which variety does best in an ecology which is nothing like it was 400 years ago, never mind a thousand years ago. Further more, let them breed together when they meet and with this greater available genetic pool, develop a beaver by natural selection which is most suited to Scotland. George Monbiot, it his book Feral, p8 expresses it much better than I could.

“So young a word , yet so many meanings. By the time ‘rewilding’ entered the dictionary, in 2011, it was already hotly contested. When it was first formulated, it meant releasing captive animals into the wild. Soon the definition expanded to describe the reintroduction of animals and plants species to habitats from which they had been excised. Some people began using it to mean the rehabilitation, not just of particular species, but of entire ecosystems; a restoration of wilderness. Anarcho-primitivists then applied the word to human life, proposing a wilding of people and their cultures. The two definitions of interest to me, however, differ slightly from all of these.

The rewilding of natural ecosystems that fascinates me is not an attempt to restore them to any prior state, but to permit ecological processes to resume. In countries such as my own [UK], the conservation movement, while well intentioned, has sought to freeze living systems in time. It attempts to prevent animals and plants from either leaving or – if they do not live there already – entering. It seeks to manage nature as if tending a garden. Many of the ecosystems, such as heaths and moorland, blanket bog and rough grass, that it tries to preserve, are dominated by the low, scrubby vegetation which remains after forests have been repeatedly cleared and burnt. This vegetation is cherished by wildlife groups, and they prevent it from reverting to wood-land through intensive grazing by sheep, cattle and horses. It is as if conservationists in the Amazon had decided to protect the cattle ranches, rather than the rainforest.”

by the by, have a look at George’s TED talk on rewilding.

Ok.

Beaver Investments with Joe

heidi08 City Reports, Creative Solutions, Who's saving beavers now? July 3, 2014

Restoration Ecologist Joe Cannon, standing on a beaver dam in Liberty Lake Regional Park, searches for solutions when beavers become pests.

Man vs. Nature

The outdoors can be a bit hard to tame — but for restoration ecologist Joe Cannon, that’s part of why it’s worth preserving

That’s where Joe Cannon, restoration ecologist for the Lands Council’s beaver program, comes in. It’s his job to be an advocate, of sorts, for beavers — to show that, as irritating and destructive as nature can be, it’s worth protecting.

When beavers chew up a farmer’s orchard trees or wreak havoc on local infrastructure, Cannon meets with the landowners to try to find a solution. That may mean wrapping fencing around certain trees or running pipes through the beaver dam in order to shift the flow of a river.

About a third of the time, when beavers are too much of a nuisance, he traps them, brings them home and keeps them in his backyard, until he can trap the rest of the family. Then he and other volunteers transfer the whole beaver clan up to the Colville National Forest.

Ideally, though, his advocacy pays off. He’s able to convince the farmers and homeowners that beavers play a starring role in the local ecology. “These conversations are really important to have when someone is losing thousands of dollars in property,” Cannon says.

Joe Cannon of the Lands Council has earned this lovely article which emphasizes solutions, beaver benefits, and nature being natural. The Lands Council has been a beacon on the hill to beavers supporters for more years than I can count. Joe started out as an intern through Americorp for them, and it transitioned into a career. With them he has helped make national news, creative legislation, and ground-breaking policy with neighbor-to-neighbor level interventions. And they made this, which remains one of the most awesome things you’ll ever see.

Joe and Amanda came to Martinez to see our beavers in 2011. We had dinner, talked beavers and did a post mortem on that year’s festival. Then we went down and watched the beavers in person. They were both amazed at how closely and easily they could be observed. The next week there was a huge article about their work in the Wall Street Journal!

Yes, the beaver is disruptive. But that’s why it’s valuable. It dams rivers, redirects streams, digs side channels, fells old trees. A little gnawing, and — timber! — it has altered nature’s rhythm.

“They add fish habitat, they add fish streams, cover for fish and perches for birds to hunt,” Cannon says. “When they’re taking down cottonwoods and aspens, a small forest comes up from the roots.” As beavers paw at the sediment that collects at the back of their dams, they’re spreading seeds.

Great work Joe! If you’re hungry for more here’s the interview I did with him back in 2012.

Kit and Kaboodle

heidi08 Creative Solutions, kits July 2, 2014

Well it finally happened. Our new precious member decided to show his adorable face before the sun went down. And we couldn’t be happier. The evening started with very high tide and an otter right near the bank hole at the secondary dam.

Since Cheryl had seen the kit at the secondary dam the night before we started the evening there, but dashed off to the primary when Jon saw this.

What a little peanut! We were happy to see mom and several yearlings in attendance that night. At one point uncle found a treat and the little fellow tried fearlessly to steal it from him. The adult finally slapped his foot and swam off in aggravation!

Never mind, his mother still loves him.

Turn your sound up so you can hear him whine when she swims off! What mother could leave that little voice behind? The photographer who was there that night said that this kit was bigger than the one he filmed the night before, so stay tuned. There may be another chapter to come. If you want to see how big this peanut is, watch until the end where he climbs out onto the bank. All systems a go!

Celebrate with us (and Sherri) with this delightful praise to Gaia. The Beaver Believer film is only a few dollars shy of their goal. If you haven’t pledged you have three days left to add your voice to the project.