Month: February 2016

Some good news about Michigan waterways…

heidi08 Beaver-themed merchandise, Beavers, Beavers and Birds, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Educational, Environmental, Urban beavers February 24, 2016

Yesterday two lovely copies of Gerry Wykes beautifully illustrated tale of the Detroit River beavers arrived in the mail. I can’t tell you how excited I was from the moment I opened and saw the striking frontspiece showing in part above. The first lines reminded me instantly of the Martinez Beaver story and the surprise with which people reacted to learn that beavers were lurking in their midst. But the tale continues with such a local sensibility to the particular meaning for this very urban river, that it was even more exciting.

The folks at the Conners Creek powerplant on the Detroit river were alarmed at first by some disappearing trees, which they attributed to vandalism, accident, or possibly Big Foot. The book makes a wonderful point of explaining that no one in their right mind would think the theft was the work of a beavers, since there had been no beavers in the Detroit river for 150 years! And just in case you’re wondering what America looked like then, Andrew Johnson was president (following Lincoln’s assassination) and in 1866 ‘negroes’ were officially recognized as American citizens.

Beavers came back to a very different Detroit river than the one they had been trapped out of.

The disappearing-tree mystery was solved with the help of a team of experts including Jason Cousino, who saw the remaining stumps and knew enough to install a night camera on one of the felled trees. Sure enough, a BEAVER was filmed returning to finish his hard night’s work. The city was elated, everyone merrily took credit for cleaning up the river. and it was even reported on Regis and Cathy Lee. Surely if the polluted Detroit river could make a comeback, anything was possible.

The hardworking beaver paid no attention to his fame, and set about making a massive lodge that from almost nowhere attracted a mate. To everyone’s surprise in the spring of 2009 kits were born. The author does a commendable job making the science of beavers, their adaptations, their life history, and even the fur trade exciting and accessible. Even though it’s written for a younger reader, I’d be fairly happy if every city official knew as much about beavers as they read in this book. Even the details of complex concepts like “coppicing” of trees are delightfully explained.

I adore this illustration in particular. (The colors are so vibrant and inviting I’m wishing it was the pattern on my bed sheets or kitchen towels.) In addition to the inviting animals, Wykes does a impressive job of showing the hardened urban skeleton they moved into, right down to the smokestacks and abandoned houses. His artwork beautiful captures the fragile resilience of “nature in the city”.

The representations of beavers are wonderfully accurate. He really captured all the parts of their lives in his illustrations. I’m not sure where the author gained such a fine familiarity with the beaver shape, shading and movements – but this gives me a little idea:

Compare - Copy — *Gerry Wykes Illustration: Cheryl Reynolds photograph*

There a few little mistakes we could have set him straight on if he had asked, like writing that beaver need Cottonwood or Willow to survive. Not true. Beavers LIKE those trees, but they can survive on a host of others including (but not limited to) Alder, Aspen, Maple, Oak, Elm and Fruit.There are even places like the Delta (the spot of historically the largest beaver population in California) where they survive without TREES – existing on Tule roots and cattails. He also mentions that folks came to America looking for the other kind of gold and were surprised to wind up with beaver gold. Which I suppose might be true for Columbus, but since we know even the pilgrims were hungry for cheap beaver fur, doesn’t sit right. It certainly doesn’t adequately describe the ruthless resource war that was taking place across this land for a century as folks sought out the ever-shrinking population of remaining beaver pelts. There, of course, could have been LOTS more information about the way that beavers help fish like salmon and trout, or wildlife like otter and mink, or herons, frogs, turtles and bats while helping rid streams of pollution. But, I’m picky. I admit it. Maybe I’m like the snobby wine connoisseur of beavers?

Regardless of those minor points, this is a beautiful book and worth holding in your hot little hands. It’s perfect as a gift for a curious youth or that nosy sister-in-law that was so interested in the sudden arrival of the curious Martinez Beavers. It goes on sale in March and is available from the publisher for 18.99. OR if you’re very lucky indeed, and no one gets there first, there will be a copy in the silent auction that you can claim for your very own.

Thanks Gerry and Wayne University Press for a truly delightful read!

White House Protects Beavers

heidi08 Beavers and Birds, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Beavers or Social Ambasadors, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental, Who's saving beavers now? February 23, 2016

So yesterday I was strolling blithely through the internet(s), minding my own business and expecting to see the usual array of appetizers and grandchildren on FB when I suddenly caught sight of this and became immediately interested. Something tells me you will to…

White House aims to put a value on ecosystem conservation

The White House has issued a directive (PDF) to point federal agencies toward building ecosystem-services valuation into their plans, investments and regulations. The directive, released late last year, will help agencies synthesize conservation’s ecosystem benefits with its value to society.

“For too long, we’ve thought of conservation as separate from society,” said Ken Elowe, assistant regional director of science applications for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) Northeast Region. “What’s actually needed is a more landscape approach, one that doesn’t segregate people.

Like say, for instance, allowing beavers to work their magic in urban areas.

Of course I immediately marched off and looked for the memo they were talking about. And verily, I say unto you, it was much, much better than I ever expected. Truly.

Read that title again: INCORPORATING ECOSYSTEM SERVICES INTO FEDERAL DECISION MAKING!!! Do you realize what a presidential memo about this means? It means EVERY federal agency that works with nature, habitat or wildlife is advised to put special value on these services. NOAA. BLM. USFS. FWS, APHIS. They are all directed to consider the ecosystem services of any species they manage.

Now mind you, it doesn’t actually SAY the word beaver in this memo, but it might as bloody well have. It goes on to describe in detail every single service they provide and their irreplaceable value. Don’t believe me? Just read for yourself.

And why wasn’t there a parade for this memo? What is wrong with me that you didn’t read about it on October 7th when it was released? The truth is NO ONE KNEW ABOUT IT. Or if they did they weren’t allowed to talk about it. I heard from Suzanne Fouty yesterday that she never heard about it at the Forest Service. And Brock Dolman said OAEC didn’t know about it either. This was a SLEEPER memo, obviously uncelebrated to risk upsetting as few people as possible, the same way you might transition your father to decaf without telling him. But I’m ringing and ringing the bell. And you can help. Here’s my news flash of the memo. With the exception of a single word it only contains actual text of the memo. You should be able to hit the plus button to make it bigger.

You can probably guess that single word.

headline-1

After that extreme gratification, you should lie back and enjoy the virtual smoke of Beth Pratt’s recent TED talk at Yosemite. She does a great job describing the importance of Urban Wildlife and the book she mentions will have the photo by a certain Martinez beaver defender you might recognize. I’m guessing this is going to make a difference for a host of beavers.

“Like beavers that pass in the night…”

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Earth Day, Educational, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers, Who's saving beavers now? February 22, 2016

This video shows a young European beaver being released back into the stream. It was posted by Bob Smith of Nature Nuts on the occasion of his retirement from the board of trustees on Scotlands Wild Beaver Group. The best laid plan of mice and men gang aft a’gley I guess.

Most likely you know of him from this program which was very delightful and well received. He lead hundreds of tours and field trips over the years. And was a staunch defender of the beavers. But wildlife advocates don’t always make the best team players. I assume there were personal reasons for the resignation. I’m aware there were factions on the Tayside beavers too, just as, over the many years, there were reasons for Worth A Dam to shuffle its membership.

The funny thing is, I always expect beaver relationships to last forever, you know like marriages, and am always surprised to learn that people get frustrated, grow apart or decide to do their own thing, (you know, like marriages).

I guess you never know who is a friend-for-life and who is just passing through. I wish we did. I wish people had clearly marked expiration labels on their foreheads so that you’d know “this person is going to provide a valuable service and then move on and you will never see them again.” Or “don’t get too annoyed about this person because they’ll be gone in a month”. I can’t tell you how many friends and strangers have helped with the beaver festival over the years, and I thought Oh good! Finally, we connected and now I can ask them for help again next year, only to realize they had passed on to other shores.

Clearly they weren’t married to beavers. Just dating.

Well, odds are, if you’re still reading this, you’re married to beavers too. So I can tell you the good news. Worth A Dam has been named the Environmental Education group of the year by the John Muir Association. Which is a nice acknowledgment of all our hard work and much appreciated. It means we get recognized at the upcoming Earth Day event and can carry the title proudly. Technically I don’t have the blessing to make this public yet, so I won’t broadcast on FB or press releases. But only friends read this website, so I can tell you, right?

I kept it secret for three whole days, though. That’s a lot for me`.

What’s it like where you are?

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Educational, Environmental, Who's blaming beavers now? February 21, 2016

I spent yesterday working on the application for our mural grant, which I am fairly happy with. Then I was amused to see this headline out of Connecticut:

Canton Public Works Department Keeps An Eye On Beaver Dams

CANTON — The public works department has gotten permission to lower or even remove beaver dams in town as it keeps an eye on a few that could cause flooding and other problems.

Public Works Director Robert Martin said his staff regularly monitors beaver dams in town. In anticipation of having to work on a few of them, the department sought permission from the inland wetlands agency earlier this month. That permit was granted for five years with the condition that heavy machinery not be used.

“We have a pretty good idea of where these dams are and their impact on town and private property,” Martin said.

Chris Vann, a wildlife biologist for the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said that agency routinely gets inquiries from municipalities on how best to deal with beaver dams.

“Beavers have been one of our most dealt-with species in the last 20 years,” Vann said. He said the state has a healthy population of beavers, estimated recently to be as many as 8,000.

Permission to lower and EVEN remove the dams? Um. I’m kind of loving Connecticut at the moment. Here in you-know-where the permission public works gets is a little more dire. I’m impressed the department of Energy and Enviornmental Protection has a population estimate though (Who on earth would combine those two departments? Someone who works for the power companies I guess.) Mr. Vann quotes a healthy population of 8000 – Gimme a sec and let me just do some math…

Wikipedia says CT is 5,543 square miles of which 12% are water – that makes around 698 square miles of water. A beaver population of 8000 spread around that would mean nearly 12 beavers per square mile. Which is a lot, if it’s true.

I’m not holding my breath.

Breaching a dam is one option but removing it entirely is often necessary and in some cases problem beavers have to be trapped and removed.

Vann said monitoring beaver activity is a continuous process for towns.

“They are persistent,” he said. “Beavers will use available habitat and towns repeatedly have to go back and remove dams.”

Martin said the town has worked on beaver dams before. One was removed near High Valley Drive that threatened to flood the road. He said he decided to seek a permit from the wetlands board after talking to Town Planner Neil Pade about the work that might have to be done.

“We knew this work would be in a regulated area,” Martin said. “We want to respect the wetlands board and for them to understand what we are doing.”

Oh those darned pesky ‘problem beavers’. Everyone seems to have a lot of those.

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One exciting part of the conversation on Friday was an invitation for me to come to Portland and present to the Wetlands Conservancy and the public about our work here in Martinez. They have the enviable problem where the scientists and officials all want urban beavers and the public aren’t so sure. They would have me present here on a friday evening and saturday morning do a meeting with the interested officials or science folk, which sounds really fun. I hadn’t heard of the Oregon Public House before (even though it made enough of a splash to be talked about in the NYT and Colbert report) but it has a big community ball room where I’d present and TWC will be one of their nonprofits in May so it might work out perfect.

So very Portland.

Speaking of generosity, the plates donation arrived yesterday from Sarah Melancon of the Thirdhalf Studios, Kitchen Beaver. They are so delightful. Thank you so much Sarah! I’m suddenly overwhelmed with an undeniable need for Sunday pancakes.

Do you think it would be too hard for Jon to make them in the shape of tails?

“She Sure Shot down the Sheet!”

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental February 20, 2016

So yesterday was another long meeting for the urban beaver paper that is squeezing past its deadline. We are mostly assembled with some tweaks and shuffles, and I am happy many Heidi remarks will remain, at least for consideration by the big wigs at NOAA. I was told that my section with painstaking references to news articles (and assembling those references was such a pain I cannot describe) may not survive as they are considered “Grey Literature” and unworthy in a scientific paper.

Grey Literature is written for the general public (Like this website) and not subject to peer review (Like this website). News articles are Grey Literature, even though if the thing you’re talking about is the fact that the issue was reported in the NEWS I don’t see how much more valid a reference could be.

Anyway, one exciting part of the conversation was about this reference from the Portugal et al 2015 article from the beaver management plan they prepared for Walmart. I loved SO MUCH of that article I never really got around to thinking about this part, which they had recommended cities try using in the strategy section.

Alright, I know not everybody took the time to read that so basically it advises that if you notch the dam to lower the water level and want to keep beavers from rebuilding it you can thwart them by hanging a sheet from fence posts so it flaps in the wind and scares the beavers sooo much they don’t rebuild the dam. Apparently it was recommended by a trapper who, oddly enough, happens to have family in Martinez, which is a strange coincidence but not part of the story.

I read it and felt a host of responses. First customary shame that I wasn’t informed about this wonderfully proven new technique, then wait-a-minute scrutiny as I narrowed my eyes and read it more closely, then doubt when I thought of our beavers getting used to trains and garbage trucks, then frank disbelief, as I picked up the phone and asked Mike Callahan what he thought.

Consider this an illustration of his response.Suffice it to say our opinions were well matched and I marched into the conference call and said for goodness sake, if my newspaper references were going to be thrown out as “grey literature” then the un-researched bed sheet notion should be hung out to dry too. Beavers habituate to noise, light, people and even linen. They would figure out how to get around it, or rip it down and use it in their dam. Eventually I succeeded in making it sound so ridiculous they were chagrined and agreed with me too.

So, just remember, out of all the many things I failed out and failed to do, change the world, change Martinez, implement a national beaver holiday, I at least bravely succeeded at shooting down the sheet.

And that’s something to be proud of.