Month: March 2016

Endless beaver promotion!

heidi08 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, Who's saving beavers now? March 21, 2016

Trees for Life charity puts case for governmental commitment to reintroducing beavers

The award-winning conservation charity, Trees for Life, is saying today that allowing beavers to be reintroduced to Scotland would be a golden opportunity, offering wide-ranging environmental, social and economic benefits.

The Scottish Government is due to decide on whether Eurasian beavers will be allowed to live freely in Scotland after an absence of some 500 years and in the run up to this decision, Trees for Life is urging ministers to recognise the beaver fully as a resident, native species.

Alan Watson Featherstone, Trees for Life’s Founder. says: ‘Allowing this native species to return would offer Scotland huge benefits. Beavers are superb ecosystem engineers and could transform and greatly improve the health of our rivers and forest ecosystems, help restore our depleted wetlands and reduce flooding – while substantially boosting wildlife tourism.

Beavers play a crucial ecological role and provide a range of important benefits for other species. They coppice and fell trees – letting light into the forest, enabling other species to grow and stimulating new growth of the trees themselves. By damming watercourses they create wetland areas – providing habitats for amphibians, invertebrates and fish, which in turn attract birds and otters.

Another great advertisement for beavers. Thanks Trees for Life and Scotland! Please keep dragging this decision out so more and more environmental groups write articles about how good beavers are. Scotland has become the beaver gift that keeps giving. Even if at the end of this they decide to defend their favorite ‘f’ words (Farmers and Fishermen) they will have done soooooooo much to promote beaver benefits in the news cycle that we will never ever stop thanking them.

Sometimes stubborn decision-makers produce the very best kind of opposition. Look at Martinez. If they had made up their mind quickly and intelligently I never would have had to research reasons why they were wrong and this website wouldn’t even exist!

Thank you notes all around.

What if concerned citizens themselves are the wildlife corridors?

heidi08 Educational, Environmental, Who's saving beavers now? March 20, 2016

*Writer Mary Ellen Hannibal, author of Spine of the Continent. Photo: Richard Morganstein*

Do you recognize this face? You really should as it belongs to one of the most brilliant nature writers of the day. Mary Ellen Hanibal is the author of the well-embraced “Spine of the Continent”, and a major subject this month at the Bay Nature website. She is currently working on a book on the subject of citizen science and wildlife corridors. A lecture series is promoting it and it’s not due for release until the end of August. I know you’ll recognize some of it though.

Searching for Heroes and Hope in an Age of Extinction

Noted environmental author and Bay Nature contributing writer Mary Ellen Hannibal was moved to write about large-scale efforts to protect the planet after watching conservation scientists weep as they shared their fears that the species they were studying wouldn’t be able to keep up with the rapid pace of environmental change. Out of that experience came The Spine of the Continent, a description of the large-scale effort to promote biodiversity along the chain of mountain ranges from Canada to Mexico. Her next book hones in on a new hope for preserving biodiversity: groups of concerned citizens who faithfully count and study the animals and plants in their local parks, in the wild, and even virtually.

It’s a great interview, and you really should go read the whole thing. In the mean time, I think we should play a game. Let’s pretend that you were a bay area writer tackling the subject of citizen science for an important book. Who would you be sure to interview? Who are the major players in Bay Area wildlife? And before you even start suggesting those river otter people you keep hearing so much about, read this.

Hi Heidi — I’m a journalist and the author of The Spine of the Continent: The Race to Save America’s Last, Best Wilderness. I’ll paste a short review of it below.

I actually wrote quite a bit about beaver in the book — two chapters. One chapter is about Mary O’Brien and her work with the Grand Canyon Trust to bring beaver back to Utah. Just this month Mary has put out a notice to the hundreds of volunteers who over the years have helped her collect data with which to get the Forest Service to change their grazing rules so that beaver habitat can be maintained. It was working with Mary that I conceived the idea of the book I’m writing now, about citizen science, since this is such a fantastic way to get people galvanized and making change.

I’m focusing on California in my book and would love to feature Worth a Dam. I can’t find a list of volunteer activities on your website but I bet you have them. Any other citizen-related engagement, where people actually help gather data and/or restore habitat? Do you know of other volunteer or citizen science related work around beaver in California?

There’s a cool beaver dam app also in Utah and I’m going to write an update about Mary but would love to have a California connection. In any case I’m writing about how beaver were here historically and that in some cases the agencies persist in looking at them as invasive — I’m going to suggest, hopefully in a tactful way, that this is an outdated way of looking at things purely through the lens of agriculture, ranching, and business in general, and that we have to look beyond those interests to the functioning ecosystem.

Thank you for doing your wonderful work — did you write the “beaver pledge” on your site? I’d love to include it in the book.

best,

Mary Ellen September 2014

p.s. I’d ask to come meet you but my deadline is crazily close and I really can’t leave my desk.

I’m sure part of what she was hoping our volunteers did was take fur samples or gather scat. Because that would be ‘science-y’. Just watching the beavers and observing what they do for 9 years apparently isn’t that science-y. Citizen science according to much of the world involves using cell phones to collect data that actual scientists would have gotten themselves if they had enough funding. It is not about observing a father beaver care for his kits when widowed or seeing him get remarried a 18 months later. It is not about noticing that one kit always used reeds when he built dams and his father tried on at least one occasion to show him that trees were more useful, and he ignored him.

That’s not ‘citizen science’. That’s ‘colorful science’.

But regardless, Mary wanted to include Worth A Dam in her book, and specifically asked to include this, which I’m dearly hoping made it past the final edits. I’m asking for an early copy for the silent auction, but you’ll have to come see for yourself whether its available.

A day in the life…

heidi08 Beavers March 19, 2016

The phoebe flitted to the other side of the rushing creek and shook her head at all the larva that was getting away. It was just starting to get light and she was hungry, as usual.

“Your dam is broken“

She scolded pointedly, jutting one wing in the direction of the largest gap where water was pushing through. Her tone was indignant, but the beaver didn’t look at her. He followed his plan of picking up as many sticks as he could carry. These he dumped in a cluster on the broken dam and came back for more.

“On it.“

He answered, unapologetically. When the phoebe looked ready to say more, he dove into the water where her chatter was muffled and building supplies were abundant. He balled up a wad of mud and swam to the surface just in time to catch the end of her sentence.

“…irresponsible!“

She was scolding, but flapped away when the egret fluttered to the creek bank. The tall white bird didn’t mind a hole or two in the dam for a while, as it made the escaping fish easier to catch. She stalked purposely downstream of the hole and demonstrated by spearing two in a row while he continued to work on the repairs.

“Don’t hurry on my account“.

She assured him, sounding as untroubled as you could with a mouthful of perch. He wasn’t. He had to swim quite a long way for the next branch, and left her to her breakfast. By the time he returned she had stopped spearing and starting to preen. Before she flew off the pond turtle crawled onto the opposite bank worriedly.

“Your dam’s broken!“

He exclaimed in frustration. He usually made a habit of ducking under the jutting branches at the edge of the bank to feed on the tasty vegetation there. Not today apparently, as his favorite restaurant was a noisy gush of escaping water.

“On it.“

The beaver said again, without irritation as he pulled up some reeds and grasses to place in the gap.The turtle shrugged and carried on walking slowly down stream, sensing that this was going to take a while, even by his standards. The beaver dove for more mud and was greeted by an irate muskrat when he returned.

“Your dam is broken!“

The muskrat scolded with alarm. “My children could be washed away in that current!” He and his family were living in the nearby beaver lodge at the moment, and the beaver immediately recognized him by his ridiculous tail.

“On it.“

He answered after weaving a particularly large branch through the debris. The gushing was definitely getting softer. He should know. A little more mud and grasses should do the trick. The muskrat darted back into the lodge to check on his children. Leaving the beaver to work in relative silence for a moment or two. There was always so much chatter. He liked it this way.

He managed to pull up a second mouthful of grasses before the sleek head darted out of the water. The otter startled him. They always did.

“Your dam’s broken” he said worriedly. “All the fish are getting out.”

The otter didn’t particularly care for his stout cousin’s tail slapping ways, but he had swam nearly four miles to get here and enjoy his breakfast of fatty fish. The eating was always better at a beaver dam, even if the company was annoying.

“On it.“

The beaver stuffed the remaining grasses into the last of the holes. The gush was nearly down to a trickle now. He was starting to feel hungry. but he kept working for a little more. The otter dove for a moment and returned to the surface with a rosy crayfish that he proceeded to crack and eat with relish.

“Your dam! It’s fixed!“

He exclaimed, ready to follow his delicious shellfish with something rounder. “Don’t let that happen again.”

The beaver reached up to grab a hanging willow branch which he would take with him into the lodge for a bed time snack.

“On it.“

Something else to blame beavers for?

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, Who's blaming beavers now? March 18, 2016

It’s bad enough America is constantly killing beavers, but yesterday the national zoo tried to blow some up! I got a stream of headlines and reports on this incident whose cause remains a mystery.

National Zoo looking into chlorine ‘boom’ near beavers and otters

The National Zoo and fire officials are looking into an apparent chlorine accident along the outdoor American Trail exhibit Thursday morning that created a “loud boom,” but caused no fire.

“There was an incident related to chlorine on American Trail, near the otters and beavers,” said zoo spokeswoman Devin Murphy. “There was a loud boom. No fire. No smoke.”

“No humans were hurt,” she said. “No animals were hurt. We cleared the area and D.C. fire is on scene and they’re investigating.”

Another spokeswoman, Pamela Baker-Masson, said the incident happened at 10:55 a.m. inside a small building that houses machinery that supports the beaver and otter exhibits. Chlorine is used in the water filtration system for the exhibits, she said.

A contract employee was inside the building. He smelled chlorine, and left. Then there was the boom. The fire department was summoned. Baker-Masson said she did not know what work the contractor the contractor was doing in the building.

Did you follow all that? The contractor was the only one exposed to the chlorine leak so we’re not responsible for his medical care. No one was hurt. And everything’s fine. FINE. Go look at the panda who’s doing something really cute and don’t worry about all the firemen. As soon as they give us the all clear we’ll go check on the otter and beaver and count how many are left.

See everything turned out fine! And zoo’s are good! We’ll be questioning witnesses to find the cause of this temporary inconvenience. I’m sure it wasn’t the otter’s fault. Everyone loves otters. They’re so playful! Beavers on the other hand are responsible for a great many calamaties. Floods, fires and power outages. West Nile Virus. In fact we really can’t trust them at all.

Better go bring in him first, he’s looking shifty.

www: Wetlands Work Wonders

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and water, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental March 17, 2016

Wetland enhancement in Midwest could help reduce catastrophic floods of the future .

According to a new study from Oregon State University, restoration of wetlands in the Midwest has the potential to significantly reduce peak river flows during floods—not only now, but also in the future if heavy rains continue to increase in intensity.

Wetland restoration could also provide a small step toward a hydrologic regime in this region that more closely resembles its historic nature, before roads and cities were constructed, forests were lost, and millions of acres tile-drained to increase agricultural production.

An evaluation of potential wetlands in one watershed in central Indiana found that if just 1.5 percent of the land were used for wetlands, the peak flow of the overall watershed could be reduced by up to 17.5 percent. Also of importance, researchers said, is that expansion of wetlands appears to provide significant benefits across a wide range of possible climate scenarios. The study was published in Ecological Engineering, in work supported by the National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“Flood management in the Midwest is now almost entirely concentrated on use of dams and levees,” said Meghna Babbar-Sebens, an assistant professor of civil engineering in the College of Engineering, and the Eric H.I. and Janice Hoffman Faculty Scholar at OSU.

“Wetland construction or restoration could provide a natural and ecological option to help with flood concerns, and serve as an additional tool for flood management. Greater investments in this approach, or similar approaches that increase storage of water in the upper landscape of a watershed, should be seriously considered.”

What was that? More wetlands in the midwest could reduce flooding and improve water quality? Get out! If only there was some crazy way the farmers could have those wetlands for free – providing a buffer for their crops and absorbing all those harmful nitrates. The article says there isn’t much funding for wetland restoration. Isn’t there anyway this could get done without a lot of money?

Wetlands help reduce some of these flooding problems by storing water away from stream channels and releasing it more slowly, while also improving water quality and providing wildlife habitat. Other studies have shown that wetland construction in the Mississippi-Ohio-Missouri river basins could also significantly reduce nitrogen loads in the rivers, which has led to an enormous “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico.

Robin Ellison just sent this perfect addition!

Rusty Cohn

Speaking of wetland restoration and Napa, Rusty took this last night at Tulocay pond in Napa when he was lucky enough to see FOUR beavers. Oh, I love the breathless anticipation of this time of year, or I would if we had any beavers still in Martinez.

Sniff.