Month: June 2017

What, you think this is easy?

heidi08 Beavers June 25, 2017

Here’s something that will surprise you. It’s from our German photographer friend Leopold Kanzler at fotopirsch. Now I know you don’t watch every single video I post, it takes time to load, you have to feed the cat etc. But take time to watch this. Seriously. I truly never appreciated what a slow, laborious process this was before.

Our water bill arrived yesterday, which I wouldn’t mention except for what was inside! We were able to add a festival insert into 10,000 water bills delivered in June and July. Isn’t that wonderful?

Heh heh, I had to submit the artwork before Amelia made the design, so I used an old one of her designs. I think the was the first one she painted. Way back for our 4th festival,

I know Sunday is supposed to be all full of good news, but this week there is truly crappy news that I am so very sorry to report. I found out yesterday that the cheerful and hardworking Ted Guzzi, of the Sierra Wildlife Coalition, died after a too-short battle with cancer. Ted was the one who installed the flow devices at Taylor Creek, and other locations. He was able to die in the Sierras, in the magnificent home his wife Sherry the architect had designed, and surrounded by friends and family. Ted had just been diagnosed the year that Sherry drove me to the State of the Beaver Conference (2013). There was lots to talk about. At that time everyone was hopeful he was so young and strong they would wipe it out easily. I was especially attentive because it happened to be the same kind of cancer with which my father had just been diagnosed.

This week I’m thinking that all the WRONG people get cancer.

Louis T. Guzzi (Ted)

On June 18, Louis T. Guzzi, known to all but officialdom as Ted, died peacefully at his home in Carnelian Bay, surrounded by friends and family, after a long, hard fight with cancer—the last act of an exemplary life. He was 70 years old.

In 1965, the day after he graduated from Mira Loma High, he headed straight for Yosemite to begin what would be the first of nine seasons of work for the National Park Service in Tuolumne Meadows as a garbage man—considered, by those in the know at the time, to be the dream job.

In the off-season, he would travel around the state in his VW van, constantly adding to his knowledge about the flora, fauna, geography, and geology of his adopted state, creating a map in his head of all the best places where nobody went.

Ted had spent winters in the early 70’s working for his brother-in-law in the construction trade in Lake Tahoe, and in 1981 he returned to pick up where he left off. As fate would have it, and Tahoe being Tahoe, an old friend from Yosemite days, an architect, happened to be living there. She had a house, a job, and VW van. “Why not?” as Sherry puts it. They were married in 1983, and by 1984 they were finishing each other’s sentences.

Soon they partnered up with a friend, Kevin Homan, in an enterprise called Timber Design, building custom, hand-crafted, artistically refined log homes, not only in and around Tahoe, but in Montana as well.

For the next 25 years, this is how they spent their time between adventures, which involved not only plenty of backpacking trips with friends into the high country but extensive travels to the far corners of the earth. On the side, they volunteered with the BEAR League and the Sierra Wildlife Coalition, educating Tahoe residents and visitors about their wild neighbors—bears, beavers, coyotes, and all the rest.

Over the course of his full life, Ted Guzzi became a master of the art of living, turning everything he touched into art, and every other person he met into a lifelong friend. Fatherless from the age of five, and childless by choice, he was famous for treating his friends’ children, and miscellaneous strays, as lovingly as if they were his own. He didn’t have to work at being generous, it was just his nature. As one friend said, “I have never known a better human being.”

Let’s leave it at that.

Beavers can change things if we can change things for beavers

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water June 24, 2017

Yesterday I found out that the Martinez Library pastport project will conclude on the day of the beaver festival. And features a beaver Herald! Of course I immediately made friends with the organizer and arranged to have postcards of our event on display.

On Monday I’m off to Auburn to present on the beaver-salmon connection to our friends at SARSAS again. Apparently I’ve worn down Mary Tappel because she isn’t presenting there as well for the first time since calendars were invented. But there will still be plenty of controversy. On Thursday they got an email from a member opposed to beavers who dramatically said he had seen a 20 inch salmon skewered on the protruding stick of a beaver dam just down stream. Whatever research is being presented by me about beavers, it doesn’t apply to streams in Placer Country, because Gold Country!

Once again Pigpen’s cloud of controversy will follow me wherever I go. Wish me luck!

Back where I come from there are men and women who do nothing but good deeds for beavers all day, they are called… good deed doers! Just look at a sample of their work.

Taylor Creek Visitor Center to host family-friendly nature, bird festivals

The “Wild Tahoe Weekend” kicks off on Saturday, June 24, with the sixth annual Native Species Festival. Field professionals will lead nature walks, and a variety of agencies from around the basin will be hosting educational booths and activities for all ages.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will have live Lahontan cutthroat trout in an aquarium, California State Parks will have stuffed examples of native birds of prey, and Sierra Wildlife Coalition will discuss beavers and coyotes. The Friends of Grover Hot Springs will also be on hand to discuss invasive species.

[Ed’s note] “which the beaver is NOT”. Good work Sherry and Ted! Because sometimes you do good work on the front lines, and sometimes in the back room there’s this from beaver guardian Stan Petowski.

OK seven years of work with a great group of people. Salem, Oregon yesterday the Governor ceremonially signed Senate Bill 3. This law protects approximately 23,000 miles of Oregon river system salmon and lamprey habitat from suction dredge mining. The law was approved by a bipartisan vote in the Oregon House and Senate. Lots of work with savvy people. Thank you all for working with me and teaching me to work with you. Native Fish Society, Mark P. Sherwood and Jake Crawford, thank you so much for carrying so much of the weight.

The Madness of Manitoba

heidi08 Beaver Art, Beaver Behavior, stupid solutions, What's killing beavers now? June 23, 2017

Sometimes there is so much good news about beavers you almost forget what a horrible, stacked deck they face in egregious and uninformed parts of the world. It can feel like beavers have ‘turned a corner’ and no one can legitimately challenge their value again. And then you see articles like this. Manitoba is the Canadian Province right next to Sascatchewan and has obviously learned all their least impressive alarms and tricks over the years.

Dam those beavers

Infestation causes destruction in Interlake.

ASHERN — A certain buck-toothed, flat-tailed national symbol with a waddling gait is wreaking havoc in parts of Manitoba on a scale not seen in a lifetime. Armies of beaver are penetrating deeper and deeper inland in the Interlake and some other parts of Manitoba, flooding farm fields with their dams and destroying municipal infrastructure such as roads.

“It’s just beaver country like stupid,” said Dan Meisner, a councillor with the RM of Grahamdale who is in charge of beaver control. Meisner, who is also a trapper, took out 400 nuisance beavers in one recent spring-summer period alone.

Beaver country like stupid? I really, really believe that, Dan. Exactly like stupid. Because the entire province is surrounded by solutions and you can only see problems. It’s like you’ve been given a vast carpentry set with complex engineering tools thrown in and you’re stumbling around looking for the hammers.

People in the area say there haven’t been beaver in this part of the province since before their grandparents’ day. Meisner remembers finding a stick stripped bare by a beaver and taking it to show-and-tell at school because it was so rare.

The province said it has not received an increase in beaver complaints, but could provide no other data on the beaver population.The province started offering a $15 bounty per beaver three years ago, but RMs regard it as a drop in the bucket. The RM of Grahamdale has tacked on an additional $35 per beaver.

Manitoba also provides up to $750 for removal of a beaver dam, but recommends getting rid of the beaver first or the dam will just be rebuilt.

The problem in the Interlake has been brewing since at least 2003 and progressively getting out of control, landowners said. As the beaver move inland, it’s imperative they build more dams to survive because they need water — they are almost completely defenceless on land. So they block culverts, causing ditch water to backup and flood land.

“They’re like rats and they keep populating,” he said.

“Whenever you go to get a beaver, it never lives in a nice place. You’re either going through thick ice or in heavy bush with mosquitoes and bulldogs (horseflies),” Meisner said.

Because honestly, there is nothing in the world less pleasant than spending time at a beaver pond. They are wetland slumlords, you know. With all those fish and dragonflies getting in your way. It’s startling to me that not one person has noticed that the reason they haven’t seen an ‘infestation’ of beavers before in their grandfather’s lifetime is because the very clever fur trade had KILLED THEM ALL!

I’m sure they remember that as the good ol’ days.

Let’s have a nice palate cleanser after that bitter beaver pill. Deborah Hocking is the talented artist who did the illustrations for the successful book “Build Beaver Build“. She was one of the artists I implored to donate to our silent auction. As it happened she liked our story SO much she offered to design us a bookmark for the event, which we can give out at the festival. We figure kids can use them with their journals and they’ll be a perfect match.

I talked to her yesterday and sitting down at her desk busy designing right now. Wish her muses of castor, okay? I can’t wait to see the finished product. Here’s the lodge image she included in the book just to get you interested.

Cue Justin!

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beaver Chewing, Beavers, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Educational, Environmental, featured, Who's saving beavers now? June 22, 2017

Steve Holmes is a creek-loving water steward of the South Bay, and is the tireless and driving force behind friends of Los Gatos creeks and the Clean Creeks Coalition of the South Bay. I met him at our 2010 talk in San Jose, and he has been watching anxiously to see if beavers come back to Las Gatos creek now that things are getting wetter. Last weekend he got his wish and posted this on facebook.

Since 2013, we have seen the return of Beaver into our urban waterways after a 170 year absence. Originally, a family of beaver were located near the Confluence and over time they have spread out across the Guadalupe Watershed. Today after seeing signs of beaver activity and a sighting from one of our Facebook followers, we visited Los Gatos Creek and the beaver was more than happy to swim by and let us catch this video, makes all the sweat equity worth the effort! Santa Clara Valley Water District SJEnvironment City of Campbell Save The Bay (San Francisco) Guadalupe-Coyote Resource Conservation District

Now because of this unexpected siting and some chewing clues Steve felt he might have more the one in the area. He put up a tail cam at the suspected location, and kept close watch.

Last night he sent me this.

I’m sure all you beaver experts will know exactly what I soberly exclaimed when you watch that footage. And what our VP Cheryl Reynolds typed back when I forwarded it to her for confirmation.

Baby Baby Baby, Oh!

So it’s happy vicarious beaver day thursday! You should all do something nice for yourself. Remember to keep your creeks clean, and let’s be happy San Jose has a little beaver family again!

Approved!

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers, Beavers and Birds, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and Ice, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Who's saving beavers now? June 21, 2017

Beaver Festival 10 was officially approved by the Parks, Recreation, Marina and Cultural Commission last night, including the waving of park fees for the event. Michael Chandler assured me they were implementing the proposal to extend wifi to the park and Daniel Radke the chair thanked me for my generous 10 years of service. There were no challenges or questions, just an easy fast approval.

Some things have indeed changed in a decade.

Then I found out from Frances that her ‘idea city’ presentation had gone very well over the weekend and was currently available to watch. It’s a delightful 17 minutes that packs a huge punch showing why beavers matter, although I wish she had squeezed in a little information on how to live with them. You should really watch it from start to finish. Even if you have been in the beaver business longer than I have, it will surprise you.