Wow what a day. Tonight is the PREMIERE of the beaver believer film at the wildlife film festival in Missoula Montana. I heard from Sarah Koenisberg yesterday confirming how I wanted my name in the credits. She was so excited it was all finished and 71 minutes long. I can’t wait to hear about it, and hope I’ll eventually be able to share it here.
Also tonight is the Parks Recreation Marina and Cultural Commission meeting where we seek approval for the beaver festival. Whoohoo! Because this has been so new with finding out if we could move it and deciding how to manage it I am completely discombobulated and can’t remember what I checked off the list and what still needs doing.
Now this morning there is a fairly incredible article out of Pittsburg PA about some urban beavers in the Ohio River. Brace yourself – they’re ate all the trees they planted but they’re not upset really about it.
Urban beavers making home in Pittsburgh
A minor ecological setback took a bite out of Western Pennsylvania Conservancy’s plans to plant thousands of native-species trees throughout Pittsburgh. Another native species, beavers, felled a row of recently planted trees at North Shore Riverfront Park in the shadow of Heinz Field.
Pedestrians walking the Three Rivers Heritage Trail noticed the missing trees Tuesday and Wednesday. On the bank of the Ohio River, between the Fred Rogers Memorial statue and Carnegie Science Center, 16 pointed stumps are what’s left of a row of young 4-inch diameter redbud trees planted by Conservancy staff last fall. No tree trunks, no branches. Just distinctive gnaw marks about 16 inches above the ground, a handful of wood chips surrounding each stump and one pair of beaver footprints pressed into the mud near the riverbank.
Jeffrey Bergman, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy director of community forestry, hadn’t heard about the tree loss until he picked up the phone Wednesday afternoon. He was onsite in a half hour.
“In this location we removed invasive nonnative plant species like bush honeysuckle and Japanese knotweed. We planted native species. Part of the project is beautification, but also to introduce native species to improve the habitat for animals. I didn’t think we’d be quite this successful in improving the habitat for beavers.”
“It’s nice there is this comeback,” said Henry Kacprzyk, a biologist at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium. “It means the rivers are clean enough to support them, even in the center of the city. But they’re not returning to a natural environment.” Beavers are considered a “keystone species,” said Mr. Kacprzyk, because they are one of the few animals that impact every plant and animal around them.
“Their dams back up water creating new aquatic environments and plants, insects, birds and other animals have to adapt,” he said. “Over many years the slow-moving ponds collect silt, which fills in and creates meadows and again everything has to adapt. … It will be interesting to see how beavers do here.”
Yes this is Pennsylvania, celebrating the return of beavers. I was shocked too. But certainly they have a few calm and ecologically minded heads to inform them about what’s happening and what it means. I’m so impressed with the calm and knowledgeable reaction. Almost nothing could make me happier.
Almost nothing. If you haven’t seen this yet you should really treat yourself.
