Month: October 2020

MORE HANDICAPPED SALMON

heidi08 Beavers October 11, 2020

A few days ago this aired on CBC radio -. the middle segment is about installing fish passage boxes so that salmon could get over beaver dams in Nova Scotia . Victoria Neville does a pretty delicate job with the interview trying tp explain all the good beavers do. but it still dumbfounded me that the WWF would be using donations to fix a problem that doesn’t exist.

Of course I said as much at the time which prompted several very concerned and patient conversations about public perception being so abysmal in the region they are working hard to chip away at the edges. The design was Adrien’s based on Mike’s and they made things easier for fish at low flow conditions which climate change was making happen more often.

I listened and underestood some of it. But honestly if the problem is mostly PERCEPTION then wouldn’t it be a mistake to offer a solution that reinforces the idea that there us a problem in the first place?

I suggested at least changing the name to something that reminded people that under normal conditions it wasn’t needed.

Something like the “Drought Ladder.”

PEOPLE LIKE BEAVERS

We’re just in time for your Geography lesson. Airdrie is a small town north of Calgary in Canada with about 61000 people, When you read this article you will begin to appreciate it very much.

Airdrie woman concerned by killing of beavers

An Airdrie resident is upset by the City’s plan to deal with problem beavers that call Nose Creek home.

Waterstone resident Doreen Schulz, whose property backs onto Nose Creek, said she recently learned from a neighbour the City of Airdrie will occasionally trap and kill beavers that are deemed a nuisance.

“I phoned the City because I was quite upset about hearing that,” Schulz said. “We like our beavers along here.”

Schulz, who has lived in Waterstone for 12 years, said there is a beaver den located on the banks of Nose Creek near her backyard. She said she used to see a family of beavers swimming in the area but has not seen them in many weeks, which makes her think they’ve been killed.i

Now that’s just about my favorite kind of response. Not “don’t kill beavers because its mean” or even “Don’t kill beavers because they’re a keystone species”, Just straight out “Don’t kill them because WE LIKE THEM!” Plain and simple.

According to the City’s Integrated Pest Management Plan, beavers will often make their way to Airdrie via Nose Creek, searching for new areas to start a colony. To deter the animals from damaging trees along creekbeds, City employees wrap wire mesh around tree trunks, but “this is not always successful.”

“In instances where beavers result in unacceptable damage to the natural environment and/or infrastructure, the City may lethally remove individuals by trapping,” the plan stated.

Yup, That sounds about right. But its modestly responsible that they try wrapping trees, I guess that comes from being is near to our friends at Cows and Fish all these years,

Archie Lang, the City’s manager of Parks and Public Works, confirmed the City will occasionally trap and kill beavers as part of the municipality’s wildlife population control.

“Wildlife control is something that all municipalities do, and Airdrie is no exception,” he said. “You have to control the populations because they are living in a little microcosm that doesn’t involve their natural predators, for the most part, so animals will tend to overpopulate.”

Lang said there have been a “handful” of instances where local beavers were killed this year. He noted the City is not trying to cull beavers, adding there are at least three or four families the municipality is aware of along Nose Creek.

We don’t kill them all, we just kill some. Think of us as a very picky angel of death. You know how it is,

“This isn’t a mission to eliminate them – absolutely not,” he said. “We control the populations so they don’t become a problem to themselves, actually, and for us as well.”

The main reasons a beaver would be killed, according to Lang, is if it caused significant damage to trees or if a dam causes overland flooding and property damage.

“Trees are expensive, and when they start to take trees down, they can do thousands of dollars of damage in just one evening,” he said.

Prior to 2017, Lang said the City would relocate any beavers that were deemed a nuisance. However, he said Alberta Environment and Parks no longer supports beaver relocation, as they have a low chance of survival in a new habitat.

Hmm, that’s interesting. I’m pretty sure beaver relocation is illegal in Canada. So are you saying you used to break the law but you stopped because they had a low chance of survival? You know what gives them an even lower chance of survival?

Killing them.

But Schulz remains adamant that local beavers should not be killed, given their benefit to the environment and the effect of the City’s wire meshing around tree trunks.

“They have their dens right on the sides and they don’t bother anything,” she said. “They’re certainly not hurting the environment and I think beavers are pretty intelligent. If they know, for example, that there’s no food in an area, they’ll move on of their own accord.”

“Like the eagle is the American symbol, the beaver is our symbol, and I wouldn’t consider them a pest,” she said. “You see people all summer long, they’re walking along the creek, and if they spot a beaver – usually they’re out really early in the morning or after 8 p.m. – people will be taking pictures. It’s quite nice to see a beaver.”

Nicely put Doreen, I could hardly of said it better myself,

BEAVERS ARE NUMBER TWO IN THE KILLING FIELDS

heidi08 Who's Killing Beavers Now? October 9, 2020

So the USDA dropped this from the mountain yesterday. It’s their data G list – a list of all the animals they killed in the United States in 2019. It includes starlings and badgers and coyotes and eagles and foxes and wolves and oh beavers across forty states in this great country. Coyotes were the most targeted animal, but beavers are number two.

Guess how many were killed? Go ahead guess.

24,543

Mind you that’s in 40 states and that’s only the numbers of beaver deaths we know about. If you hire a private trapper or kill some yourself on your ranch no one reports it. Here’s the numbers for California.

717– firearm

50 — neck snare

11– night vision

31– cage trap

82– body grip

22– suitcase trap

913– total

And it’s sobering and shocking, I know, but just remember this is only about a third of the beavers killed in the state. The others are killed by private trappers. Now that the CBD lawsuit means they won’t trap beaver in salmon or steelhead streams the demand for private trapping has gone UP. You can see also there is a decline in cage trapping and an increase in shooting. I guess because they are killing less in small streams and more in big bodies of water where salmon aren’t an issue. Here are the same numbers from 2009.

Of course there are already lawsuits announced by the usual suspects. I continue to think that USDA is merely the most visible player in this grand death game. At least in my state the ones we can’t see, the ones who aren’t even required to tell us what they do or how many they do it too, are a much bigger problem for beavers.

Trump’s USDA Sued Over Program Allowing ‘Horrific’ Mass Slaughter of Native Wildlife

The lawsuit (pdf) was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico by WildEarth Guardians and accuses Wildlife Services (WS) of running afoul of various federal regulations stipulated by the National Environmental Policy Act, Council on Environmental Quality regulations, and Administrative Procedure Act.

According to the court filing, the program has failed to provide an Environmental Impact Statement on the program’s impact on key ecosytems, nor has it provided timely supplemental analysis mandated by law. As such, the document states, WS is disregarding “new scientific publications on the ineffectiveness of lethal predator control and the negative cascading ecological consequences of removing keystone species from their native ecosystems,” according to the filing.

Oh so THAT”S what that big action about putting a EIR on every species killed in California was about. Keeping up with beaver news is sometimes like reading a murder mystery backwards. It all makes sense eventually, but not until you get to the beginning.

The lawsuit portrays the annual killing deaths as folly—especially in light of the climate and ecological catastrophes as well water shortages affecting the U.S. West. Regarding beavers, Smith said the agency is “removing the very animals that will save us from these crises.”

They “act as ecosystem engineers, increasing biodiversity and ecosystem function—including filtering drinking water and removing water-borne pollutants—where they are native,” the filing states, adding:

Beavers, due to their beneficial engineering of ecosystems provide outsized ecosystem services. One study, conducted in southern Utah, a landscape analogous to much of New Mexico, found that in terms of wetland habitat only, a mere 2,560 beavers in the lower Escalante River basin would provide $275.5 million dollars per year in wetland habitat services. If riparian and aquatic habitat services are added to that number, it becomes nearly $450 million dollars per year. […] Beavers particularly can have remarkable impacts on reforestation in areas affected by wildfires.

Well, they aren’t wrong. And since they’re based in New Mexico the fate of beavers and their ability to store water really matters.

Another conservation group, the Center for Biological Diversity, offered similar condemnation Wednesday, characterizing the program as both barbaric and needless.

“Year after year Wildlife Services continues to needlessly kill wildlife, even though effective tools exist to prevent most conflicts,” said Collette Adkins, carnivore conservation director at the Center.

I asked Collette about the differing methods yesterday and whether she thought it was because of their salmon action. She hadn’t considered it but she thought it was better they are mostly using rifles because the method is more humane and specific to the target.

Maybe. It’s also a lot less work. You don’t have to come back the next day and check the traps. I’m not sure their work should be any easier.

Click below to go read the entire lawsuit here:

BEAVERS: “WE’RE UP FOR THE JOB!”

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers, Beavers and climate change October 8, 2020

You heard the news yesterday I assume? I mean other than America’s newest “Lord of the Flies” moment. California must save 30 percent of its land and waters as a buffer for climate change. It’s a lofty and necessary goal. And guess who can help.

Nearly a third of California land must be conserved under new order signed by Gavin Newsom

Citing a need to tackle the growing problem of climate change, California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday gave the order for state agencies to conserve 30% of state land and coastal water by no later than 2030.

The move is a bid to store carbon in the state’s natural and working lands and remove it from the atmosphere, according to a statement from the governor’s office.

The order directs state agencies to pursue strategies and partnerships that focus on healthy soil management, wetlands restoration, active forest management and boosting green infrastructure, according to the governor’s office.

Now when Rusty of Napa sent me this article with a big grin, I was thinking, hey beavers might help, And then I read this fantastic new study from Canada published this morning.

Beaver dam capacity of Canada’s boreal plain in response to environmental change

Nichole-Lynn Stoll & Cherie J. Westbrook

Environmental changes are altering the water cycle of Canada’s boreal plain. Beaver dams are well known for increasing water storage and slowing flow through stream networks. For these reasons beavers are increasingly being included in climate change adaptation strategies.

But, little work focuses on how environmental changes will affect dam building capacity along stream networks. Here we estimate the capacity of the stream network in Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba, Canada to support beaver dams under changing environmental conditions using a modelling approach.

We show that at capacity, the park’s stream network can support 24,690 beaver dams and hold between 8.2 and 12.8 million m³ of water in beaver ponds. Between 1991 and 2016 the park’s vegetation composition shifted to less preferred beaver forage, which led to a 13% decrease in maximum dam capacity.

Which poses the question: if we want more water are we letting beavers dam all the places we should? Of course in California the answer is “No”, Because they could be making a huge difference in our waterways. They go on to point out that the flooding expected as the climate change will blow out those dams, but hey. Beavers will stick around and rebuild when necessary. Because it’s what they do.

Beaver are keystone in supporting food security of Indigenous people residing in the boreal forest through providing a source of meat and being ecologically influential^4,5. They are viewed as an ecologically influential species as they profoundly alter the aquatic ecosystems they occupy² with benefits for freshwater biodiversity⁶ and terrestrial wildlife⁷. Beaver alter aquatic ecosystems primarily through engineering activities—dam and canal building—which modifies ecosystem-forming processes⁸. For example, beaver dams raise and stabilize water tables^9,10, alter stream hydrographs^11,12, enhance channel and riparian area sediment retention^13,14 and create hydrologically complex, multi-channel networks^9,15. The suite of changes beaver dams make to aquatic ecosystems creates a multitude of desired ecological feedbacks that collectively enhance ecosystem resilience to disturbance¹⁶.

So beaver dams can help with climate changes. But beaver dams are also going to be limited by climate change. As their forage gets burnt out or flooded they will be less able to maintain their complex dam systems. You know any study credited to Cher Westbrook will inevitably have a “Beavers are good BUT” quality too it.

So dams blow out in flooding and beavers can’t repair them without wood. But hey, what about the beavers themselves? Can THEY survive floods? YES. Can they live without dams? YES. Can they have safe homes without lodges? YES. If their favorite trees are reduced by a drastic amount can they survive on grasses and less favorite trees? YES.

Beavers can not only survive flooding events. They can bide their time and WAIT for conditions to require dam building and then start over from scratch. Over and over again. And if there are no favorite trees they can use ickly trees, or cornstalks, or rusted engine partss. Hell they can use mud and rocks. They will make it work.

Adaption is their middle name.

HURON RIVER AND BEAVERS

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers, Beaver ecological impact October 7, 2020

Huh, what do you know. There are some nice things to say about beavers in Michigan this morning. This from the River Huron Watershed Council. Congratulations and go figure.

A keystone species at work in the watershed

Flooding caused by beaver dams creates a diverse array of habitats that support insects, waterfowl, fish, and amphibians. For this reason, beavers are also considered a keystone species because their presence in an area can enhance biodiversity and promote the success of other plants and animals in the ecosystem.

Beaver dams provide other benefits to ecosystems such as erosion control and pollution filtration. Slower flow, coupled with higher water levels upstream, allow pollutants to be filtered slowly through vegetation and breakdown over time. This slower flow also prevents excess sediments from washing into the creek, which can harm aquatic species and contain fertilizers and other chemical contaminants.

That’s a pretty good summation, council. I’m not accustomed to reading very nice things about beavers from your state. It’s a good look for you.

Beaver dams provide downstream benefits as well. The ponds provide a steady supply of water to downstream reaches in dry periods, as water stored upstream of the dam in rainier seasons is released slowly over time. Such changes to river hydrology and the local landscape can occur rapidly when there are beavers present―the “busy beaver” as they say, can build a dam overnight

Of course they can. They are no slackers. And you with all your clam rakes and back hoes you can still barely keep up with us. And that’s the way we like it. Believe me.

Despite the beaver’s contributions to ecosystem diversity, beavers are considered a nuisance in some places. Beaver dams can cause flooding and damage to homes, businesses, and roads. In some small creeks, dams can cut downstream flow to a trickle. Historically, “problem” beavers were exterminated. However, these days efforts are often made to relocate beavers to natural areas where their dam building can contribute to the diversity and vibrancy of our local ecosystems. In the Huron River watershed, beavers are currently very active in Hudson Mills Metropark along the Huron River, where the results of their tree felling are apparent near the walking path. HRWC has also received reports of beavers near Burns-Stokes Preserve, Huron Meadows Metropark, on the river in Huron Township, and in Wixom Habitat Park (Norton Creek, Oakland County). It is exciting to see this iconic rodent back at it in the Huron. An integral part of Michigan’s past, the beaver is once again a part of the watershed’s bright future.

You better believe it mister.