Month: April 2021

MOVING BEAVERS WINS AWARD

heidi08 Beaver ecological impact, Beavers April 15, 2021

Stick with beavers,baby. They’ll take you places.

What kind of places. you ask.Well places like this for starters.

WILD Grad Student Emma Doden Wins Prestigious Robins Award

Wildland Resources graduate student Emma Doden is this year’s recipient of the Master Student Researcher of the Year award at the 2021 USU Robins Awards. Emma studies beavers and their effects on riparian ecosystems. As part of the USU Beaver Translocation Study (a partnership between USU Department of Wildland Resources, Department of Watershed Sciences, and Ecology Center), she focuses on the movements and dam-building activities of beavers translocated to desert waterways, a particular area of research that has not yet been fully explored.

That’s right, baby. Moving beavers wins grad student of the year award. Boy howdy those beavers sure picked a winner!

In an environment where their activities may come into conflict with human beings, beavers can be regarded as ‘nuisance animals’ and are often killed. Recognizing beavers’ potential to be ‘ecosystem engineers’ and to significantly alter habitat for the betterment of wildlife and plant communities, the Beaver Translocation Study aims to see if some of these ‘problem animals’ can be put to work. Over the past two years, Emma and her team have relocated over 40 beavers (many from the USU Beaver Rehabilitation and Relocation Center in Millville, Utah) to the Price and San Rafael Rivers in central Utah. While some beavers moved away from the relocation sites or perished, the team found that many of the translocated beavers stayed nearby and built dams along these rivers.

Yes it’s a dam shame that her thesis isn’t on letting beavers be ecosystem engineers right where they are but we’ll cover that story next time.

The study will continue for the next two years, during which the team will build beaver dam analogs, man-made structures that imitate the function of beaver dams. The analogs may make conditions more hospitable for the animals to initiate dam building and call these streams their homes. Analogs have been used across North America to help return beavers to areas that have been deeply eroded. The hope is that through these efforts, beavers will create local wetlands that can elevate water tables, reduce channelization, and enhance fish habitat.

Emma would like to thank everyone who has collaborated on her work, especially her advisors Drs. Julie Young and Phaedra Budy. “Without the support of people from numerous agencies and organizations, I would not have been able to execute a study of this size and scope so successfully,” she says.

Congratulations to Emma on this honor!

[wonderplugin_video iframe=”https://youtu.be/ij8EVUpNyro?t=1450″ lightbox=0 lightboxsize=1 lightboxwidth=960 lightboxheight=540 autoopen=0 autoopendelay=0 autoclose=0 lightboxtitle=”” lightboxgroup=”” lightboxshownavigation=0 showimage=”” lightboxoptions=”” videowidth=600 videoheight=400 keepaspectratio=1 autoplay=0 loop=0 videocss=”position:relative;display:block;background-color:#000;overflow:hidden;max-width:100%;margin:0 auto;” playbutton=”https://www.martinezbeavers.org/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/wonderplugin-video-embed/engine/playvideo-64-64-0.png”]

Who knew they even had award ceremonies for this kind of thing? Not I. that’s for sure. Congratulations Emma for letting people do exactly what they would like with beavers and turning it into a masters thesis! People would rather move a problem than kill it.

But they would rather do either than FIX IT.

Here’s a little award ceremony of my own I’ve been enjoying since last week.

feedback

LET THE RODENT DO THE WORK

When you are trying to solve a problem you think you understand you are pretty controlling about who you ask to help you, or even IF you ask for help at all. “I got this” you mutter over and over as you attempt your rescue. But there comes a certain point at which things are so messed up beyond your control that you will accept help from anyone.

ANYONE.

Which is how I got invited to speak at the ca state parks conference many years ago. Many parks were closed. They were all hemorrhaging money and someone said good lord let that beaver lady talk. she’s free and she can’t make things any worse.

Keep that in mind as you read what’s happening in the UK. Wales has just released beavers and England made a plan to release a whole lot of them. That’s how bad the environment has gotten across the pond. They are willing to try anything.

Iolo Williams on return of Dyfi estuary beavers

It comes after more than 15 years of work by the Welsh Beaver Project, which had been investigating the feasibility of reintroduction in Wales.

A father and son pair are now living at Cors Dyfi Nature Reserve, with the mother expected to join her family in a few weeks.

The officially-licensed beavers were released by the naturalist and television presenter, Iolo Williams, into a purpose-built enclosure on the reserve.

“It was a real honour to be asked to help release the beavers at Cors Dyfi. Finally, after more than four centuries, these wonderful animals are back where they belong and I’m sure they will prove to be as big an attraction as their osprey neighbours,” he said.

Hurray for Wales! Who has been waiting a dam long time to fix the sins of their fathers! And hurray for this:

Record numbers of beavers are being introduced to the UK

With the constant threat of climate change, conservationists are keen to find new, natural and cost-efficient ways of mitigating environmental disasters. Beavers could be the answer.

Earlier this year, beavers were introduced to the South Downs, and more releases are being planned in Dorset, Derbyshire, the Isle of Wight, Nottinghamshire and Montgomeryshire.

Derek Crawley, lead author of the Mammal Society’s Atlas of the Mammals of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, says, ‘While the impact of beaver extinction wasn’t noted because we weren’t aware of their true value hundreds of years ago, bringing them back will change the landscape as we know it. Beavers bring many ecosystems together and that will offer a wider range of ecological services.’

Turns out all you need is a problem bad enough and anything looks like a solution. Sure we are mucking the planet at an amazing rate and destroying an ecosystem balance that is hanging by a thread. But maybe the rodent can help?

Dams decrease the impacts of floods by up to 60% by reducing water flow. The same mechanism is also a solution for drought periods where water in pools can be utilised. Both are helpful for many towns and cities which are prone to floods and droughts.

Another huge benefit of beaver dams and pools is their ability to capture carbon. The dams hold back silt, which locks up carbon and new plant growth in the surrounding area and forms a carbon sink.

Native trees such as willow or alder evolved alongside beavers for millions of years. When gnawed on by beavers, they quickly regrow from felled stems or cuttings. This process thins trees and allows space for other plants to grow in the area, creating a rich and diverse ecosystem.

I for one cannot wait to see the art that Lizzie Harper of Wales generates when she encounters beavers for the first time.

WE HATE BEAVERS SO MUCH WE KILL MORE THAN EXIST!

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers, Beaver Conference, Beavers April 13, 2021

The good news is that we managed to link up individual talks at the summit so if you click on any speakers name you go directly to their presentation. This should help get the information out there. Already both days have been viewed more than 100 times. That’s good news, right?

Day One – Individual Session Video Links

› Michael Pollock NOAA Fisheries
› Ben Goldfarb: Author “Eager”
› Rick Lanman, Historical Ecology Center
› Jeff Baldwin, Sonoma State
› Trina Cunningham, Maidu Consortium
› Karen Pope USFS
› Marjorie Caisley , CDFW
› Michael Callahan, Beaver Institute
› Kevin Swift, Swift Water Design

Day Two – Individual Session Video Links

› Emily Fairfax, Cal State Channel Islands
› Nina Hemphill, BLM
› Bob Pagliuco, NOAA Fisheries
› Bethany Johnson, Collins Pines Timber
› Joe Wheaton, Utah State University
› Susan Charnley, USFS
› Betsy Stapleton, SVWA
› Kate Lundquist
› Audrey Taub & Cooper Lienhart

Meanwhile they’re still killing plenty of beavers out there. Take this headline from Quebec.

Flood-causing beavers must be ‘eradicated,’ says mayor of Quebec town

They might be a beloved Canadian symbol, but beavers are being anything but patriotic in Grenville-sur-la-Rouge, Que.

There are roughly 800 beavers and 200 dams in the small western Quebec municipality, located about 100 kilometres east of downtown Ottawa, according to Mayor Tom Arnold, who said all those dams are causing major damage.

“We’re talking about approximately 35 square kilometres of our municipality, right now, that’s under water because of the beaver,” he said. “The damages are extensive.”

Oh pulleeze. Do we even need to read this article to know what it says? I don’t think so. I’m fascinated by their numeric count of 800 beavers. How exactly did they come up with this number? I’m guessing by assuming that ever day has 4 beavers maintaining it. Of course the internet tells me that the entire area has only 127 square miles of water acreage, and since colonies need to live 2 miles apart that means the entire area can only have about 63 families living there, assuming it’s at full capacity. Which means there are about a quarter of the beavers the mayor says are there.

Which is a nice racket. Because when they calculate they need to get rid of 800 beavers and pay the trappers for that many, the fact that they’re overpaying by a factor of four probably never gets discussed.

According to the mayor, it’s also causing property values to drop, particularly if sections of land are deemed unusable due to flooding.

While the municipality already allocates an annual budget of $10,000 for both trapping and installing water level control devices, Arnold wants more flexibility from the province to manage the animals.

“It’s a problem that we have to get rid of,” he said. “The beavers have to be eradicated.”

He sounds like a nice man. Why can’t I ever meet a nice man like that?

WHEN YOU WISH UPON A BEAVER

heidi08 Beavers, Who's saving beavers now? April 12, 2021

If you’re were ever 7 or 8 like I was once in a small town where the library was 6 blocks away and a great place to spend the summertime with your best friend Lori, you read plenty of books about children who found access to magic and realized by wishing vaguely that you had to specify EXACTLY what you wanted for the wish to work. I even remember a book called half magic where you had to wish for TWICE of what you wanted so that half of it would come true.

I think this is generally true with all political negotiations or shopping in Mexico.

Glenview Residents Hold ‘Rally Against Killing Beavers in Underwater Traps’ This Weekend

Glenview residents are planning to host a rally Sunday against the possible killing of local beavers to remove the animals from a neighborhood retention pond.

The Rally Against Killing Beavers in Underwater Traps will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. at the gazebo in the Glen in suburban Glenview, according to a Facebook post. The same group is also hosting a Rally to Save the Beavers at 2 p.m. at the corner of Lehigh and Thistle on the Glen.

Resident Katerina Pestova shared photos of the beavers, which often appear to be chewing on trees near the retention pond at the Concord at the Glen. The manager of the HOA said the beavers would be trapped and removed, but it’s unclear what methods might be used.

You can see of course the easy answer of trapping and killing beavers ABOVE water then that gets around that whole awkward drowning piece. Let’s hope that isn’t what the HOA is reviewing right now. Good for the residents though, for turning out and moving things in the right direction.

Wish the beavers would be allowed to live there and benefit residents with their ecosystem services. Take it from me. You have to be specific.

BEAVER SUMMIT FOR EVERYONE

heidi08 Beaver Conference April 11, 2021

Finally! Thanks to a great the sage advice of Stefhan Godon on the Beaver Management Forum I was able to get this trimmed and ready.Thanks to Bruce Mushrush who must be sick of hearing from me already and his help getting it on the website. Below each day are the chat notes for that session.

[wonderplugin_video iframe=”https://youtu.be/Q0gkY7V1S2Y” lightbox=0 lightboxsize=1 lightboxwidth=960 lightboxheight=540 autoopen=0 autoopendelay=0 autoclose=0 lightboxtitle=”” lightboxgroup=”” lightboxshownavigation=0 showimage=”” lightboxoptions=”” videowidth=600 videoheight=400 keepaspectratio=1 autoplay=0 loop=0 videocss=”position:relative;display:block;background-color:#000;overflow:hidden;max-width:100%;margin:0 auto;” playbutton=”https://www.martinezbeavers.org/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/wonderplugin-video-embed/engine/playvideo-64-64-0.png”]

BEAVER ESSENTIALS Chat notes from panel and participants

[wonderplugin_video iframe=”https://youtu.be/zFXYOejzDZA” lightbox=0 lightboxsize=1 lightboxwidth=960 lightboxheight=540 autoopen=0 autoopendelay=0 autoclose=0 lightboxtitle=”” lightboxgroup=”” lightboxshownavigation=0 showimage=”” lightboxoptions=”” videowidth=600 videoheight=400 keepaspectratio=1 autoplay=0 loop=0 videocss=”position:relative;display:block;background-color:#000;overflow:hidden;max-width:100%;margin:0 auto;” playbutton=”https://www.martinezbeavers.org/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/wonderplugin-video-embed/engine/playvideo-64-64-0.png”]

BEAVER DYNAMICS Chat Notes Panel & Participants

Ultimately I want to have it so that you can click directly on a persons name or topic and go right to their presentation, but this will do for starters. Thanks everyone for making this happen!