Month: June 2021

MAIDU CONSORTIUM CELEBRATES BEAVERS

heidi08 BDA's, History June 20, 2021

A weekend of wonders this father’s day, Here’s beaver news from about the maidu consortium, whose leader spoke at the beaver summit, SF Estuary magazine. Written by our friend Lisa Owens Viani.

Thinking Like Beaver to Aid Yellow Creek

Last fall, the Maidu Summit Consortium, a nonprofit composed of nine Mountain Maidu tribal member groups, installed 73 BDAs—beaver dam analogs—in Yellow Creek, a tributary to the North Fork Feather River and a state-listed heritage trout stream. Swift Water Design and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designed the structures, and Mountain Maidu tribal youth worked with Swift Water to build them. The idea behind the structures, which mimic beaver dams, is to slow erosion, catch sediment, and build up the river bottom to reverse the incised channel—without importing soil and other materials or emitting carbon from heavy, diesel-powered equipment.

BDA’s to the rescue. Let’s learn all about the work that beaver do for free!

In 2019, the 2,300-acre Humbug Valley, known as Tásmam Koyóm to the Maidu, was returned to the tribe as part of PG&E’s land divestiture resulting from their bankruptcy settlement. The tribe has been working to restore meadow and riparian ecosystems ever since. “We want to see more fish diversity, a more diverse ecosystem,” says Cunningham. “We miss the beaver, porcupine, and other animals that are important to the ecosystem. Compared to pond and plug, if you have beaver doing the work they can restore meadow systems, catch sediment, address head cuts, and stop incision just as good if not better than equipment.”

Much better, any stream will tell you. No diesel fumes and hazardous soil replacement. Only careful hand excavation any archeologist would prefer.

Kevin Swift, founder of Swift Water Design, led the team installing the BDAs in the first of what will be several phases. “It’s process-based restoration rather than using diesel and rock and insisting on imposing a form on the river,” he says. “Instead, we use the power the stream brings us and introduce materials that give the stream something to work with. Those structures drive channel evolution and add roughness and complexity—with a small bit of human nudging you can begin to correct structurally starved streams.”

You know Kevin was also a speaker at the California Beaver Summit. It’s almost like all the best people were gathered in one place by some unseen force.

Although the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) will not allow people to bring beavers back to the site, the BDAs could attract the furry, long-toothed engineers, say Swift and other consortium members, who would love to see them return: there are beaver present in nearby tributaries, and cattle grazing has been discontinued since the Maidu took over land management, so there is now plenty of willow and other vegetation for beaver.

No of course they don’t. That would just be too damn logical. Much better to keep with the killing. Something they do understand,

Kate Lundquist, WATER Institute director with the Occidental Arts & Ecology Center (OAEC), who got involved in the BDA work through a grant from CDFW and developed a planning strategy for recruiting beaver, says, “We need to keep the ‘B’ in ‘BDAs.’ We want people to be doing instream structures, but we want to make sure people don’t forget the beaver. If you are building them in areas where you have beaver, they will manage and maintain the structures. Instead of being on the hook for maintenance, let the beavers do the work.”

Great point Kate. I couldn’t agree more. Although I personally might not have even said the B word. I might just have said, sure, if you know some other team of affordable engineers that live on site and make repairs every single day go ahead and use them.

If only the article had stopped there then there wouldn’t have been time for this.

Lundquist says that while some state officials have expressed doubt that beaver were native to the Sierra, she and OAEC co-director Brock Dolman have combed through historic accounts and found plenty of evidence of their presence, including a remnant dam carbon-dated to 1,270 years ago and an account from an older resident of the area who remembers a giant beaver dam and the best fishing of his life on a Yellow Creek tributary. “Tásmam Koyóm is ripe for beaver again,” says Lundquist.

Well. It is true Kate combed through accounts to find historic evidence. For the coastal paper which came later. Kate and Brock didn’t find a remnant beaver dam carbon dated 1300 years ago. That would be BLM archeolgist Chuck James. Kate isn’t listed as an author on either paper because we didn’t even meet her until the paper had already been submitted for publication. She was instrumental to the coastal paper which followed, In fact we might never have crossed paths with Dr. James if it weren’t for Barry Hill from the forest service hydrologist whom Cheryl met at the Flyway Festival in Vallejo who persuaded him to eventually give his original paper to Rick Lanman to rework. The rest is, as they say, is corrected beaver history,

Beaver failure is an orphan they say. But success has many parents. But it’s father’s day and to paraphrase Farley Mowat there are no orphans in beaver world. So enjoy this reminder.

[wonderplugin_video iframe=”https://youtu.be/EJ8LUhNC1IQ” 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”]

GOBSMACKING URBAN BEAVER RESEARCH

I so very rarely am surprised by beaver news, One consequence of reporting on how people react to beavers for more than a decade is that I have usually seen the very best AND the very worst in graphic detail sometime before. But this news completely GOBSMACKED me, I never use that word but there is no other that applies. The most surprising beaver news from the most unlikely of places.

[wonderplugin_video iframe=”https://youtu.be/IwrPgyNXBgI” 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”]

Did you watch the video? GO WATCH THE VIDEO. I know you’re busy and have children to drop off but just trust me and WATCH.

Leave It to Beavers

As urban regions in the Southeast continue to grow and develop, harmful pollutants enter nearby waterways more frequently. UNC researchers think one of the best solutions to prevent this may be investments in the habitats of the furry neighbors already in our backyards: beavers.

Jumping Jehovas batman. I better sit down and read some more.

Urban flooding has become an increasingly pressing issue as cities grow and replace soil, grass, and plants with concrete, causing city planners to turn to manmade solutions. But the most efficient civil engineers may not be human. The American beaver (Castor canadensis) has become known as a nuisance for its tendency to alter landscapes in neighborhoods through damming, but their knack for flood attenuation may be just what urban planners need.

Farquhar is one of three undergraduate researchers currently working on UNC geographer Diego Riveros-Iregui’s collaborative project with UNC Charlotte, Georgia State University, and Georgia Gwinnett College to determine beavers’ impact on water quality in urban settings and compare them with manmade retention ponds.

Oh my goodness. Oh my ears and whiskers. Research on the benefits of urban beavers in GEORGIA? In North Carolina? Be still my heart.

Retention ponds are expensive to build and maintain and can contain less diverse natural life than beaver marshes, according to Riveros-Iregui. Plants, animals, bacteria, and phytoplankton play a crucial role in the absorption of nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus that may otherwise spill into nearby waterways and cause issues such as harmful algal blooms, destruction of habitat, and overall disruption to ecosystems. Beavers, on the other hand, are already making dams that slow water down long enough to be absorbed by the abundance of life in their marshes.

More fainting. I need more fainting.

By taking measurements of water quality, depth, and flow at inlets and outlets of both beaver marshes and retention ponds, the team can compare what nutrients and chemicals go into and come out of both systems and determine which is more efficient.

“The question really comes to management,” Riveros-Iregui says. “Can we figure out how to manage beaver dams in a way that they can be sustainable? That would be a win-win: We don’t have to remove them, and they’re keeping our streams healthy.”

OF COURSE YOU CAN. If you can’t you are very very silly. We did it in Martinez for longer than Obama was president. They are doing it in Napa and Fairfield and St. Helena right now.

Farquhar is excited to lay the groundwork for research with so much potential for real-life impact.

“I hope our work helps show that beavers are not just a nuisance,” she says. “In the future, if developers want to bulldoze over this marsh, we can show them what it’s doing for the area and that it’s actually beneficial.”

Oh my god. I never ever ever thought this day would come. Or I was certain it would come years ago. I no longer know which. I’m just suddenly very very happy. Urban beaver research in states that kill beavers so often they have their own organization to do it. It very rarely gets better than this.

WHAT CALIFORNIA DOES NOT ALLOW

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and Wetlands, Educational, Who's saving beavers now? June 18, 2021

The Beaver Bash is going very well, last night was Ben Dittbrenner’s debut which will be shareable on video soon, but this is Amanda Keasberry’s presentation beaver relocation – the mysterious stewardship that takes place in every single western state in the US EXCEPT california. SHerry Guzzi wanted me to verify that it’s allowed in Nevada and yes, I heard back from Fish and Game that in some situtations it is.

Of course Washington has been doing the smart thing forever. Cascade Forest is one of the partners approved for the “Pilot Project” which nearly two decades old. I especially love how they use students to assess potential release sites and really thought the eDNA studies they are working on to track how beavers move around afterwords was fascinating!

[wonderplugin_video iframe=”https://youtu.be/yL2FWEckkow” 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”]

BEAVERS AND THE ‘PERCEPTION OF RISK’

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers, Beavers and trout June 17, 2021

I tagged this article way back on April 7th and meant to write about it sooner but there was a beaver summit on the same day and you know what happens when you put things off. It’s good timing to revisit because you can never have too many articles about the slow and inevitable rise of the beaver IQ,

When Beaver met Salmon: how fish-friendly flow devices keep their relationship moving forward

WWF-Canada is working with partners to insert fish-friendly flow devices into beaver dams in Newfoundland and Labrador. But to find out how these devices work we need to learn more about beaver dams!

To the untrained eye, beaver activity — felling trees, digging channels and tunnels, building lodges and dams — can appear disruptive and downright messy, but through an ecological lens, they are creating complex (and crucial) habitats. This industrious process is why beaver have been awarded the title ecosystem engineer.

If you’ve ever visited a beaver pond, you might also notice that it’s surrounded by lush vegetation — a band of green that erupts behind the dam and around the pond’s edge habitat (known as the riparian zone). If you could see under water, you’d find an abundance of trout and young salmon. Beaver ponds are also a stopover spot for many species including rare and threatened songbirds. There are so many species that rely directly on beaver habitat for survival that they’re considered a keystone species, which means they are preforming a necessary role to uphold entire ecosystems.

Beavers have also co-evolved with local fish species across Canada (and globally throughout their range). Everywhere within their native range, beaver dams create complex environments used by fish. By increasing the large woody debris in streams and slowing the movement of water, beaver ponds are refuges for young fish such as salmon parr. The plant material and other debris captured in the pond also promotes insect abundance, so there’s plenty to eat in this stable, protective environment. This results in increased growth and survival, which consequently promotes population recovery for the fish.

Well this is shaping up to make a lot of sense! An article from the World Wildlife Fund that reminds people who fish need beavers!

It is a common practice for beaver dams to be removed. Sometimes this happens because a pond is causing a railway or farmland to be flooded. But sometimes beaver dams (and beavers themselves) are removed from ecosystems because they’re thought to be an impediment for salmon migrating in streams. While it is very rare to have complete blockage of fish passage for the span of the migratory period, salmon can be delayed for days or weeks due to inadequate water depth, which they need to propel themselves past the dam, or they may be reluctant to move through an area with reduced flow.

However, it’s the perception of this risk that leads to routine dam removals, and, unfortunately, general habitat degradation. When beaver dams are removed, the beaver pond/wetland is drained and young fish, which depend on the calm waters behind the dam, are flushed quickly downstream into fast-flowing water.

Ir’s always the PERCEPTION of risk that does beavers in. I just chatted yesterday with Rachel Siegel of Illinois who is doing a heckuva job raising beaver awareness there and she told me she had spoken with a big wig fish scientist in the area who expressed concern that beaver dams would BLOCK their migrating fish,

What migrating fish does Illinois have, you ask? Me too. None that go to the ocean that’s for sure. But some like to move up and down stream or from one body of water to the other. I reminded her that we used to have MILLIONS more beaver and MILLIONS more fish. So the species co evolved and get along just fine, thank you very much. Still it’s all about the PERCEPTION of RISK.

WWF-Canada is working to implement a solution that will leave beaver-generated ecosystems intact, while addressing fish passage concerns. With funding from Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s Coastal Restoration Fund and the help of our partners — NunatuKavut Community Council Inc (NCC), Wood (an engineering consultant business), the Atlantic Salmon Federation, the Salmonid Preservation Association for the Waters of Western Newfoundland, the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Beaver Institute — we have already installed four fish-friendly flow devices in Newfoundland and Labrador streams, most recently in NunatuKavut.

Okay, make the fish jump through a box to get around the beaver dam, give them stilts, whatever, just leave the beaver dams alone! Okay?

Fish-friendly flow devices provide a route through the dam for salmon and other fish in case they can’t quite make the leap. This can be particularly helpful during hot and dry periods when the water is not deep enough for fish to use speed bursts to jump, or when the river has been modified by culverts, weirs or bridges that create unnatural “pinch points” in the riverscape. (Beaver dams aren’t a problem in natural conditions, by the way. It’s human infrastructure that can make it difficult for fish to pass.)

Natural conditions? What are those? Certainly nothing like we have in modern times. We are all about the UNNATURAL now.

RUSTY COHN’S VERY GOOD, EXCELLENT PHOTO EVENING

heidi08 kits June 16, 2021

Rusty Cohn had a spectacular evening photographing beavers in Napa last night. Nothing else I would say will make as big an impression, so I’ll just share.