Month: October 2021

LIZZIE BORDEN COMPLAINS SHE IS AN ORPHAN

Wanna hear a funny joke? Get ready to laugh and laugh over this one. It’s like a story of Lizzie Borden complaining that she is an orphan. Or OJ Simpson wondering why his marriage didn’t last. Or Mark Zuckerberg whining that he has no privacy anymore.It made me literally laugh out loud when I saw it.

ODFW, USFWS request wildlife habitat proposals

ODFW and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are seeking proposals to restore or protect habitat for northwestern pond turtle, northern red-legged frog, foothill yellow-legged frog and/or American beaver and other native wildlife in Douglas County’s Umpqua River Basin.

You may remember that ODFW has fought tooth and nail with the more reasonable minds out there when they reinstated beaver trapping on public lands. Former USFS Hydrologist has been working tirelessly to get them to change their minds or at least count the votes honestly. Of course beaver habitat saves red-legged frogs and yellow-legged frogs and green-legged frogs AND pond turtle habitat. Of course it does. You know it does. But they wanted to give the – I’m guessing – 12 fur trappers in Umpqua the right to steal resources from everyone, so they stopped defending the habitat makers and said “Go Get-’em boys” And now they’re just wracking their brains to figure out, what can possibly take their place?

How about a dozen fur trappers? Can they make frog habitat and save turtles? I mean they must be pretty darn important because you eliminated a keystone species to take mollify them?

Approximately $100,000 in restoration funding is still available through the Yoncalla Creek Spill Restoration Fund during the fall award period. Restoration funds are from a settlement for injuries to natural resources resulting from the 1993 diesel spill near Yoncalla.

Preference is given to projects within the area most impacted by the spill (Yoncalla and Elk creeks and the upper main Umpqua River). Projects can be on private or public land and must enhance or protect existing habitat, restore former or degraded habitat, or create new habitat in suitable areas for priority species. Restoration actions can also include administrative measures such as fee title land purchase, conservation easement, water right purchase and permanent instream water right transfer, or other formal conservation agreement.

How about you use the 100000 to build a shooting range and tell the fur trappers they have to go there instead? And outlaw trapping on federal lands so that beavers can do what they do best. That oughttta help.

Review the Request for Proposals for additional information regarding eligible projects and application requirements. Proposals will be accepted through Dec. 1. Applicants will be notified of funding decisions in February 2022.

Of course the problem is that good people with good ideas will have to swallow their outrage entirely and avoid any trace of sarcasm when theyobsequiuly step forward and politely hold out their hand docilly begging for crumbs. Of course no plan involving beavers will be successful because they have made arrangements for them to be killed already.

Then they can wag their gnarled fish and wildlife fingers and say, see? Saving beavers never works anyway.

WASHINGTON POST: LIVING WITH BEAVERS IS NO BIG DEAL

Once upon a time, a very long time ago, there was an article in the Washington Post with very beautiful beaver photos in it reportedly taken by somebody named Ann Cameron Siegal.The article was imminently forgettable but the photos were not – so of course I looked her up and wrote a glowing fan letter.

She wrote back Surprisingly she said she loved beavers SO much she and her husband skipped their fancy dinner reservations on their 2oth anniversary just so they could watch them. That was the start of a long correspondence.. I have since introduced Ann to many a beaver friend on the east coast.. She has donated her books to the festival. We have learned that our politics are polar opposites but we have stayed friendly because of BEAVERS

Well just look who’s in the Washington Post this morning.

With beavers in the suburbs, park officials look to balance needs of humans and ‘nature’s engineers’

By Ann Cameron Siegal

Throughout the country, suburban areas such as Greenbelt, Maryland, and Arlington, Virginia, have wetlands, lakes and streams that were created or reshaped by large brown, flat-tailed, orange-toothed rodents.

Beavers, like humans, change their surroundings to fit their needs. Known as nature’s engineers, they topple trees to build lodges to live in and dams to raise water levels for protection from predators. Dams also slow water’s flow while filtering sediment and pollutants that would otherwise flow downstream. The resulting wetlands often attract wildlife diversity where none had existed.

There are challenges, though. Beaver dams sometimes cause flooding, and most people prefer trees alive and upright. Communities face a delicate balancing act learning to coexist with beavers.

Just imagine. This article about urban beavers presenting challenges that are solveble in the Lifestyle section. Ann tells me it is considered “For children”. These dearly held things that so many in Martinez fought tooth and nail to make come true is now just an acceptable footnote of fact in the Washington Post.

In late 2019, many people enjoying Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) trail near Glencarlyn Park in Arlington became beaver fans as one furry family transformed Sparrow Pond — a sediment-filled, man-made storm-water management area — into an oasis for muskrats, birds, frogs, turtles and deer.

Yet such activity caused concern. As beavers worked, they raised water levels about five feet. The increased depth allows beavers to survive underwater if the pond ices over in winter. But county officials were concerned about how higher water would affect the steep soil bank supporting the paved hike and bike trail.

“As a local government, it’s our job to find a good balance between protecting the W&OD trail and the beavers,” said Lily Whitesell of the county’s environmental services department.

In April, the county installed a “beaver baffle” — a pond leveler. Beavers often rush to plug leaks in their dams. Baffles stabilize water levels by creating a hidden exit for high water to escape through the dam, unnoticed by the beavers.

Snap! And just like that the world changes and history marches on. This old beaver baffle? Oh its nothing. The county installed it, Everyone knows that flow devices work to control beaver flooding. Don’t make a fuss.

Beavers inhabit Greenbelt’s Buddy Attick Lake Park. Visitors love seeing them but also love the park’s mature trees.

Recently, Eagle Scout Andrew Jones, 18, organized a tree-caging event — putting wire mesh around large tree trunks to protect them while conserving beaver habitats.

About 20 volunteers caged 60 trees, to discourage beavers from gnawing them and overeating. It also protects people from injury due to random trees falling,” he said.

“We cover the trees we don’t want them to eat, while providing others they like,” said Luisa Robles, Greenbelt’s sustainability specialist. Some new trees are periodically planted just for the beavers. “We need to learn to yield a little of our wants to share the Earth’s resources,” she said.

20 Volunteers wrapping trees to protect them rather than killing beavers over and over again:? Oh pffft. It’s nothing. A trifle, Beavers are hardly a difficult problem to solve. Any fool could do it.

When water levels or food sources decrease, beavers move on. At Sparrow Pond, summer rains caused more sediment to flow in, while the baffle prevented water from rising. Beavers weren’t seen for weeks. Saffiya Khan, 8, whose family periodically visits the pond to watch wildlife, said, “If the beavers are gone, I’ll really be sad.”

Heavy rains in late September brought good news for Saffiya. A beaver returned — doing what beavers do — checking out the dam for any needed repairs.

Sparrow Pond’s 2023 restoration project will improve sediment management, restore proper water depth and improve wildlife habitat without creating problems for the trail. “A beaver baffle will also be included so beaver families can make the pond their home in the future,” noted the project’s flier.

The balancing act continues.

WONDERFUL ANN. WONDERFUL WASHINGTON POST FOR PRINTING THIS AS IF IT WASN’T EARTH SHATTERING. Nothing about the many many benefits of living with beavers but next time.

This is the very best thing that has ever happened to urban beavers. Well, second best,

Children watching beaver in urban environment
Martinez, CA

BEAVERS IN NATIONAL FOREST PLANS

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers, Beavers and Fire Prevention, Beavers and Forests, Who's saving beavers now? October 4, 2021

There are a few different ways to try to save beavers. Dam by dam at the local level, which we have in Martinez. County by county like we have by reviewing the depredation permits and shaming the offenders.. State by state like we did the summit.

Or larger scale still, like trying to keep beavers in National Forests all across the country.

A Guide to Advocating for Beaver Restoration in National Forest Plans

A Guide to Advocating for Beaver Restoration in National Forest Plans offers guidance for public engagement in the national forest planning process to ensure that newly revised plans include affirmative and proactive language around beavers and beaver habitat restoration.

National forest plans set the overall management direction for a given forest and provide guidance for the design and execution of specific management actions. As the pace, scale, and magnitude of climate change has become increasingly evident, there is an urgent need for these plans to explicitly address the impacts and implications of a rapidly changing climate, and offer solutions to build resilience and ecological integrity.

WOW! Describing this as a ambitious undertaking undercuts it. This is an lofty mic drop of a move by our friends at the National Wildlife Federation. The main report is 21 pages long and the appendix contains specific resources like how to structure comments about including beavers in National forests.It comes out of Montana and credits these authors mainly

Contributors: Sarah Bates (National Wildlife Federation), Taylor Simpson and Taylor Heggen (University of
Montana Alexander Blewitt III College of Law), and Lowell Chandler (University of Montana W.A. Franke College of Forestry & Conservation)

Citing forest service policy and specific language about climate change it is meant to be a useful tool in beaver advocacy. It talks about forest policy and how to best engage the public, Go Download the whole fascinating report by clicking here:

Thanks Montana! Now if you need good beaver news from another state check out this guide from Hermit’s Peak Watershed Alliance in New Mexico. We are building up our tool kit, one beaver at a time.

“YOU’VE GOT TO BE TAUGHT TO HATE BEAVERS”

heidi08 Beavers October 3, 2021

I probably went golfing with my parents twice in my life, maybe less than that. I must have been about 8 because that seems like when you are old enough to do things you’re parents want to teach you but not so old that you think its stupid to do what you’re parents teach you. I liked the sand traps.

I remember thinking it was very annoying, But I might have been more interested if I had seen this:

Golfers who save drowning beaver from trap find their compassionate efforts are a crime

BURLEY — A group of golfers at the River’s Edge Golf Course who released a drowning beaver from a trap set in water didn’t know their actions were a crime.

Fran Jamison of Paul was golfing with family members Aug. 29. As they approached the green on the fourth hole at the city’s owned course, they saw some other golfers bent down by the water hazard. As they approached, they could see one of the golfers holding a beaver’s head out of the water with a golf club.

Jamison’s group helped them free the beaver from the foot trap.

“It’s a misdemeanor to let an animal out of a trap, but we didn’t get cited,” Jamison said. “I was shocked to find that out.”

I like the idea of a bunch of plaid wearing men bending down and saving a beaver from a trap before they found out their compassion was illegal. What was that song from South Pacific about racism? You have to be carefully taught?

Jamison said there weren’t any signs up at the course to alert golfers that the traps were set just under the water’s surface. Idaho Fish & Game Regional Communications Manager Terry Thompson said the traps had been placed by USDA APHIS Idaho Wildlife Services, which may trap animals, even out of season, when wildlife damages property.

“It was done at the request of the Burley golf course because of depredation,” Thompson said of the use of the traps.

The beaver was on a green where there are “all kinds of trees,” Scott Draper, golf pro at the River’s Edge Golf Course said.

“Trees at the golf course are at a premium and we want to protect them,” Draper said.

We like the trees, but we’re lazy bastards and can’t bother wrapping or sand painting them. It’s easier just to kill things. You know that right?

Thompson said Fish and Game works with Wildlife Services in the state on wildlife depredation issues. Thompson said beavers are “very good at cutting down vegetation to build their dams, and there are a lot of trees at the golf course.

“Trapping is one of the tools we have to deal with it,” he said.

Thompson said although it is against the law to tamper with or disturb a hunting trap that does not belong to them, the individuals in this case were not cited with the misdemeanor offense.

“We used education as a tool and issued a verbal warning,” Thompson said.

Not for the beavers though. Because that would be stupid.

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“A GREAT NUMBER OF BEAVER HAVE DIED”

heidi08 Beaver Art, History October 2, 2021

The fourth beaver paper published in the Journal of Fish and Wildlife by Rick Lanman hits VERY close to home. I am known to nod off reading academic papers but this had me on the edge of my seat all the way to its stunning conclusion. It looks specifically at Western Message Petroglyphs on a rock in fremont. These messages recorded on rocks probably by some white man who understood native writing. They have been extensively studied and this likely comes from the second half of the 1800’s.

If you are anything like me you immediately want to see the rock. But there’s some education that needs to happen first. Once thought to represent “Fake indian writing” we now know that there are 38 sites of WMP’saround the state and the were done by people with a great knowledge of native american symbols. They contained usually important messages of information that wasn’t intended for all eyes.

This means it’s write along your commute. Right in your fuckin backyard.
And it means that someone at the time knew that beavers mattered, and removing all of them from alameda creek was a really serious thing to do. That was going to have repercussions in the future for years and years to come.

So WMP’s are read like a message from left to write, and the comb figure was accepted to mean home or lodge. So this means:

Gee what would have possibly made a lot of beavers die in 18th century. I’m wracking my brain. Can you think of anything?

And because this is Rick Lanman writing this paper he left nothing to chance and outlined resources every step of his conclusions. So if you want to be convinced, impressed or just know more click on the title to go read the full article.

As for me I’m just going to stand stunned and think about someone knowing way back in 1860 that taking all the beavers out of Alameda Creek was going to be bad news for a rapidly drying state that was trying to populate itself. And I’m going to thank beavers lucky stars that Dr. Lanman got curious about them in the first place.