SOUTH CAROLINA STILL HATES BEAVERS – NO MATTER WHAT

heidi08 Beavers September 15, 2023

The entire world will learn its lesson about beavers and understand why to keep them around but two lone states will stubbornly stay in the dark. I’m talking of course about the Carolinas where beavers are only bad news wherever you look. Their minds are made up and don’t try to confuse them with the facts.

My city is spending thousands to evict unusual neighbors – officials want to avoid a ‘panic’ over fears of flooding

A CITY is spending thousands to get rid of a beaver after officials raised fears the rodent could cause flooding.

Officials in Charleston, South Carolina will pay an animal pest removal company $1,200 per week to perform the service.

City leaders in Charleston, South Carolina, hire an animal management company to remove a beaverPhoto credit: Google Maps

It is expected it could take up to three weeks to remove the beaver from the West Ashley neighborhood.

Town leaders are on the move after the beaver sets up camp beneath a store The post office and the courier. The beaver has set up his stable in a culvert – a sewage pipe that crosses under streets.

1200 dollars to “REMOVE” beavers. Of course by remove they mean kill and of course for 1200 you could easily install a culvert fence and never have to face this problem again. But really why think ahead?

But officials fear possible blockages could trigger flooding in the neighborhood They said they would try to humanely house the beaver after it was removed from the culvert.

Jay Butfiloski of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources said, “Even a small dam can hold a lot of water. “It’s different in the Upstate. But down there, where the terrain is so flat, even relatively small dams can hold a significant amount of water.”

But officials have warned of the risk of more beavers setting up camp in the neighborhood after wildlife bosses got rid of the first animal.

Beavers are known for their technical skills and the species help keep ecosystems healthy. By building dams, creatures create wetlands and the structures help reduce soil erosion. Beavers also increase biodiversity and can store water during droughts.

It is estimated that 15 million beavers live in North America.

???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

We know beavers save water and increase biodiversity. We know that if we tear them out we’ll just get more later. But give us 1200 dollars anyway?

You would think the learning curve would be just a little bit faster even in Charleston. But you’d be wrong.

MIDWEST EMBRACES BEAVERS

heidi08 Beavers September 14, 2023

Yesterday I attended the first of two meetings for the midwest beaver summit. It was a shortish two hours over lunch but very well attended and received. In fact as the meeting was opening attendees were asked to say who they were and where they worked so the backgrounds could get to know each other and a beaver working group could be formed eventually.

For literally a half an hour I saw profile after profile, “hydrologist wildlife services Missouri”, “wildlife biologist department of forestry Ohio”, “science officer fish and wildlife North Dakota”, over and over, like a procession of dignitaries interested in beavers and until I literally teared up.

Sure it was just the beginning, and sure there numbers were small, and sure a two hour meeting won’t change the world but it was something. Watching people react to Emily’s hard hitting presentation about beavers and fire, watching minds actually get blown by the reality of beavers from Ben and Leila. watching this thing that existed because of our summit which existed because of the new mexico summit which existed because of the extraordinary work of Mary Obrien in Utah which they wanted to repeat…it was something.

And I thought back to our early days struggling to save the martinez beavers and how no one knew what to do and everyone did their own research and how vastly different in every possible way things are than they were then, and how mercilessly the same they still are anyway, and I felt proud and jealous and vindicated and persecuted and happy.

How was your Wednesday?

IDAHO: AND THEN THERE WERE TWO

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers, BDA's, Beavers and water September 13, 2023

We all know the wonderful story of Jay Wilde and his work with Joe Wheaton to bring back beavers in his farm. But did you know there are others? This story has a fantastic video introduction to Jason Fellows and his appreciate of beavers but I can’t embed it here. Click on the headline and watch it for yourself. I promise it’s worth it.

Idaho farmer forges a sustainable future for his land with Beaver Dam Analogs (BDAs)

When beavers and their dams disappeared in the 90s, the land around Jason Fellows’ Idaho farm started losing water because the stream was moving too fast down the hill. Jason remembered where those dams were and has built Beaver Dam Analogs (BDAs) to bring sustainability to the soil, and the water, and to attract beavers back into the area.

Did you go watch the video? It’s worth it just to hear a man say “Crick” and “Riparian” in the same sentence. I’m telling you.

Four years ago, the Fellows noticed a decline in stream flow on their property. It was a concerning trend that led them to reminisce about days past when beavers inhabited the creek, and their presence had a positive impact on water retention.

The brothers decided to install BDAs in their creek to address the issue, aiming to replicate the beaver’s natural water management.

“Our goal in doing the Beaver Dam Analog projects was to make our place more sustainable,” Jason said.

This innovative approach to water management proved to be prophetic during a year with a high snowpack and intense runoff. The BDAs, filled with sediment, showcased their effectiveness in preventing soil erosion and maintaining creek stability. In contrast, other creeks in the area without BDAs experienced significant erosion and deepened channels.

BDAs conserve water as well as foster biodiversity. Riparian areas along riverbanks where water dissipates are critical for wildlife. Beaver presence in these areas—or the implementation of BDAs—significantly reduces the risk of wildfires, as they remain moist and act as natural firebreaks.

I always get a little nervous in these kind of articles because I’m not sure how they feel about ACTUAL BEAVERS but Jason is our kind of man and he reassured me:

However, while implementing this man-made fix was vital, Fellows also recognized the larger goal of the project as a way to attract beavers back to the area.

“The big thing about a BDA is you want to attract a beaver back in,” he said. “But if you don’t have a pool of water where a beaver feels safe, the beaver won’t come.”

For Fellows and his fellow farmers and ranchers, sustainability is not an abstract concept. It is a daily practice rooted in the land and its future.

“As farmers and ranchers, we focus on providing for future generations and taking care of the land,” Fellows said.

Jason you are a wise man and we salute you.

MARTINEZ BEAVER PHOTOGRAPH USED BY NASA

heidi08 Beavers September 12, 2023

The sad truth is I will never get tired of seeing Cheryl’s awesome grooming photo of our Martinez beaver and the million dollar sheet pile wall show up in articles around the country or even around the planet. Think about what it means that this photo has lasted and not been swapped by wikipedia in nearly 15 years.

If humans went extinct tomorrow, who would rule the world?
Beavers.

Well, at least in the Northern Hemisphere. These tree-felling, water-slowing, wetland-creating rodent engineers have a massive impact wherever they live. Indeed, when it comes to their power over water flow, Cory Mosby says, “I’m not aware of another species that does this (save humans) on the scale that a beaver population can.”

A biologist with the Idaho Department of Fish and Wildlife, Mosby knows the power of these mammals intimately. And now NASA — yes, the same agency that sends people into space and searches for killer comets — is helping researchers get a more detailed look at how beavers can transform our world for the better, including combating climate change.

“NASA is interested in how satellite Earth observations can be used for natural resource management,” says Cynthia Schmidt, the associate program manager for the NASA Ecological Conservation Program. In this particular case, Schmidt says, NASA is keen to use satellite research to help scientists “better understand the impacts of rewilding for ecosystem restoration.”

I’m interested in that too.

PALO ALTO BEAVER SHOWS UP IN LA TIMES

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers September 11, 2023

Wow! That popular little Stanford beaver has made it all the way to the LA Times. Congratulations Bill!

Baby beaver sighting inspires hopes of a California comeback

Bill Leikam was reviewing footage from a wildlife camera he placed along a Palo Alto creekbed recently when something unfamiliar scampered across the screen.

“I have enough experience with the wildlife out there to be able to identify every one of them just by their movement — this one had me baffled,” said Leikam, president and co-founder of the Urban Wildlife Research Project. “I’d never seen a critter out there moving like this little guy did.”

Leikam, who is better known as The Fox Guy, watched the clip over and over. Eventually, he recognized the mysterious creature as a critically important species that has long been missing from his beloved Baylands — a mammal that California wildlife officials have hailed as a “climate hero.”

“I just stopped and said to myself, ‘Is that a baby beaver?’” Leikam said.

It’s always good news when folks are excited about beavers. Never mind that Bill actually sent this video to beaver expert Heidi Perryman for verification and SHE confirmed it was a beaver. We don’t have any time to talk to people who actually observe beavers. There’s only time to talk to people that STUDY beavers.

The kit sighting in Matadero Creek has been confirmed by local wildlife experts and even a historical ecologist. It marks the first time in decades — if not more than a century — that a beaver colony has taken up residence in this region south of the San Francisco Bay.

For state wildlife officials and “beaver believers,” the camera trap images are cause for celebration. After being hunted and harassed for hundreds of years, the North American beaver is poised to make a comeback in the Golden State, and its resurgence could help fight certain effects of climate change.

While there have been other recent reports of beaver activity across the Bay Area, Leikam said this is the first concrete evidence. More importantly, it suggests a successful re-population of the area.

Last fall, Leikam spotted a pair of beavers along Matadero Creek and hoped they would settle in and create a beaver pup.

“It’s unique that they’re establishing,” said Emily Fairfax, a longtime California beaver researcher who now works as an associate professor at the University of Minnesota. “This is a stamp of approval to have a beaver move in.”

Since the mid- to late 1800s, when California beavers were pushed nearly to extinction by the fur trade, the semi-aquatic rodents have made small inroads into the Bay Area and other regions — a process complicated by the lining of tributaries with concrete, making them inhospitable for the flat-tailed animal.

Hi Rick! Nice to see them discuss your work. So we have discussions with the cancer researcher and the man who studies foxes, who else can we get?

“It’s one thing if you find a dispersing beaver somewhere, it’s a totally different ballgame when you find that you have an established, reproducing population,” said Valerie Cook, manager of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s newly established Beaver Restoration Program. “It really reflects that shift in perception and people starting to recognize that these are not a nuisance species.”

For decades, developers, municipalities and farmers focused on beavers as a problem that required mitigation or removal. Now, the species known as Castor canadensis is seen as offering myriad benefits: It can help to mitigate drought and wildfires through natural water management; it is considered a keystone species for its ability to foster biodiversity; and it can restore habitat through its ecosystem engineering.

“They can create wetlands in basically any ecosystem,” said Fairfax, who described beavers as a free workforce that California has yet to take full advantage of. “The fires are catastrophic and the droughts are widespread and unrelenting — it feels like we have to exhaust all options.”

While experts have known the advantages of beavers for decades — a 1950 Outdoor California magazine highlighted a short-lived effort to move beavers via parachute to improve water supplies — it’s only in the last year that state officials have formed a new beaver restoration program.

Oh excellent! Tdhey got Valerie to weigh in! Did I mention that her other job is head of the nutria eradication program?

“California is paving a pathway forward for beavers to have a much better future in this state and to actually be part of dealing with things like droughts and floods and wildfires,” Fairfax said.

There are no population estimates for California beavers, but Fairfax said the numbers statewide are “relatively tiny.”

“Everywhere could use more,” she said. Other western states, such as Colorado and Utah, have supported beavers more aggressively in the last few years, and Fairfax said she is hopeful California can begin to catch up.

For Leikam, who has been monitoring this area of Palo Alto Baylands for more than a decade, the new beaver offspring is the latest sign of an improving ecosystem.

“I’m optimistic about wildlife,” said Leikam, who has spent years tracking gray foxes.

While he has yet to see evidence that this new beaver family is building a dam — he suspects they are living in deep burrows within the creek’s bank — he’s hopeful he might see one in the future, which would support a host of new animals.

“This new beaver family is really imdportant if they survive and reproduce,” said Lanman,d who hopes they expand their range in the Bay Area. “It’s just remarkable.”

Good, You’ve spoken to the hydrologist too. That’s a complete set of folks that haven’t spent a significant portion of their life observing beavers. You know what I would have said if they asked me? In the last decade 34 of the 58 counties in California have sought depredation permits for permission to kill beaver so I’m going to say if there are enough beavers to kill we can probably assume they are reproducing in the area.

Just like they were in Martinez.

Welcome to the neighborhood little Matadero creek beaver.