MAINE USDA INSTALLS BEAVER FENCING?

heidi08 Beavers October 11, 2023

Dam beavers: CMP installs ‘beaver fence’ in Berwick to combat road flooding

BERWICK, Maine — Central Maine Power installed a “beaver fence” in Berwick on Tuesday, to help combat flooding caused by nearby beaver dams.

The CMP-owned road experiencing flooding provides access to both transmission line right of ways and local homes.

CMP said the device will prompt beavers to build dams elsewhere and in turn protect a culvert that resides behind the fence, preventing obstruction and future flooding.

Local homeowners said the issue has been “time-consuming.”

CMP Community Relations Manager Greg Thomspon said it is always rewarding to find a solution that ensures reliable power, protects access for homeowners, and protects wildlife.

“We have regular conversations with state and federal agencies like MDIFW and USDA which help us make projects like this a success, and we appreciate their support.”

Why is there so much DAM activity?

Beaver harvesting activity becomes more intense in late fall, as the furry critter concentrates on repairing and building up its dam in preparation for winter, according to Maine.gov.

Hmm…do we think USDA knows how to install a flow device? Do we think they worked with Mike or Skip and learned what to do? I mean don’t get me wrong…any USDA person in stalling a fence is better news than USDA trapping…but of course it needs to SUCCEED and be installed correctly because failure kills more beavers…

TED WILLIAMS DOESN’T LIKE BEAVERS

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers October 10, 2023

Some days it seems like we are racing to keep up with all the good beaver news and some days. well, are more like this: scarred by negative articles in which smart people say stupid things about beavers to a very gullible audience. Brace yourself…

OPINION: Are beavers always the answer? Not really.

Beavers, through their assiduous dam building, can recharge groundwater and provide habitat for fish and wildlife. In the Pacific Northwest, for example, managers are bringing back beaver as part of trout and salmon management.

“God bless beavers and their industrious nature,” writes Trout Unlimited’s Idaho-based Chris Hunt in Hatch magazine. “They make habitat for the fish we love, and opportunities to catch them.” True enough, in Idaho.

But the notion, ubiquitous in America, that all beavers everywhere are a panacea for what ails an ecosystem is misinformed. Yes, beavers are beneficial — in the right places.

For those of you playing along at home you should already be guessing who wrote this article and what comes next. Ted Williams is a revered writer about fly fishing and audubon and all things water. If you search for his name on this website you will find that he has given his opinions on beavers many times before…

Consider the debacle in Nevada. This from Kim Toulouse, the Nevada Department of Wildlife’s former conservation educator: “Historically, virtually every stream in the northern half of Nevada held some form of cutthroat trout. Additionally, many small-order streams also held native redband and bull trout. When the push started (for trout recovery) we discovered that many single-order streams were infested with heavy populations of beavers.

Infested? Great use of objective scientific language there Kim. How do you really feel about beavers? I’m not sure I can tell…

“Extremely high numbers of beaver dams on these systems led to loss of gene flow and precluded the ability of fish to move up and down these systems. Additionally, fish found it difficult to find suitable spawning grounds due to heavy siltation caused by the dams. The loss of riparian habitat led to erosion, more siltation, less shade, higher water temperatures, loss of native riparian vegetation, and establishment of noxious invasive plants.” So Nevada initiated major beaver control. But politicians, incited by the Humane Society of the U.S., shut it down.

Because you know what a crazy strong force THE HUMANE SOCIETY is in NEVADA for god sakes. They practically write the laws. I mean that’s the story we tell ourselves in my state of Massachusetts so Nevada must be exactly the same, right?

Beaver damage to Minnesota and Wisconsin trout streams is even worse. Fisheries managers have to hire Wildlife Services, a federal agency, to trap beavers and blow up dams. It’s expensive, so only a small percentage of streams can be salvaged.

And Trout Unlimited reports that in Minnesota’s Knife River watershed, “artificially high beaver numbers…threaten the survival of coldwater fisheries, as well as the health of the watershed and Lake Superior.” But an outfit ironically called “Advocates for the Knife River Watershed” is fighting to nix beaver control, circulating junk science and such fictions as “beaver have been totally eradicated in the whole Knife River valley — over 200 square miles.”

Oh my goodness. Those crazy beaver lovers are taking over the world. And how exactly are the high numbers of beavers artificial? Are you implying they were introduced?

California’s Silver King Creek watershed is the only refuge for threatened Paiute cutthroat trout, yet overpopulated beavers block migration and destroy habitat. It got so bad in Four-Mile Creek that Trout Unlimited volunteers had to reroute the stream.

If you were to look this up you’d find an article from trout unlimited which says that beavers are NOT NATIVE to the sierras and were INTRODUCED so they blocked all those cutthroat from getting around…NEVER MIND research…

“The biggest problem I see is that beavers move into an area that doesn’t have enough forage, and they abandon their dams,” said retired state fisheries biologist Bill Sommer. “When beavers leave, the dams blow out and that causes erosion.”

You mean the biggest problem is when beavers leave? Is that what you’re saying?

Aldo Leopold could grasp two realities about deer simultaneously. Were he still alive, he’d applaud Phil Monahan, who wrote this in Trout Unlimited’s Trout Magazine: “Many anglers see the beavers’ work as predominately destructive — turning a babbling trout stream into a slow-moving wetland, for instance. Wildlife biologists recognize that each of these ‘destructive’ effects has a flip side: situations in which that very same effect is beneficial to trout.

“After looking at all the data, then, the question, ‘Are beavers good or bad for trout streams?’ can be answered only with a definitive: ‘It depends.’”

It depends? Are you sure you want to leave it so open ended Ted? You haven’t said a single good thing about beavers yet so how exactly does it “Depend”? Of course never mind that deep pools made by the beavers don’t dry up in the summer or freeze in the winter. Just leave all that water business aside. Beavers are bad. You know it and only the supreme power of the humane society makes people like them.

Best part is that this article runs along side a photo of a nutria. Which I believe is fully illustrative of how much Ted Williams understands about this subject.

SO CLOSE AND YET SO FAR

heidi08 Beaver Art October 9, 2023

Readers of this website will know that I am a devoted fan of Lizzie Harper a botanical illustrator from Wales who has donated to our festival in the past and is the illustrator for UK audubon. and the national gallery, and created amazing wetlands illustration that I frequently reference and borrow from in my beaver creations. It is my fondest dream that some day soon Wales will allow beaver reintroduction and Lizzie Harper will be tapped to do a beaver ecosystem illustration for the Welsh Beaver Trust or Cardiff University or some big spending patron that we all benefit from. Well this weekend in my annual hunt for beaver illustrations I came across this:

I was of course over the moon that is until I tore off to her website and found that it was an illustration for a book in 2022 and bears this description:

Beavers Castor canadensis with beaver dam. Illustration based in Tierra del Fuego, where introduced beavers have damaged the closed ecosystem. Illustration from The Hidden Universe: Adventures in Biodiversity by Alexandre Antonelli

Good lord. So close and yet so far. I was kinda wondering why it looked so bleak. I guess know I know why. They are still beautiful illustrations. I guess she has to practice on something. It might as well be the notoriously bad beavers of Chile while she’s waiting…

NAPA KITS BROWSE

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers October 8, 2023

Nice video this morning from Rusty Cohn of Napa who caught two kits having dinner down town last nignt, well for them I guess it was breakfast…

CARBONDALE CO: PRETTY AND SMART!

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers, Beavers and Culvert Protection October 7, 2023

Carbondale Colorado, just outside of aspen, is just about as pretty as you’d imagine it with all the mountain trimmings and clear waters to give it fame. I imagine that has something to do with the beavers who are causing a bit of a stir in the area. Fortunately they’ve had some great training from Sherri Tippie and her many disciples…

Beaver dams wreak havoc in Carbondale Nature Park

The serene ambiance of Carbondale Nature Park is currently marred by an unintended consequence of nature’s course. A diligent group of beavers, native to the 33-acre valley park, have constructed dams, causing blockage in the culverts and resulting in significant flooding. These circumstances have not only impacted public areas but have also impacted private property access, forcing officials and residents to seek immediate solutions.

Culverts logged

Carbondale Parks & Recreation Director Eric Brendlinger painted a vivid picture of the challenges the town is grappling with. Beavers have effectively blocked a couple of culverts on the town property. Water, unable to find its regular course, has been rerouted.

“We have a couple of culverts there that have been blocked on our town property,” Brendlinger said. “The damming by the beavers has flooded out that road too. We’re just going to have to wait until the water drops to assess what to do about that for the future.”

That doesn’t exactly sound like havoc to me, unless your definition of havoc is “doing what everyone expects and what improves the environment“. From the headline I assumed beavers were tossing molotov cocktails and shooting beer cans in the streets. Well, let’s see how this unwanted behavior is handled shall we?

Potential solutions are being considered as the town braces to address this unexpected challenge. “Beaver deceivers” could play a pivotal role. These devices employ siphon technology to manage and control the water level, preventing flooding without disrupting the beavers’ natural dam-building activities.

“These devices will effectively manage the water levels, preventing flooding while allowing beavers to thrive,” Brendlinger said. “It’s a solution that respects both our community’s needs and the natural ecosystem.”

Don’t you just love it when characters are introduced to a familiar story that actually know how to solve things??? I sure do.

Action to address the damming and resultant flooding is contingent on the water levels receding. The town has scheduled to turn off its ditches on Oct. 16, which will facilitate a reduction in water levels and provide access for a detailed assessment of the situation.

“We turn off our ditches on Oct. 16,” Brendlinger said. “That will help and then just, of course, natural water level drops allowing us to get access to assess the impact.”

While the beavers’ industrious activities are causing some consternation, the issue is currently localized, impacting the park and adjacent private properties. The town remains committed to addressing the problem without causing harm to the beavers or their natural habitat.

“It’s one of those things, where we are trying to coexist with nature but it can be difficult at times,” Brendlinger said.

As the town of Carbondale anticipates a resolution to the conflict of nature versus human convenience, the beavers, oblivious to the stir their dams have caused, continue their industrious work.

How’s that for a nice story. Here’s the problem. Here’s the solution. Here’s why we want to cooperate with beavers.

Have a nice day.