There are days in the Beaver-Biz when you get the feeling that something is really happening, and that you yourself are part of the momentum. You can almost hear those creeky rusted wheels start to shift and turn, you aren’t sure at first whether you believe it. You draw a breath to watch what happens next and then comes that wonderful moment when you just sit back and watch it all unfold.
That’s how yesterday’s Placer meeting was. We started out the day by driving to Auburn at 6:30 to avoid Sacramento traffic. We were a little panicked to find the destructive lane closures and partitions on 80 which I later described as a cement tomb with speeding. There were accidents and stopped cars on the way but we eventually made it to our destination. (And lived to have it explained to us that this was just the second year of a multi-year project. Lucky them!)
The presentation was going to be at the central location for county offices in Placer called “the domes” for obvious reasons. (I have heard that there are tribes who believe a house should have no corners because evil spirits lurk in them. Geodomes have multiple corners so maybe that’s why they kill so many beavers in Placer. Ahem.)
They was a big square conference room and equipment all set up with a county technical consultant to get everything plugged in. And then the room started filling up. Afterwards folks said it was the best attendance they ever had. I was especially happy to notice county employees coming in at the end, in addition to all the fish and beaver supporters.
The prescient soul who had actually invited me over a year ago was actually on vacation with his family in Europe and couldn’t be there. His fellow leaders did a great job of orienting the presentation and getting me settled. On the way in I met Sherry and her neighbor who had driven down from Tahoe, Janet who is local and always takes the train down to help at the festival, and Jeanette who did such dynamic working helping with programs last year. 
(I actually heard her laugh out loud when I showed the photo of her and her niece, coincidentally during my talk.)
I had restructured things to make my talk more “fishy” so started out with the salmon info and the clip about bridge creek and beaver assisted salmon recovery. Then got into our story. My talk ran a full hour and there were attentive faces throughout. And laughter in the right places, I was happy to note.
I was especially aware of where I was sitting when I got to the part about the depredation permits. I said “Our statistician noted that one county issued seven times more permits than anywhere else in the state. And that, as it happens, was this one.” I was so happy to see the horrified faces, I can’t tell you. Even more so when I pointed out that according to CA law you need to report the numbers of beaver you trap, but not the number of beavers you depredate.
Afterwards there were questions and appreciations, and some talk about beaver dams and salmon passage or adequate gravel for spawning. I was thrilled to learn that there were attendees in the room who had actually heard Pollock’s talk in Weed and knew all about channelization and salmon enrichment. On particularly knowledgeable young man introduced himself as Damion Ciotti from the Habitat Restoration Division of US Fish and Wildlife Service. We connected several years ago and he was very interested in our work in Martinez. I made sure he left with a copy of Mike Callahan’s DVD. You can’t imagine how helpful his comments were in soothing the beaver-disbelievers in the room. I couldn’t have orchestrated it better than to let fish savvy folk do the defending for me!
Afterwards folks chatted about their own beaver encounters and promised to come to the festival. Jeannette said she saw a beaver at Lake Natomas in Folsom from her kayak and felt honored. Janet presented a cluster of little beaver items she had picked up on her journeys, saying they could be gifts or I might pass them into the auction! And Sherry said she had agreed to give a talk at the educational portion of Taylor Creek where they did the flow devices installations.
Then Jon and I made our way back to the flat lands of Martinez, chatting happily about the day and its possible consequences. We were both exhausted, but in a good, accomplished way, and happy with our results. One of the final questions came from one of the group leaders, who wondered, now that the problems were averted and the city wasn’t afraid anymore, have our city leaders embraced the beavers? Do they support their presence now?
Which made me chuckle, and I answered carefully that they did eventually give up trying to kill them, which, if you think about it, is a kind of support.
