I had an indescribably beaver day yesterday, if it pans out I’ll fill you in on the details. Let me just say that it started at dawn with a phone call from Karen Corker of Maine WildWatch, who is testifying tonight and wanted to learn what was most helpful in Martinez. We had an epic chat about how to enlist support without alienating potential allies. We also talked about how folks get numb or hostile to the animal rights message, and how to frame arguments differently for the maximum effect. I stressed the importance of pragmatic solutions and talked about the art of the possible.
We basically revisited these ideas, which is so fun to do again. Especially without the personally impending dire consequences. It was like going to your high school reunion without any snobs. Very fun. I am wishing Karen all the luck in the world today.
Then my copy of The Knotty Pine Mystery Series arrived! I was so excited I couldn’t wait to settle down in a comfortable chair and read the adventure. On the very first page Mr. Beaverton looks up at the wall of his lodge where he sees the portrait of his grandfather who had “always walked with him along the banks of Cobble Creek and explained how the land was healthy because of their dams“.
Ha! Do you think I’m going to keep reading? Go ahead guess!
I was so interested in the origin of the tale I asked artist Sara Aycock about it. Did the illustrations come first or the story? She wrote back,
“It was actually my artwork. A little over a year ago I decided to paint animals dressed in Victorian clothes. My very first painting was Mr. Beaverton and I was in love. I saw his personality and profession. (I actually finished him on August 24, 2016 and exactly a year later on August 24, 2017 we released our book!) As I continued to paint the characters, I named them, came up with their jobs, and wrote up the personalities. I decided to feature North American animals (except our hedgehog, which book 1 explains how he got to North America). In September 2016, I approached my sister-in-law (who lives clear across the U.S.) and asked her if she would be willing to write a children’s chapter book based on my characters. She said she’d love to! She was amazing to work with and took the characters and town that I had envisioned and gave them a lovely story. We have 8 books planned and have made a list of problems that animals may experience in the wild and made a long list of things to teach about nature that we hope to sprinkle throughout the series. It’s been such a fun project and I’ve learned even more about nature as I study different animals and whatnot.”
Sara Aycock
What an adventure! And I’m so grateful that it worked out our festival got to be part of it. I love the idea of the image of Mr. Beaverton starting the whole thing. Beavers do change things, you know. Maybe you haven’t ordered your copy yet. But you REALLY SHOULD. I’m already very curious who has been stealing things around the forest and am relieved Mr. Beaverton is on the case.
Too bad the folks at Ruby Construction in Vermont didn’t have a similar appreciation for the animal’s work.
Wells quarry operators fined $9K for excavating beaver dam, cleanup required
Montpelier – The Agency of Natural Resources announced today that Ruby Construction, Inc., former owner of the hilltop property containing the Mammoth Quarry in the Town of Wells, and the company’s lessee Royal Harrison, were jointly held responsible for a massive discharge of water and sediment into Lake St. Catherine. They have been fined a minimum of $9,000 and are required to appropriately remove the deposited sediment from the lake.
On a sunny Sunday afternoon in April 2014, neighboring homeowners on West Lake Road, a residential road along Lake St. Catherine and downhill from the Mammoth Quarry, were outside enjoying the weather when an enormous discharge event occurred. The homeowners described witnessing a wall of water that rumbled down the forested hill, quickly overwhelmed an intermittent streambed, blocked a culvert and overtopped West Lake Road. The Wells Fire Department and road crews responded to close the road and assist in diverting the water away from the two homes, one of which had water flowing into the basement. The water moved swiftly for several hours, ripping up and dragging slate flagstones across one homeowner’s property and gouging out new pathways into the lake on the other. Debris and sediment flowed well into Lake St. Catherine. The event temporarily cut off road access to residents of both Wells and Poultney on the northern portion of West Lake Road, which dead-ends.
One homeowner followed the water up the hill behind his property in an attempt to investigate the cause of the release. He followed the rushing water up the steep hill and identified recent excavator tracks around the area. While the excavator was no longer at the site, there was clear evidence of unnatural excavation of a beaver dam at its downstream point, which was now draining the large reservoir of water. Later that day, Town of Wells officials retraced the flow of the water, which had subsided but not stopped by the evening, and tracked the excavator marks away from the draining pond. They followed muddy tracks to a full-size excavator, parked, and with a warm engine.
Following the event and investigation, the Agency issued notices to Ruby Construction, Inc. and Royal Harrison alleging the violation of an illegal discharge into a water of the state, and outlining the process to clean up the damage. Ruby Construction, Inc. and Royal Harrison never admitted fault for the discharge, and requested a hearing in front of the Vermont Superior Court, Environmental Division. The two-day hearing was held March 2 and 3, 2017, and the Court issued a decision on the merits and judgment order on July 28, 2017 affirming the Agency’s position. The Court’s order requires Ruby Construction, Inc. and Royal Harrison pay a penalty of $9,000 and apply for a permit from the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation’s Lakes and Ponds Management and Protection Program to appropriately remove the sediment from the Lake by next fall. All sediment removal and lake restoration is to be paid for by the respondents, and an additional penalty of $3,000 will be assessed if compliance is not achieved by October 31, 20
The damn dam-wreckers! I guess we shouldn’t be surprise that when they were confronted with their own wrongdoing the Quarry owners stonewalled, but I’m glad the authorities tracked them down anyway. I personally wish it was MORE money they are being fined but I’m sure the 9000 will sting a little. I love the idea of the homeowner following the excavator tracks and laying his hand on the engine to find it was still warm. I actually did that myself once in Martinez at the secondary dam. Ah, memories.
Maybe that should be the next knotty pine mystery!
