Category: Beavers and Frogs

Marching towards victory

heidi08 Beaver Anatomy, Beaver Behavior, Beavers and Birds, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and Ice, Beavers and Insects, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Who's saving beavers now? June 10, 2017

Yesterday was a VERY good day. We had three thrilling pieces of very good news, consisting of 1) for the very first time we get a US Forest Service exhibit at the festival which we never did before, 2) that the Alhambra Valley Band is confirmed in some variation, and 3) that Brock Dolman is going to appear in beaver costume to talk about beaver benefits on stage. I am so happy when things fall into place that I start looking immediately on the horizon for the dark cloud (or piano) that will inevitably follow.

But things are going in the right direction. I’m definitely happy for that.

Meanwhile, in the world of false beaver accusations, cranky old men are still saying crazy things about beavers, just in case you were curious.

Critter built impoundment beneath railroad bridge spurs Tom McDonald to action.

Over time, he sold most of the 11 acres. Other developers created the Portland Fairview RV Park, and a cozy cluster of single-family homes sprung up around Palisade Drive, Heartwood Circle and other residential streets. McDonald owns just a sliver of land between the RV park and Northeast 217th Court. Fairview Creek runs right through the tract, and Union Pacific’s railroad trestle is just a stone’s throw away.

That’s where the problems began, and McDonald had what he described as a “Holy cripes!” moment.

“We were out talking (and) walking around, and beavers were popping up around our feet,” McDonald relates. “They put a delay on our deal because it was so wet.”

During the prep period before any sale was possible, McDonald discovered that his land had experienced some heavy flooding. The culprit appeared to be an industrious beaver clan that had built a 6-foot-tall dam across Fairview Creek under the railroad bridge. While the Multnomah County Drainage District No. 1 could technically lower the waterline at Fairview Lake, this wouldn’t remove the dam or solve the long-term problem with flooding.

During the prep period before any sale was possible, McDonald discovered that his land had experienced some heavy flooding. The culprit appeared to be an industrious beaver clan that had built a 6-foot-tall dam across Fairview Creek under the railroad bridge. While the Multnomah County Drainage District No. 1 could technically lower the waterline at Fairview Lake, this wouldn’t remove the dam or solve the long-term problem with flooding.

“Looking at the situation from a layman’s view, it appears that area is ‘honeycombed’ with beaver burrowing,” McDonald said.

Because you know how beavers like to burrow in wetlands. Dig Dig Dig, that’s what beavers do. And destroy train trestles, like in those silent movies.

Honestly, is the crazyoldmanvan coming for you soon? I mean what would be the POINT of a beaver digging in flooded banks? They obviously aren’t making a lodge inside them. Now I suppose they theoretically could be making a canal to drag supplies through, but do you honestly think the metal and cement pilings and steel girders of the modern train trestle are going to be troubled by a bunch of beavers?

I’m a little doubtful about the 6 foot dam myself. I mean our dam was assessed by PWA once as 7 feet tall but that was because they were lying and measuring with sticks of terror. You can tell it’s not 7 feet tall because the man in the front filming is Moses Silva of sturdy Mayan frame and just over 5 feet. Assuming his mystery dam was as high as ours that means those beavers had a lot of resources to choose from.

Looking at this it’s kind of amazing to think that mom and Dad made this whole thing by themselves back then, because there were no yearlings to help.

Now I’m officially looking forward to our summer lineup. Here’s Brock as Buster Beaver at the Daily Acts breakfast in Sonoma in 2014.

Unexpected friends benefit beavers

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers elsewhere, Who's saving beavers now? June 8, 2017

Vermont is leading the way again, look what they’re doing now:

‘Beaver Baffles’ Prevent Flooding and Resolve Beaver-Human Conflicts

BOLTON and RICHMOND, Vt. – To prevent flooding on nearby roads, the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department recently completed several water control devices on beaver dams in Bolton and Richmond. Known as ‘beaver baffles’ these devices confuse beavers by using a large plastic tube to create a hidden breech upstream away from the beavers’ dam.

The Fish & Wildlife Department expects to install more than a dozen additional beaver baffles throughout the state this year. The baffles are one of many techniques that department staff employ or recommend to landowners to minimize beaver damage to property or trees. Other techniques include using culvert fences or placing wire mesh or special paint around the base of trees.

“The wetlands that beavers create provide habitat for a variety of wildlife such as waterfowl, songbirds, frogs, turtles, and otters. These areas can also absorb extra water during rain events and clean pollutants from water, so we work hard to preserve these wetlands whenever possible,” said Chris Bernier, wildlife biologist for the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department.

You know what I wonder? What kind of leadership is necessary to make it so your state Fish and Game agency actually spends time and money installing flow devices. I mean is it a top down kind of excellent governor thing? Or is it a bottom up kind of informed biologist who teaches all the others? Of course I wonder how can we get that kind of response going here? I’m pretty sure our fish and games days are filled with paperwork and occasional license stops. But I could be wrong.

The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department has installed 291 beaver baffles in Vermont since the program started in 2000.

“We receive roughly 200 beaver complaints a year,” said Bernier. “Several staff members respond to these complaints, and one technician is dedicated solely to addressing beaver conflicts from spring through fall. Despite these efforts, other management techniques must be used. We also rely on regulated, in-season trapping to maintain a stable beaver population so Vermonters continue to view beavers as a valued member of the local ecosystem and not as a nuisance.”

Do you think it’s the influence of famous Vermonter Skip Lisle that eventually just rubbed off on them? What ever it is I like it. 291 sounds like a lot, but that’s like 17 flow devices a year. How do you think they decide which site gets an install and which one gets permission to trap?

Now we’re headed northwest to British Columbia where folks are interested in letting beavers help frogs.

Green Beat: Leave it to beaver

Monica Pearson is on a mission to bring back the frogs.

Our region was formerly a better place for frogs because wetlands were more abundant. Many wetlands have been lost to development and farmland like the 11,000 acre Sumas Lake that was drained in the 1920s.This project was proposed by the Vancouver Aquarium and Earth Rangers, who raised over $75,000 to help save the Oregon Spotted Frog. We identified a field where the historic wetland had been drained for agriculture but wasn’t in use any more because it was still too wet in Metro Vancouver’s Aldergrove Regional Park.

“Our goal was to learn about restoring a shallow marsh wetland specifically for Oregon Spotted Frogs, despite the presence of invasive Reed Canarygrass and American Bullfrogs. Research that I did a few years ago suggested that keeping a marsh shallower than 30 cm would be good for Spotties, and bad for Bullies, but it’s also great for invasive Reed Canary Grass, which we don’t want.

“When building a wetland, you need to be aware of your water budget. We weren’t certain that there would be enough to keep the wetland wet all year long, especially in a long summer drought. We expected that much of the wetland would dry up through the summer but less than two years after we had built the wetland in 2013, we discovered that the wetland was not only holding water year round, but actually getting deeper.

“Why? Beavers! Through some truly impressive engineering, some local beavers first plugged up drainage ditches, then re-routed water into those ditches from a nearby stream, and were filling it from the bottom. It was like filling a bathtub from the drain.

The result was stable water levels through the whole year — a much better outcome than we ever expected! There are over 100 bird species using the site, dragonflies, fish and many native frog species breeding in the wetland.

The surprise intervention of beavers in Monica’s project is encouraging in an age when so often our goals for rehabilitating nature seem out of reach, and we forget that creation itself might be able to lend a hand — or at least a paw.

Apparently Monica was surprised that beavers build such remarkable wetlands. They made the water deeper than her project needed and the article said they have to ‘manage’ it somehow. I hope not stupidly. But in the meantime I’m really glad that folks were reminded how much beavers help frogs.

There was a ton of beaver news yesterday, but I’m going to leave you without talking about the WETLAND WAR in Narvan just yet, because I’m headed to Marin tonight to sprinkle beaver gospel upon them and want to rush off to make some coffee before settling in to watch the Comey testimony. I’m pretty sure beavers won’t come up, but who knows?

Extra, Extra! Read all about the beaver good news!

heidi08 Beaver-themed merchandise, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and Ice, Beavers and Insects, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental, featured, Festival, Friends of Martinez Beavers, Who's saving beavers now? June 4, 2017

There’s great news from three nations today just in time for our Suday funnies. First there’s the fantastic announcement that Frances Backhouse (author of Once they were Hats) will be doing a lecture in 2 weeks for idea city (which is the canadian equivalent of TED talks). If you live near Toronto and have a spare 300 you might consider being in the audience. Us poor California folks will have to wait for the vide0,

Award-winning Canadian author Frances Backhouse is a former biologist whose curiosity about the world enticed her into a writing career. Her 2015 book Once They Were Hats: In Search of the Mighty Beaver, was heralded by The Globe and Mail as one of the “20 books you’ll be reading – and talking about – for the rest of the year.”

Speaking the morning of Friday, June 16th – buy your tickets now!

Frances was kind enough to donate another copy of her beloved book for our silent auction, and we are eager to see how the dynamic ideacity event success. Hopefully it will remind folks, like Glynnis talk back in the day, that beavers really matter.

Lots of good work in this country too, where beaver friend and Geology Student Erin Poor just posted about the project she’s working on in tualatin. Remind me again, how many people were talking about the Pros and Cons of Urban beaver before Martinez and Worth A Dam? Oh that’s right. Zero!

Beavers are known as environmental engineers because of their ability to change the landscape to fit their needs. Beaver activity, such as dam building, can increase stream and floodplain complexity, which may create a more diverse habitat for wildlife in the area.

Many scientists are curious to discover how beavers affect impaired urban streams. The USGS recently began studying the effect of beaver populations on urban streams in Tualatin River basin, located in the Portland, OR, metropolitan area. Scientists are studying whether beaver activity can improve the health of city streams. Insights from this study will provide a good foundation of the “pros and cons” of beavers in urban areas, thereby allowing local agencies to make management decisions based on science. This research is a collaboration between the USGS Oregon Water Science Center and Clean Water Services of Washington County, Oregon.

Tualatin_beaver_study_WithinOurReachPoster_2016

Bring back beavers to fight flooding and pollution, expert claims

Further proof that one person can make a difference? Here’s a slapdash beaver article from one of the silly English rags that will steal any story and photo off the internet and call it ‘news’. Case in point? How about my photo that I mocked up before Brexit? This was on USA news today along with an assortment of dimly related beaver images from around the globe, including the shop lifting beaver at Christmas in Maryland. Never mind, at least folks are talking about it.

We have some wonderful new auction items to mention this fine sunday morning, and I’m thinking we should start with Jennifer Lovett’s smart book for teens and tweens “Beavers away“. It’s a great way to look at the issue and she does an excellent job talking about the importance of beaver to biodiversity. I especially like this graphic. I met Jennifer on the beaver management forum on Facebook set up by Mike Callahan in Massachusetts. (It’s a good place to hear about beaver work and if you aren’t a member you should be.) She is a big supporter of all things beaver and became a good beaver buddy.

Thanks Jennifer!

Beavers-Away

Finally we have a much anticipated donation from Marcella Henkles in Corvalis Oregon. You will remember she was the amazing raku tile artist who featured two lovely beaver tiles to the Beaver tales art exhibit both of which sold almost immediately. I’m sure she was surprised to hear from me begging at her door but she generously agreed to send me one of the works she had recently fired. The complex technique demands carving the image on wet clay then glazing it into color. You really have to see it in person to understand how the colors, textures and rough barn wood all work together. It’s gorgeous. Doesn’t this need to be on your wall immediately?

best henkle — Beaver with Aspen Raku Tile: Marcella Henkles

And just because beavers like to look their Sunday best, here’s a fun video from Robin of Napa showing some excellent back footed grooming.

Local retelling of beaver story

heidi08 Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and Ice, Beavers and Insects, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Urban beavers, Who's saving beavers now? May 26, 2017

A few months back I was contacted by Sarahbeth Maney who introduced herself as a 3rd year photojournalism student at San Francisco State that happened to grow up in Martinez. She needed to do a multimedia project for school and wanted to interview local women who had made a difference. A recent article in the times made her think that me and the Martinez Beaver story was just what she was looking for.

She came by before earth day and we spent the morning chatting about the story and looking through the scrapbook, then I sent her footage of the beavers. Sarahbeth was very nice, engaging, responsible and startlingly young. (I think her mom and I are the same age.) It was one of those interviews where I was answering specific questions that you never hear in the video, but I think it mostly works when you see it.

Of course, I said way more than made it to the finish line, about salmon and frogs and birds. I’m pretty sure I even mentioned nitrogen removal. There’s never enough time to say all the good things about beavers. I’m glad the surviving footage mentioned climate change and California’s water problems specifically. I’m also really happy about saying there was a dramatic difference between how long it took to solve the actual problem rather than the fear of the problem!

Yesterday she sent the finished product which is a short retelling (2.5 minutes) and fun to see. It puts things together nicely using bits and pieces from the story, her video, photographs and my footage. I never love watching myself on camera but I’m fairly content that I don’t look or sound too insane or tired in this. (Let’s face it though, I’m grading on a wide curve.)

Thanks Sarahbeth, for sharing your talents with our beavers, and letting me tell their story.

To Beaver or Not To Beaver?

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers and Birds, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and Ice, Beavers and Insects, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Educational, Environmental, Who's blaming beavers now?, Who's Killing Beavers Now?, Who's saving beavers now? May 25, 2017

More silly mulling from the Scottish countyside: Should beavers be allowed or not? A reader on the Tayside group pointed out that this same argument could have been made 15 years ago, I say probably longer than that.

Beaver reintroduction – what’s the story?

Their reputation as strong swimmers and prodigious engineers is not an understatement. Their large incisors and clawed front feet enable them to construct dams and lodges that can extend for hundreds of metres, as well as burrows of up to 20 metres into the riverbank.

“Any species introduction, particularly if it has not been in this country for hundreds of years, can have a massive impact on the many benefits that the countryside delivers,” Mark Pope, an arable farmer from Somerset who has instigated numerous initiatives to provide habitat and food for birds and insects and encourage diverse plant species on his farm, said.

“In the case of beavers, the NFU has concerns about the damage to farmland and the landscape caused by their physical activities.” Mark, who is also chair of the NFU Environment Forum, added. “Farmers and the public must have the tools to manage the impacts beavers will have to farmland, the countryside, flood defences and urban areas.

“Beavers can add biodiversity, as well as the interest, enjoyment and socio-economic benefits they can provide to many people. What the NFU is very clear on is that in some locations there is a clear need to manage this species to minimise undesirable impacts on agriculture, forestry, inland waters and other land uses.”

There is increasing interest in the beneficial role beavers could bring to habitats. The natural activities of beavers could help to regulate flooding and improve water quality, if managed properly. The Devon trial on the River Otter, led by the Devon Wildlife Trust in partnership with Clinton Devon Estates, the University of Exeter and the Derek Gow Partnership, has been exploring the role of beavers in managing and creating wetland habitats, the impacts on water quality, and influence on water flow and flood risk.

Tolkein once wrote “Go not to the elves for council, for they will say both ‘No’ and ‘Yes’.” Mostly no, though.

On the other hand, beaver burrows near watercourses can weaken river embankments and flood defences. Material felled and gathered by beavers for dams and lodges can create flood risk downstream and block drains upstream. The potential consequences of this for farmland and the rural economy is a cause for concern.

It is estimated that the costs of the 2007 and 2013-14 floods on agricultural businesses alone were £50m and £19m respectively, not to mention the wider economic impacts on local employment, infrastructure and utilities and the damage caused to people’s homes and communities.

The knock-on effects can be wide-ranging. The loss of productive farmland, for instance, would have a detrimental effect on food production and supply.

The Scottish Beaver Trial was a five-year project between the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, the Scottish Wildlife Trust and Forestry Commission Scotland to undertake a trial reintroduction of beavers to Knapdale, Mid-Argyll. The trial concluded in 2014 and as a result the Scottish government is considering recognising the European beaver as a native species.

A change in the legal status of beavers raises additional concerns. This is because beavers have no natural predators in the UK so it is important that populations can be managed, particularly if they are present in extensive low-lying areas such as East Anglia, Wiltshire and the Somerset Levels where their activities could block field drains leading to waterlogging (known as ‘wetting up’) of productive farmland.

Clarification: Beavers might benefit us if they don’t kills us all first. “We killed off all their natural predators in the UK so there’s nothing left to kill them and their numbers will swell like taxes with national health”. Are there no otters? No bacteria? No vehicles in your land? Beavers just don’t get killed by predators you know. And honestly, why act like you want to explore an issue and ONLY speak to one farming fiend from the National Farmers Union?

Who’s going to list all the many benefits for fish, wildlife, birds and water storage that come with beavers? Who’s going to talk about how much you can learn about nature by watching them? Who’s going to say how much they improve the health and vitality of urban waterways?

We need a National Beavers Union!!!