Category: Beavers and salmon

CHRISTIAN SALMON CAN’T JUMP?

I didn’t know there was a Christian Canadian Newspaper. I guess why not. But this article caught my attention. Perfect for Easter weekend. Only true believers need apply.

Salmon vs beaver?

Restoring beavers and coho to a mutually beneficial relationship.

On one of my first days out looking for adult coho salmon on the Upper Bulkley River near Houston, B.C., I was taught how to notch a beaver dam. We carefully pulled sticks out of the dam to create a one-metre-wide opening so that salmon could migrate upstream, leaving the beaver habitat relatively unaffected. Some people view this as unnecessary. After all, haven’t beavers and salmon lived together for generations? Unfortunately, human development and action have put beavers and salmon in conflict in the Upper Bulkley.

The river itself has changed. In some sections of the Upper Bulkley River we get a taste of what the river may have looked like historically. There are complex “braided” sections – islands dividing multiple channels, and side channels inundated during high flows. But most of the river and the creeks feeding into it flow in a single channel. On Google Maps satellite imagery, it’s easy to see the straightening of the river where it has been constricted to the edge of its floodplain by the railway. The railway has been elevated on large levees. And so instead of meandering through its floodplain during freshet (snow melt), the river shoots through these straightened sections. Even when it reaches a less constricted area, it has so much momentum that it can’t switch to slow meandering. With only one channel, there’s only one place for both beavers and fish.

Hmm. I guess one of them has to change their ways and everybody likes salmon. Hardly anyone likes beavers.

Adult Pacific Salmon migrate from the ocean to the freshwater stream where they were born in order to spawn, laying their eggs. Coho salmon spawners reach the Upper Bulkley in September when the river level is still low and the beavers have already been busy building dams. A coho is a patient fish, typically waiting for pulses of fall rain to swell the system and aid their migration as the river rises up and around beaver dams. But the numbers of coho currently coming back to this river are in the hundreds, where historically it would’ve been thousands, and we want to give them the best chance to reach their spawning grounds in time. There can be up to 20 beaver dams restricting the coho’s migration on this river. With that many dams, we have found dead coho who tried and failed to get overtop. And so, with minimal disturbance to the beavers, we notch beaver dams.

I’m pretty sure all them coho are dead upriver. Right? I guess you mean they tragically died before they could mate. I guess that’s a problem. And problems can only be solved by ripping beaver dams. AmIrite?

Other areas of Canada are desperate for beavers and are re-introducing them to increase water storage. This might seem like mixed messaging, but the message is actually quite similar: poor ecosystem stewardship. Problems arise in beaver-deficient ecosystems as well as in beaver-abundant ecosystems impacted by human development. So in the Upper Bulkley River, we’ll keep notching – until a method of communication opens with the beavers on incorporating fish passage into their dam construction blueprints, or until we’re able to achieve some habitat restoration to reconnect the river with its historic floodplain and restore beavers and coho to their mutually beneficial relationship.

Okay…I guess beavers are good for drought and saving water and that sort of stuff. And I guess that people and cows and salmon and birds all need water. Okay. And burning up in wildfires is bad for everything.

But some of the salmon died before they could mate. That means we need to rip holes in beaver dams.

Here;s the problem as I see it. Those little holes you so carefully rip let the powerful water through and because of that don’t stay little for very long. The force of the water drains the pond which is okay for the beavers but is just rotten for all those little baby salmon. So next year instead of three hundred coming back you get two hundred. Then fifty. Then ten.

And every time you assume it’s because of those dams and make more notches or then blow them up entirely. and pretty soon you have zero beaver dams and zero salmon.

Funny how that works.

BEAVERS WIN IN CALIFORNIA HAIL MARY-SALMON PASS

When we were getting ready for the Beaver Summit I was surprised to hear how glum Michael Pollock felt about the California Salmon population. Something he said about them suggested that whatever we did to help it was probably too late for these fish, IN 2022 they counted only 500,000 crossing back from the ocean.

Historically, an estimated 5.5 million salmon returned to California rivers. Since the 1950s, less than 500,000 fish, on average, are counted.

Last night word dropped that the new grant program will spend 100 a fish. And 4 of every 100 on beavers. I can only wish we spent this money 40 years ago…

California Distributes $50 Million to Boost Salmon Population

SACRAMENTO — The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has awarded $50 million in grants for 15 projects to support a diverse array of habitat restoration projects in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, McCloud River, and wetland and meadow projects statewide.

Several projects will directly support Governor Newsom’s recently released California’s Salmon Strategy for a Hotter, Drier Future, which outlines six priorities and 71 actions to build healthier, thriving salmon populations in California.

Guess who is one of the biggest winners in this distribution> Go ahead, guess.

$2 Million for CDFW Beaver Restoration Program.

The Occidental Arts and Ecology Center was awarded $2 million for the California Beaver Coexistence Training and Support Program, a first ever project supporting beaver coexistence for landowners. The project will provide financial and technical support to landowners through a new block grant program and California Beaver Help Desk.

“We are excited that our proposal to create a new California Beaver Coexistence Training and Support Program Proposal was awarded by CDFW,” said Brock Dolman, Co-Director, Occidental Arts & Ecology Center WATER Institute. “Our program will allow landowners and tenants to share in the climate-smart and nature-based benefits of living with beavers. This is an exciting win-win for people, beavers and habitats across California.”

2 Million dollars for a beaver program designed to help landowners coexist and keep their streams open for salmon. Thats a heck of a lot of money. That works out to be something like 30000 per county. I guess more because not every county has salmon.

For context the entire budget of CDFW’s beaver restoration was only 2.7 million. They were supposed to use that to educate as well.

I’m guessing they decided to subcontract.

CDFW Awards OAEC Grant to Create Beaver Coexistence Program

The Occidental Arts & Ecology Center WATER Institute is humbled and excited to announce that we have been awarded a $2 million block grant to develop a program to build California’s capacity for successful beaver coexistence implementation.

WATER Institute Co-Director Kate Lundquist said, “This is an immense honor to have been selected by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to receive this award. We are grateful for this opportunity to work with trusted partners at the Beaver Institute to create a comprehensive education and block grant program. A first in the state, this program will provide accessible coexistence information, trainings for installers, and technical and financial assistance to landowners to facilitate the best possible outcome for beavers and humans alike.”

WATER Institute Co-Director Brock Dolman noted, “The development of this program couldn’t come at a better time for California. With the implementation of CDFW’s 2023 Beaver Depredation Policy requiring landowners to implement feasible nonlethal corrective actions to prevent future beaver damage, the program will provide resources to those seeking to mitigate damage while still receiving the ecological benefits from beaver activity.”

Congratulations to our Beaver Buddies at OAEC which I imagine are going to have a very busy time pulling this helpdesk together,

SEATTLE FORGETS EVERYTHING IT KNOWS ABOUT BEAVERS

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers and salmon October 31, 2023

Do you remember that one kid in elementary school who did everything perfectly? Got straight A’s. raised their hand everytime with the right answer, had amazing homemade costumes every halloween, colored in the lines and always had the best toys with no broken parts and new batteries, the most friends and they newest clothes? Maybe your parent even said “why can’t you be more like that?” and you wondered y0urself more than once.

And then do you remember how it felt when everyone went to fifth grade camp and they fell in that puddle that soaked them in mud from head to toe and they had to go home early because they couldn’t stop crying? Well that’s how I felt when I saw this article.

Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Beaver family that moved into Seattle’s Carkeek Park may complicate salmon-spawning journey

Called by the sound of flowing water and ample trees, a family of beavers have moved into Carkeek Park, building a series of dams along the mouth of Pipers Creek.

The largest dam — which incorporates a fixed park bench and two large trees — has widened and grown to the degree that water is spilling on to a walking trail nearby. The dam, reinforced with mud and branches, also may present a challenge for chum salmon, which are set to return and spawn at any moment, said David Koon, the salmon program director at the Carkeek Watershed Community Action Project.

It’s not clear yet how the beaver dam will impact the spawn, he said, and some of that will depend on how much and when it will rain this season. Beavers build dams to create a pond where they can build a “lodge” to provide protection from predators.

Mind you. This is SEATTLE. Where NOAA fisheries is head quartered. Where Michael Pollock works. This is the smartest state about beavers in the entire universe. And he is worried about the chum.

In a natural environment — where a river flows consistently all the time — a beaver dam would be no problem for spawning salmon, he said. But Pipers Creek, surrounded by a highly urbanized and concrete-laden watershed, is no natural river.

Even without beavers, the survival rates of the salmon’s eggs are low at Carkeek Park, he said. Due to the nonporous nature of the watershed, the stream’s depth often increases and decreases rapidly before and after rain, leading the eggs often to be washed out. Plenty of other things like runoff from fertilizers, tire dust and dog poop also threaten the eggs.

While beaver dams can sometimes help salmon eggs, slowing down water and filtering silt, the ones in Carkeek Park may prevent the salmon from traveling fully upstream. If the downstream waters are high enough — which they aren’t right now — Chinook and coho salmon can jump over the dams and the chum can beat their way through the gaps, Koon said. Otherwise, the salmon will have to wait for when the water levels get high enough during active rain.

You see what I mean about knowing better. The idea is they know beaver help salmon. Just maybe not these salmon. Never mind that the creek probably wouldn’t have deep water at all if the beavers weren’t there. Never mind that it is perfectly normal for salmon to wait for storms and swim over during high rain. Never mind that waiting might even connect the, to more salmon so they can find a mate. in the first place.

Parks and Recreation intends to apply for a permit to install a device within the dam that would drop the water level, and may also implement fencing to protect trees. The beavers, which likely came over from Golden Gardens, may be relocated, she said.

Standing next to a 2-by-6-inch plank built into the largest dam, Koon estimated the dam’s length is more than 50 feet and the depth of the pooled water is at least 5 feet. Koon, who has kept an eye on the salmon at Carkeek Park for years, said he’s seen small dams at Pipers Creek likely built by young inexperienced beavers that get washed out after one big rain in the past.

“These ones are clearly experienced,” he said. “They’ve done some really good, amazing engineering.”

That’s right the novice beavers aren’t a problem for salmon because they only build little dams and those get washed out. But these experienced beavers build 5 feet dams and that ruins everything.

Hey you know how tall the Martinez primary dam was when the city first measured it? 7 feet! And do you know what that concrete channel did to the steelhead population? NOTHING. In fact at one time our beavers had five dams. And some were big and some were little and it had nothing at all to do with their experience level.

This year, as the stream has moved and broken through some of the smaller dams, he’s seen the beavers expand and lengthen the large dam, patching up sections overnight. Koon said the two adult beavers and a “kit” or baby beaver have had additional baby beavers since moving into Carkeek.

Oh noo. You mean you have those very rare REPAIRING beavers that teach their children how to help fix and strengthen dams over time? That almost ~~never~~ always happens.

I have a few videos that might interest you.

See how this works? You have no need to fear the boover. Happy Halloween by the way.

SALMON SEZ ‘I LOVE BEAVERS’

heidi08 Beavers and salmon April 23, 2023

How was y9ur earthday? Ours was HOTHOTHOT. I was almost relieved we couldn’t be tabling at John Muir or displaying with Elizabeth shown here at Safari West. But I was jealous of the nasturtiums because they look SO HAPPY in the blazing heat and never mind it at all.

Great hews for earthday which is that OPB released another fabulous beaver video check it out here and don’t forgot to share it with everyone you know.

Isn’t that wonderful? I can’t wait to watch it again! 180% more salmon. That’s data to make your head spin!

BEAVERS WELCOMED BACK WHERE THEY BELONG

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers, Beaver ecological impact, Beavers and salmon February 20, 2023

This report is a fine reminder that no matter how well intentioned you are or how much money you have, its a good idea to bring your neighbors along with your project from the very beginning. Whether that means having a barbecue or hosting fieldtrips or just answering phone calls. It takes a neighborhood to save a stream.

Animals and neighbors warm to Wallowa River restoration project

One of Ian Wilson’s greatest joys is going down to the short stretch of the Wallowa River on his family’s ranch to fly fish.

“For me, it’s the equivalent of … church for someone who is deeply religious,” he said.

But as a fish biologist, he’s also long known there was something off about the river as it cut across his property: The Wallowa was oddly, unnaturally straight. And because of that, it wasn’t very hospitable for fish. Rather than stop and spawn, salmon and steelhead tended to swim through the property.

Salmon like clean, shallow gravel beds to lay eggs. And smolt, or baby salmon, prefer lots of little still-water pools where they can relax and fatten up on insects. Basically, they need the kind of meandering river system that naturally occurs in a floodplain.

Over the years, Oregon’s farmers, road builders and developers cleared many of the state’s floodplains by cutting trees and filling in channels. Doing so maximized their ability to use land.

All those neighbors didn’t take too kindly to that stream stuff undoing all their hard work. But not everyone is privy to the stream of thought that can see what a river should be. Fortunately he just kept right on working.

But now, because Chinook, steelhead and trout are listed under the Endangered Species Act, the Bonneville Power Administration is trying to rebuild floodplains using revenue from electricity generation.

With help from the nonprofit Trout Unlimited, Wilson won a $1.2 million BPA grant to restore his three-quarter mile stretch of river.

In the summer of 2022, crews placed 475 trees, many complete with massive root wads, in the channel to slow water down and spread it out. They built 54 artificial beaver dams to hold water in the floodplain and create lots of little stillwater pools. And they planted cottonwood, willow and alder trees for shade.

Considering the aim was to restore the river to a more natural state, the restoration was a relatively industrial project, with excavators and dump trucks. They dug channels and filled-in deep river pools.

Wilson said the work vastly increased fish spawning habitat. It used to take him 45 minutes to look for salmon eggs in the river, “Now it takes me upwards of half a day, because there’s so much water to walk,” he said. “Same flows, but there’s just so much more area to cover.”

The restoration finished in September and lots of new animals have already shown up. Where Wilson used to see 10 ducks, he said there are maybe 100 now. He’s also spotted bald eagles, dragonflies and songbirds.

“Within two months, we had beavers return, which was beyond my wildest expectations,” Wilson said. “We’ve seen a black bear recently. We just saw a bobcat this last Sunday and there’s a lot of coyotes out.”

Beavers? Did you say you got BEAVERS? Wow that’s really lucky! And please tell me you aren’t so crazy as to think they’ll block all the salmon and decided to have them trapped out, right? So far so good.

It’s an environmentalist’s dream. But this is eastern Oregon, where endangered species listings have hurt local economies in the eyes and experiences of some residents. Land used for chinook salmon, the gray wolf, the Oregon spotted frog and other animals cannot easily be used for logging, mining or grazing, limiting economic activity.

And unlike many of his neighbors, Wilson is not reliant on his ranch income because he and his wife have other jobs. So he said when he gets the odd sour look at the grocery store he understands why, ”You know people give me a hard time,” he said. “And you just have to kind of accept that I guess, to some level.”

In hindsight, Wilson thinks he could have contacted more neighbors, even though it’s not required, “That probably would have gone a long way towards maybe a little more understanding, initially.”

To try to calm the waters, after all the work was finished Wilson held a neighborhood barbecue, to show everyone what he was up to.

“My reaction was, it was a huge project,” said Janet Hohman, Ken’s wife. She’s happy to see new riparian areas being created, but she’s withholding her verdict until it’s clear no logs get flushed downriver.

But Ken Hohman said he felt better after seeing all the work.

“I mean, it’s a good project,” he said. ” I wouldn’t spend $1 million of my money on it, but yeah.”

Sunlight is the best disinfectant, Showing your work and letting your neighbors know how it will affect them. Rivers are kind of remarkable symbols for how what I do in my little area might impact other people. You can never sneak restoration in under a cloak. Better to do it with a trumpet.