Category: Beavers and salmon

Another chapter in our beaver tale

heidi08 Beavers and Birds, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Educational, Who's saving beavers now? February 11, 2016

Having trouble deciding what to read at night? I might have just found an answer. This imminently published book covers the exciting return of beavers to the Detroit River. It’s lovely writing and illustrations are aimed at children 8-12 but you can bet I’ll be reading my copy avidly and telling you all about it here, at beaver central. I’m attaching the publishers pdf which you can read or download for more details.

And yes. Let’s hear it for the beavers.

Wykes_one-sheet_KS-2

There’s a nice article about our Idaho beaver friends recent beaver count, but I’m sure you’ll agree that the choice of photo is a little inappropriate:

Oof! I wrote Debbie and the paper when this came out but I’m there haven’t been changes. Never mind, lets focus on the words which are wonderful!

“Helping the Portneuf River watershed, one beaver at a time” is the motto of the Watershed Guardians, whose annual BeaverCount on Mink and Dempsey creeks last weekend was part of that effort.

The beaver count is a volunteer effort organized by Watershed Guardians. And the results from the annual census will influence how many trapping permits are issued for beaver on Mink Creek, Dempsey Creek and other streams within the Portneuf River watershed, said Mike Settell, the group’s director.

Several Scout troops and students from Idaho State University’s Outdoor Leadership program took part in the annual count on Saturday, along with 32 volunteer surveyors known as “Flat-tailers.”

During the annual count, volunteers recorded beaver scat, tracks, and slides, which indicate that the animals still occupy ponds on Mink Creek and other areas.

Currently in its fifth year, data collected during the count will be shared at open house events for the public, federal agencies, and Idaho Fish and Game, said Settell, who’s an environmental engineer. The findings will also be presented at the “State of the Beaver” conference in Canyonville, Oregon.

Settell said the number of trapping permits issued for beaver on the Main and the South forks of Mink Creek has been reduced from 10 to five animals, and trapping on the East and West forks was suspended for an additional two years.

Beaver are the original watershed guardians, Settell said. The indigenous animals play a crucial role in flood control, recharging the ground water supply and creating habitat in a pond-wetland-stream ecosystem.

“Along the Portneuf, beaver create habitat for every species from frogs to moose,” Settell said. “This year we’re also looking at fisheries, as well. And streams that have beaver activity typically have more and larger native species of fish, such as the Yellowstone cutthroat trout.”

Meanwhile, a lack of beaver activity leads to an increase in sediment and a greater chance of peak flood-damage downstream.

Settell said Watershed Guardians operates through volunteers and by donations. The mission of the group is to raise awareness about the crucial role that beavers play in maintaining wildlife habitat and water quality within the Portneuf River watershed.

Love that mission. Great work Mike and Team Mike! I’m so happy to have your voice for beavers on the good side. In the past couple years Mike has even undertaken a beaver musical festival known as the “Beaver dam Jam”, and I couldn’t be more thrilled with their many successes. Idaho is one place where sport trapping is still more common than depredation – so its a big deal that folks are looking out for beavers.

Our mural meeting went very well yesterday, we have been approved by the art committee and assuming they have a quorum next week we are on the schedule to present at the PRMCC on Tuesday. Artist Mario Alfaro showed up with a canvas of his latest efforts, and we were all very impressed. Click twice to see a bigger version.

This artwork really focuses on our natural color scheme and boasts an egret and a turtle! Love the many beavers, and very happy to see the children in the stand of trees near the dam. So familiar! I’m thinking this will look amazing on the bridge.

Ohh and I found this by accident the other day. It’s obviously a computer generated reading of our wikipedia entry, but fun to see nevertheless.

Git yer kilt an’ save the beavers!

heidi08 Beaver Chewing, Beaver News, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Environmental, Who's saving beavers now? February 10, 2016

Some mornings you just want to curl up with a mug of coffee and a bagel and savor articles like this. It wasn’t easy to get you the full text but I KNEW you would want to read it, and it’s much finer writing than anything I’m likely to say, so get comfortable. It was written by Jim Crumley for the Courier, the author of Nature’s architect, and considered by some to be the finest nature writing in Scotland – when you read this you will see why.

Ahh, does that describe our Martinez beaver controversy or WHAT? Nothing gets thought about more than whether or not some bit of nature should be allowed to do natural things. How true!

And beavers don’t VOTE. Did you get that? I am SO JEALOUS of Scotland. It gets writers like this AND really good beer. And castles. What do we get? Buffalo, Starbucks and primary elections. That’s what.

Shhh…we’re coming to my favorite part….about stakeholders.

“It permeates the official language like midges on a dam day on Mull“. Is it possible to fall in love with a column? For those of you that haven’t experienced the luxury of midges, let me say that once a million years ago Jon and I went for a delightful picnic on the Scottish countryside. and were very surprised to learn that while we were happily enjoying our treat, some tiny invisible insects were busy enjoying US. Midges stealth and strategy lies in the fact they are much smaller than mosquitoes – so they never get slapped as they should. Unlike mosquitoes – not all kinds bite. But they come in clouds and are VERY annoying. Mull is an island in Scotland. And accusing the government of counting as many stakeholders as there are midges on this wet island makes me very happy indeed.

“And look no further than the BUNGLING BRUTALITY of the badger cull”. Not only is this alliteration at its finest, Crumley cheerfully slashes his enemies with a stark oxymoron. Lots of bullies are happy to be called brutal, but but having your brutality described as ‘bungling’ changes the meaning entirely. Now instead of ‘pulling the wings off flies’ you are pulling the tail feathers off a chicken and everyone is looking at you and wondering why.

“Ambassadors of biodiversity“. Ahhh I love the way that sounds. Someone needs to read me this article every earth day in a thick Scotish brogue – I’m thinking maybe Frank Helling as John Muir.

33,000 signatures! How ironic! If the farmers had just put up with the beavers they would have probably gotten their way in earning the right to depredate problem beavers. Now this has created such a national and international stir they will never hear the end of it.

Beavers are as much Scots as the people themselves. LOVE IT!

This morning we’re off to the PRMCC again for more mural review with Mario’s most recent draft, and yesterday I was invited back to the SF Waterboard to give a talk. Apparently the planning division liked it so much beavers are being invited back for the Watershed division. Nice!

Would you care for some WHINE with that Mr. Quinn?

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beaver News, Beavers, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, City Reports, What's killing beavers now?, Who's saving beavers now? February 6, 2016

The fine report by the Vancouver Park Commission is taking some heat. Something was printed this morning from Stephen Quinn, the host of On the Coast on CBC Radio One. Obviously the paper felt the entire airwaves wasn’t space enough for him in which to broadcast his petulant opinions, and granted him a full page to write whatever he liked. In my head I hear the voice of Niles Crane writing this over an expresso, see if you don’t agree.

Biodiversity report wildly exaggerates the alleged upside of critters in the city

I have read with interest the so-called draft Biodiversity Strategy you released earlier this week and I have to tell you, it’s not sitting well with me. Frankly, it scares me, particularly the sections outlining measures that could lead to more wildlife running around our city. I urge you to take a more cautious and measured approach.

Let’s begin with beavers. While the Park Board apparently sees the increase in the city’s beaver population as a positive signal, I assure you it is no such thing.

I had never seen an actual beaver until a few weeks ago. Have you seen one? It was huge, like a giant flat-tailed rat with hideous teeth and beady black eyes. It was swimming upstream in Still Creek right beside the Superstore parking lot. I can tell you that just a short distance away there were mothers walking with their children! No one should have to face this sort of threat at eight o’clock on a Saturday morning in a place that is supposed to be nature-free.

Day-lighting the creek was a huge mistake! Your own report says salmon have returned and are spawning and then dying and if I may quote, “provide food for otters and mink.” So attracting more wild animals?Where does it stop? Bears? Wolves?!

It goes on at some length, because word restrictions are only necessary for us persona non grata peons, not for celebrities like Mr. Quinn who’s afraid of beavers, wolves and bears. It all reads like those paragraphs so you can get the idea. For my money the best line is, why would anyone want to daylight a creek anyway?

My hair was on fire this morning when I read through this tripe and burned out my response, but now I can see the humor of it. It’s almost offers the best argument against itself by very quickly becoming absurd. If he didn’t have a national radio platform to beat his drum every day I could laugh this off. Hmm.

Your report also celebrates the “healthy populations” of other mammals like raccoons and skunks. Have you seen what

the mammals you love so much have done to my lawn – which already looked pretty terrible thanks to your ban on cosmetic pesticides? They have reduced it to mud, I tell you!

And then you say that 674 racoons have been killed by cars since 2001? Does that not tell you that animals like raccoons don’t belong in our city? I find it interesting that your staff can keep such an accurate count of dead raccoons but still not know how many coywolves are out there.

I had no idea that this golf course mentality existed in Canada. I thought it was uniquely American – a product of places with green lawns and clipped hedges. Thank you, Mr. Quinn for opening my eyes.

Of course I sent my letter to the editor. You should too.

Nature in the City Everywhere.

heidi08 Beaver-themed merchandise, Beavers, Beavers and Birds, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Educational, Environmental, Urban beavers, Who's saving beavers now? February 4, 2016

The grand plan in Vancouver is sweeping the media at the moment and there are plenty of follow ups to the story if you want to see them. Try here and here.

Yesterday I was contacted by a member of the Grosse Ille Nature and Land Conservancy about the beavers in the Detroit River. She was very happy about what the return meant, and wanted to pull together some advocates to keep things headed in the right direction. The funny thing was, I remembered writing about this back in 2012 and saying: sure they’re happy now, but wait until those beavers start chewing trees of blocking culverts.

Beavers: marginally better than pollution!

Ahhh how Nice. Okay, mark your calendars and set your clocks, because as encouraging as this article is I predict it will be a matter of months before we start reading stories about neighborhoods with blocked culverts and chopped trees. Folks are excited when beavers come BACK to an area because they assume it means they did very good things to make it possible. Hughlet Hornbeck once explained to me that the beavers coming back to Alhambra Creek was proof that EBRP had been doing the right thing for 50 years, for example.

Then industrial pollution in the mid-20th Century made the Detroit River too toxic for beaver and many other species to return. The cleanup of the river in recent decades has seen many species making a comeback.

“This is one piece of evidence,” Hartig said of the latest beaver sighting. “But if you add in there the return of lake sturgeon, the return of lake whitefish, the return of walleye, the return of bald eagles, peregrine falcons, osprey, beaver, wild celery, it’s one of the most dramatic ecological recovery stories in North America.”

Beavers are still exciting enough along the Detroit River that the reporter does an excellent job researching their history and providing context.. Enjoy it while it lasts though, because in the blink of an eye they’ll be reporting that gangs of four foot tall beavers cut down all the trees and caused tularemia.

So it’s been three years and its time for folks to get worried about their challenging handiwork, I’m glad friends are starting to get ready for an argument. We of course will help any way we can.

Speaking of helping, I got these fun photos from the Mountain House beavers in CA, and will be working with a supporter to help her put together a beaver article for the local paper. How cool are these photos for thinking about urban beaver!

mountain house lodge — **Mountain House Beaver Lodge: Caitlin McCombs**

And this fine example of dam building with reeds. You see beavers use material on hand.

mountain house dam — **Mountain House Dam of mostly reeds: Caitlin McComb**

Yesterday I learned that the city’s primary concern is that they believe the beavers are digging tunnels under the road. The city has already filled some with concrete. For the life of me I can’t think of any reason a beaver would do THAT, so I’m guessing this story is about to get very interesting!

New donation yesterday for the silent auction from Mink Works, by animator and Illustrator Marielle Rousseau of New York. How adorable is this? I ask you honestly. Go check out all her stuff. It’s delightful and she’s a self-professed wildlife lover in addition to being a real talent,

Beaver Impressive

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beaver-themed merchandise, Beavers and Birds, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Beavers or Social Ambasadors, Dispersal, Educational, Environmental, Who's saving beavers now? February 3, 2016

Too much good news. Some days there is almost nothing to cover, and other days everything good seems to happen at once. Yesterday I found out for the first time that Patti Smith keeps a blog about her observations of wildlife. You might remember she was the gentle soul keeping an eye on the beavers of Popples Pond in Vermont. She brought some helpers to the snowy stream to reinforce their food supply yesterday.

This afternoon, Margaretta and Isabelle arrived to help the stranded beavers with an offering of poplar boughs from their home in Dummerston. Once at the pond, I call to Willow and then we all sit quietly on the upside-down sled hoping that Willow won’t think it too early to come out to visit. After a few minutes, David, the lucky dad of these two great girls, spots Willow hauling herself onto the ice at one of the upstream holes.

How much do you envy that child? Willow is such a good sport. If you’d like to read more of Patti’s adventures you should check out her blog and pick up a copy of “The beavers of Popples Pond“. You won’t be disappointed.

Now onto more good news and a fine article from Vancouver. Just in time for our urban beaver chapter, too.

Vancouver’s urban-beaver plan focuses on enhancing habitats

Several dozen beavers are thought to be living in Vancouver, some of them making themselves at home in restored marshland near the Olympic Village, and now the city’s park’s board has approved a strategy that will give them some company.

The Vancouver Park Board has approved a detailed strategy to enhance and expand coastlines, forests and wetlands across the city. The Biodiversity Strategy aims to restore 25 hectares of natural land by 2020 – much of it spread across various shorelines – as well as tackle forest restoration near the Fraser River.

“There’s lots of evidence that there are physical and mental benefits for those who access nature in their daily lives,” biologist Nick Page, of the parks board, said in an interview. “Compared to rural populations, there are few points of access to nature in the city.”

How wonderful is THAT. Of course wildlife is good for our physical and mental health. So good in fact that they might have lifted that sentence EXACTLY from my section of the chapter. I’m so envious of the beaver plan in Vancouver. The impressive thing is that they even have the chops to stand up to pressure like this.

“The problem comes when beavers start working on natural water courses,” said Wayne Goodey, a University of British Columbia lecturer with a background in animal psychology. “In general ecological principles, even a couple of animals can do a large amount of damage to the landscaping.”

Mr. Page, however, is confident that adaptation, not relocation, is the best strategy for these local beavers.

“There’s not really an opportunity for them to dam anything, and if they do, there’s very little chance of them flooding important infrastructure,” he said. “Relocation is very expensive, $10,000 each beaver. You can protect a lot of trees and clean out a lot of culverts for that price.”

My mind is reeling from this article. What a WONDEFUL response to beavers appearing in an urban environment, and to a pompus know nothing who pretends to understand that beavers are bad for creeks. Hrmph. Think of how much our chapter will help them justify this bold decision. I am so impressed with Mr. Page. He gets a letter.

And silly Mr. Goodey does too. He apparently understands neither animals nor psychology.

Finally, I came across this yesterday and feel so irresponsible I hadn’t seen it months ago. Dietland is THE author on beavers and kind enough to donate two copies of his book to the silent auction at this year’s beaver festival. He also has done head-turning research on scent mounds, and if you ever wondered about this unique beaver behavior, you really should watch this all the way through. His video footage is fascinating.