NOT EVERYONE IN WASHINGTON STATE LIKES BEAVERS

heidi08 Who's blaming beavers now? November 25, 2022

Everyone knows that Washington is the smartest state in the country when it comes to beavers. Hardly a week goes by when I don’t see a headline boasting about all the wonderful things they do to help salmon and how they are going the extra mile just to keep them around. So when I saw this headline I was kind of means-spiritedly bemused. Like when the teachers pet in your fifth grade gets in trouble for smoking in the boys’ room.

How the world turns!

Big Lake residents fear another mudslide caused by beaver dam

With fears of another mudslide growing, many west Big Lake residents are tired of waiting for answers about what can done about a beaver dam uphill of the lake.

Memories of last fall’s mudslide, caused by a breach in a massive beaver pond uphill of homes, are fresh in the minds of residents, and their frustration about the lack of a fix came to the fore at a neighborhood meeting Monday.

Jim Beckett, who since last fall has bought the property on which the 17-acre pond sits, has no plans to do anything to fix the problem without a guarantee that he won’t be held responsible in the event of another mudslide.

See last year was an actual flood that wiped out the road which was widely believed to cause by a beaver dam washout. Even though NOAA predicted that the river was going to crest that weekend because there was a load of rain.

“On Friday, the National Weather Service put out a warning that the river was expected to crest in Mount Vernon late Friday night. According to NWS, the river reached 28.86 feet Friday which is considered minor flooding”

But still, why NOT blame a beaver dam if you get the chance? I mean making the county pay to kill some beavers is a helluva lot easier than reading a weather report and getting the neighbors together to lay sandbags or something.

County leadership has been aware of the threat the pond poses for years, but has failed to do anything, he said. Skagit County should be the one taking responsibility here, not a private landowner.

“The county, they dropped the ball,” he said. “I don’t want to get stuck with a bill.”

Neighbors have proposed pumping water out of the pond to reduce the immediate risk, then installing a pond leveling device to keep pressure from building behind the dam.

But little progress has been made to fix the problem since conversations started last spring.

Carolyn Bennett, one of the west Big Lake residents, said the neighbors have put forward a proposed solution, and she doesn’t understand why no one seems to be able to help.

So big Lake is a BIG LAKE with lots of streams feeding it. I can’t find a photo of a beaver pond but I assume there could be one. Not sure why beavers would live in one of those little streams when they have a big lake right near by. But okay, sure. Let’s say there’s a pond.

If mud and water again comes down the hill, “our houses will be in the lake,” she said Monday. Shelia Dodd said just pumping water out of the pond isn’t going far enough, and she’s tired of knowing that another mudslide could come at any moment.

She said she doesn’t want to hear about half-measures such as reducing the size of the pond, and feels the only way to solve this permanently is to remove the beavers and the dam entirely.

“If the beavers come back, take them out again,” she said. “It would make me sleep a lot better.”

Well she seems nice. Kill em all and if there are any survivors kill em again! The xena of beavers.

County Commissioner Peter Browning maintained that Beckett, as property owner, would be held legally liable, because flooding caused by the beaver dam is clearly a predictable problem.

“Once it’s predictable … you now own that liability,” he said.

At Monday’s meeting, Browning urged residents to put together a proposal for the commissioners, saying there may be some funding available to help pay for a fix.

But any plan hinges on permission from Beckett, which he says he will not give.

“I’m sure he will when he realizes he could potentially lose his property if there’s a lawsuit,” Browning said.

“That’s part of the neighbors’ job, to work with the landowner,” he said.

Alright Mr. Beckett, Let’s have a talk shall we? You are clearly a wise man who knows that beaver on the landscape make better wildlife and actually help slow down flooding. You installed a flow device to minimize the pressure on the dam and that was great. Your neighbors are still freaked out.

Maybe you are a hermit who would rather spend time with beavers than anyone in your neighborhood. I understand. Bit this is going to take beer. Lots of beer. You are going to have to have a lot of barbecues and talk about this over and over.

NATICK IS SHOCKED THAT PUNCHING THE DAM ISN’T WORKING

A little burst of beaver blessing news and you forget. You forget that all around us their water saving dams are destroyed and they themselves are trapped and despised. Well some people forget. We probably never will.

Beaver battle ongoing along Natick’s Hunnewell Town Forest trail

The beavers that live alongside the Hunnewell Town Forest trail off of Oak Street in Natick haven’t been backing down from the challenges of those breaching their dam over the past month in Little Jennings Pond.

As the town’s Conservation Commission indicated at its Aug. 11 meeting, the Natick Public Works Department was authorized to “punch a hole in the dam” in September, and it did.

But the beavers came right back and plugged the gap, keeping a section of the blue trail in the Town Forest off limits to people.

Since then, at least a couple more breaches have been executed, one that was erased rather quickly, and now a more ambitious one of which a Natick Report reader has shared photos.

Punch a hole in the dam? Who says that? Who authorizes such things? Where are we?

Of course whether you punch a hole in the dam or blow it up or “notch” it as we delicate californias say the beavers are not suddenly homeless. Because, now listen to this very carefully, BEAVERS DO NOT LIVE IN THE DAM.

Claire Rundelli, planner conservation agent for the town, said that after the Public Works breach earlier this month there weren’t any additional approvals for breaches. When asked about the beavers during the Sept. 15 Conservation Commission, she said “we’ve heard nothing from the beavers in recent days.”

The Commission held a town-wide beaver discussion in March in conjunction with the Trails and Forest Stewardship Committee, and Open Space Advisory Committee, and it ended with consensus to adapt to the beavers rather than trap them. The thinking was that other beavers would just come back to the area and rebuild the dam.

Natick has rerouted an oft-flooded trail at the Town Forest to avoid the beaver dam’s impact. Flow devices used to address beaver issues in other parts of Natick’s complex and large watershed were deemed unlikely to work in the relatively shallow water along the Town Forest trail.

Really? Flow devices won’t work and the beavers haven’t contacted you in recent days? I’m shocked. They usually send perfect messages detailing their plans by email. Honestly, if people want you to coexist with the beavers STOP PUNCHING THE DAM. This might come as a shock to you but punching is not coexisting. I learned that in my yoga class. You should come. I’ll save you a space.

NORTH CENTRAL REGION BEAVER TRAPPING

heidi08 Beavers, Who's blaming beavers now? March 9, 2022

For the purposes of CDFW the state of California is divided up into six regions – 7 when you include the ocean. We’re the Bay Delta region and that includes just what you’d expect. Fresno is the central and Placer and Sacramento is the north central. Each region is in charge of granting permits for trapping in their respective boundaries and they all do things a little differently.

Here is a graph of the allowed depredation permits issued for beavers in 2021 by region. Let me know if you spot any patterns.

THE DUTCH ARE FORMING PATROL GANGS TO SCARE AWAY BEAVERS

heidi08 Beavers and Flooding, Who's blaming beavers now? February 24, 2022

I would generally say that for the past five years beaver news has entered American hyperdrive with the publication of Ben’s Goldfarb’s book. (Who by the way was in the New York Times yesterday.) (Not about beavers. The NYT will never – mark my words – publish a positive article about beavers) But ever since 2018 this website made a left turn and stopped posting stories about European beavers so much. They have been doing great work and helping futrher our cause greatly but I often ignored headlines to focus on our own shores.

I couldn’t pass this up though.

Too many busy beavers are weakening dykes in Gelderland

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THE RARE HCN ARTICLE WORTH IGNORING

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers, Beavers and climate change, Who's blaming beavers now? February 22, 2022

As a rule I have a strict YES policy about posting beaver articles from High Country News. After all, they are generally more responsible and thorough than other news souces, and they are very environmental in their focus. Plus they made BEN GOLDFARB which is a very wonderful achievement. And they boasted the very first truly inspiring beaver article I ever read back in 2009. It remains my gold standard of all beaver articles.

So I won’t be writing at all today about the whining debasement from the new intern (Kylie Mohr) there that will never replace you-know-who. She starts the article with a profile about the new fascination for beaver trapping in the area. because of HATS and all the beaver slums that have appeared where they never used to be. I won’t even point out how horrifically wrong she is about beavers causing giardia and ruining the drinking water. What would be the point? (more…)