Category: Who’s saving beavers now?

BEAVERSPRITE NEEDS YOU

heidi08 Beavers or Social Ambasadors, Who's saving beavers now? October 13, 2018

*“Dorothy Richards, the Beaver Woman who founded Beaversprite Sanctuary, with Nicky, her last in-house beaver”*

Beaversprite Nature Center is the magical educational retreat created by Dorothy Richards in a small town in Upstate New York. Dorothy is the heroine of the Beaversprite book that worked so tirelessly to better understand and explain our favorite animal, The dynamic learning space (complete with a ‘crawl-through’ beaver lodge) she left as her legacy suffered from mismanagement and needs your help getting back on its feet.

From Sharon Brown at Beavers: Wetlands and Wildlife.

Sign a Petition to Reopen the Sanctuary/Save Beaversprite Sanctuary and Dorothy Richards’ Dream

More signatures on the Sanctuary Petitionare vital now as we’re seeking a PA pro bono enviro atty. to help our NY atty. with her appeal to a PA Right-to Know law denial — for the PA AG’s Sanctuary file — that documents the ErdmanTrustee’s plans to sell Beaversprite (Reineman) Sanctuary. This, despite wildlife having been protected at the Sanctuary and the public was educated there, according to the wills of the sanctuary’s donors, Dorothy & Florence Edman for over 70 years!!

Your support will help them keep this dream alive. The petition has a stirring collection of remarks from supporters like this one:

Mrs. Susan Pedrick – Second Grade Teacher, Oppenheim-Ephratah-St. Johnsville CSD says: I teach 2nd grade at Oppenheim Ephratah St. Johnsville school. I visited the Sanctuary for many years. I have lots of pictures of the group’s visits. It was a very educational and child friendly setting. Children loved the trip and learned a great deal. I probably went there 7 or 8 years as our field trip. I did not know it had closed. How sad. It had Saturday night shows all summer free to the public with wonderful live animal programs.

Sign the Petition

Did you sign it? I did. If you sign it I’ll give you reward. Go sign, share it with three friends, and then watch this and think of the woman who was smart enough to live with beavers. Because awwwww…

BEAVERS IN BANFF

Good news for our friend Sarah Koenigsberg and her film about beavers and climate change.

This is a dream come true. The Beaver Believers has been selected as a finalist in the 2018 Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival!

I’ve watched the touring version of Banff most every year since college, and held it as a goal for nearly 15 years. Two years ago, as I watched the tour I felt so frustrated with myself that I’d been working in film for so long yet still hadn’t produced an independent piece worthy of submitting. Last year I didn’t even go, as I was up to my neck in editing. When I got the news a couple weeks ago I burst into tears. So many thank you’s are in order, to everyone who’s put up with my “work-too-much” crazy self, my stressed out self, my stubborn won’t-give-up self, and all my ups and downs. Thank you friends! So much big love!

That’s just wonderful news! We are so excited for you and for your film and all the folks that get to see it, This has been a crazy successful year for beavers and I’m thrilled Worth A Dam and our little beaver festival could be a part of your amazing film. Thanks also to all the knights in shining armor that helped this film get made by supporting production costs along the way!

Another delight came from the recent beaver event held by Wyoming Untrapped, who used a knockout technique to help children learn how beavers build dams. Click on any photo to see it larger,

ADVOCATES UNDER PRESSURE

heidi08 Beavers and water, Who's saving beavers now? September 18, 2018

Beavers: An Unlikely Solution To Western Drought

I’ve been thinking in these past few days about the tight space a certain kind of beaver advocate finds themselves in. The kind that comes when you have been listened to a ‘little’ bit, and people are behaving as if they were willing to do you a favor by telling you privately how difficult the situation is behind the scenes and how they are doing everything they can. I was thinking of the vice-grip of pressure you feel in those moments, not to give up the thing you’re trying to protect, and not to be overpowered, but also not to appear unreasonable, (heavens!) because you don’t want to lose your hard-won status as the practical one who can see both sides and is willing to make compromises. You want to avoid saying “don’t do this” outright if you can, but you see the train is moving in the wrong direction and you want to step in before it gets too far from the station.

Maybe what I’m describing is too vague to understand, I always thought it was unique to my experience on the beaver subcommittee, but I had an hour conversation yesterday with a beaver guardian that reminded me I’m not alone in this. The farther I am from the drama the easier it is to see the chess pieces moving. “I shouldn’t be telling you this but” “We’ve done everything we can to work with the landowner but” “you did a great job explaining your position but now it’s time to back off, or you risk turning folks against you”.

It’s not just me. When you’re alone on the other side of that message you feel so torn and motionless. You can’t go forward, you can’t possibly go back, and you know one misstep could bring down the entire card house that you’ve worked so hard to put together.

I thought last night that it might be a uniquely female experience although I never did before. This pressure to behave while you are pushing hard for the thing you want to save, and never act like anyone is doing anything wrong or lying to you even when you know damn well they are – that’s the beaver-guardian’s dilemma, And it’s what I felt every single day on the subcommittee and right up through the sheetpile destruction. It’s why to this day I can say with out hesitation that serving on the beaver subcommittee was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, harder than my dissertation, harder than doing therapy with sex offers, harder than working in the teen psych hospital, harder than testifying as an expert witness.

It was HARD.

It was only when I saw those historic sheet pile photos, and realized that everyone had been lying straight to my face outright for months, with their so-sorry voices and secret phone calls — that all their covert messages to be patient and forbear were outrageous falseoods, that I finally felt free of it. Done. Released. So that now when Carmen in Texas, or Nancy in Michigan or Judy in Port Moody tells me that they feel confused and trapped and like they’re getting pressure on all sides from the city to cooperate but they know its the wrong thing and would hurt the beavers I can literally see the choking translucent net that holds them constrained.

I remember exquisitely how it felt, and that helps me point them towards the scissors so they can cut themselves free.

It took a long time, but I started learning eventually that it’s okay to be outraged when people behave outrageously. And that the amount of power you have is actually the opposite of the messages you are helpfully being told about it.

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED

heidi08 Who's saving beavers now? September 17, 2018

Are you a wildlife loving, hard worker who’s always dreamed of living in nature?

The Unexpected Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey’s unexpected loss might be your incredible gain.

In case you don’t know the story, the history of the Refuge begins with a love of wildlife. in 1961, Cavit and Hope Buyukmihci, with their three children, purchased an 85-acre tract in Buena Vista Township, located in the Pinelands, halfway between Philadelphia and Atlantic City, New Jersey. Mostly wooded swampland, the purchase included a cabin and an old barn on an acre of cleared land, and a stream which beavers had dammed to create a large pond. The Buyukmihcis were distressed by the increase in land development, reducing the habitat available for wildlife in Southern New Jersey. Since childhood, Hope had enjoyed the delightful wonder of bluebirds nesting in the spring, and it was vital that she passed along her respect and love for nature to her family. The couple decided to dedicate their land to habitat preservation so that native wildlife and habitat could thrive.

For years and years the refuge was run by the unflappable Sarah Summerville, and when a replacement was needed they scoured the boundaries and thought they’d found the answer. But she has to leave and the a new search goes on. I was asked this morning to pass on the invitation to apply for the job of a lifetime.

Unexpected Wildlife Refuge is seeking a residential onsite manager. This is a rewarding and challenging position for a responsible and self-motivated individual who is interested in nature and wildlife and maintaining land as protected natural habitat. Preference will be for a person who is at least a vegetarian and who has practical experience with wildlife or academic training so that they are knowledgeable about wildlife in general. We will also consider someone without this experience, but who is motivated enough to learn about indigenous species so that they can be an asset to the Refuge’s education and outreach efforts. The manager lives onsite in provided, free accommodations, including utilities.

If you or someone you know is interested in this opportunity, please send the following by E-mail only, to Nedim Buyukmihci, president, ned.trustee@unexpectedwildliferefuge.org:

1. Letter explaining why you would be the ideal candidate;
2. an expanded resume; and
3. full contact information for at least three people who can critically vouch for your commitment to wildlife or non-human animals in general, abilities, reliability and honesty (at least one of the people should be your most recent or current employer, none can be a relative and your relationship with each should be made clear).

This link will explain what you need to know about the position. It requires a fairly unique combination of skills including advocacy, outreach and refuge maintenance. What a great place for a budding novelist, painter, young couple to awaken their muses while making such a difference in a place where such a difference is needed

Here’s former cartaker Sarah showing off the resident beaver lodge.

TRICKLING DOWN

heidi08 Creative Solutions, Who's saving beavers now? September 14, 2018

Years ago Jakob Shockey was a young biologist who attended the State of the Beaver conference for the first time. He heard speaker Mike Callahan talk about installing flow devices and a host of presenters talking about why beavers matter. And he thought, “Hey, I wanna learn to do that” So he started talking more with Mike, who invited him out to work with him in Massachusetts, and then he came back to Oregon and a whole bunch of beaver-believing folks helped him get this new business off the ground.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Nedonna Beach Group finds solution to beaver issues

The beavers of Nedonna Beach have become a problem. But thanks to a group of neighbors, there may be a solution to allow beavers and homeowners to live harmoniously. After the critters built dams blocking McMillan Creek and flooding neighboring properties, many homeowners complained resulting in the trapping and killing of the beavers and otters that inhabited the area.

Seeking a more humane solution, the Nedonna Beaver Group set out to find a solution to the conflict between beavers and homeowners so property can be protected without removing or killing the beavers.

“The water would build up behind the dam and it would flood the homeowner’s septic drains,” Nedonna Beaver Group member Gillian Holbrook said. “It also made the foundation of the house go down since it is all sand, so they needed a solution.”

The solution was a pond leveler or ‘beaver deceiver.’ The group hired Jakob Shockey of Beaver State Wildlife Solutions to install a pond leveler in McMillan Creek on Aug. 13, in a beaver dam behind the house of a family who volunteered to try out the leveler. The Nedonna Neighborhood Association donated $250 to the pond leveler. The owner of the property and the other neighbors who were interested in the welfare of the beavers also contributed to funding the project.

Be still my heart. Folks chipping in for a flow device! 250 contributed by a neighborhood association which is practically a HOA. How amazing! I think I might be moving here when I retire. (Living in California we could probably afford a mansion, but I bet the neighbors would hate us. Hmm…).

Nedonna Beach is on the Oregon Coast about two hours from Portland. Think of it like the Bodega Bay of the Bay Area. Now with a flow device. The part that makes me most curious is that these beavers deal with some tidal influence just like ours. They might even use the ocean to disperse?

Shockey’s crew arrived with all the equipment and with the assistance of local volunteers, assembled the pond leveler in just a few hours and put it in place by rolling the cage over the creek side vegetation. The creek is very low this time of year and the device is exposed, but will be underwater when the fall rains come.

A large flexible tube goes through the dam and the upstream end of the tube is in a cage located a distance from the dam so the beavers do not discover the source of the ‘leak’ and close it off. The water level will be maintained at a level that will not flood the backyard, but high enough to provide protection for the beavers.

Beavers are an integral part of Oregon coast wildlife. The pools behind their dams provide safe, cool habitat for young salmon and other fish and create a wetland that supports mammals, birds, crustaceans and insects.

“With all the new rules regarding salmon, beavers have become really important to their habitat, Holbrook said. “Forest owners need to provide this kind of structure to promote a healthy salmon habitat.”

Mcmillan creek is one of two salmon-running streams in the area, so there are extra special reasons to be nice to the beavers.

Holbrook said pond levelers are growing in popularity and are commonly found in parts of Canada. The Nedonna Beaver Group will be monitoring the device to see if it works as it should, which means beavers can continue to live in the creek, the problems they can create for homeowners are gone and everyone gets the benefits of a healthy habitat for wildlife.

Holbrook said the device is pretty permanent solution to the ongoing issue.
“Only two percent of them don’t succeed for whatever reason,” Holbrook said. “They do require a little maintenance, but it seems like a much better way of deal with the issue as opposed to killing the beavers and pulling out their dams.”

These folks are practically our grandchildren when you think about it. Jakob was trained by Mike who was trained by Skip. It’s all one great big family tree! I’m thinking I’m sending a care package to the beaver group, ecosystem poster, tshirt and a copy of Ben’s book!

Welcome to the family guys!