Beavers or Social Ambasadors – Page 37

Another voice speaks for the beavers…

heidi08 Beavers or Social Ambasadors, Why We Care April 15, 2008

This mediator for Family Court Services and beaver-appreciating Martinez resident sent me a copy of her letter to the council and I thought it was worth sharing. Remember that Martinez is the County Seat so we get beaver supporters in Family Court, Juvenile Court, Criminal Court, Law Enforcement, Social Services and Water Quality (to name a few)..
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Dear Martinez City Council Members,

I am a Martinez resident. I am also one of those lucky rare-breeds in the Bay Area that gets to work in the same community in which I live. I work in downtown Martinez as a family court custody mediator for Superior Court. There is much that I love about Martinez. I love the farmer’s markets every thursday and every Sunday. I visit Starbucks each sunday and then take a stroll around downtown and up in the hills. I walk daily at lunch. I play on a bocce league every sunday evening. I ride my bike downtown. I attend the Willows Theatre cabaret and Armando’s concerts. I frequent local restaurants. I attend downtown street festivals and other special events. And always, I hope for a resurgence of downtown, to somehow capture and add to all that I find magical about this town.

In spite of all of that, this is only the 2nd time that I have endeavored to write to you. The first was last fall, when the fate of the Martinez beavers became a hotly contested public issue. The second is now, as we approach the revisiting of the fate of our now famous beaver family.

I am a beaver fan from afar. I am not an involved activitist, as sadly my schedule allows for little of this. I have expressed interest in helping in some small way, if possible, perhaps as a beaver docent, but as yet the opportunity has not yet formally arrived. And yet I feel myself very connected to our furry downtown family.

My daily walks take me by the beaver lodge and dam each day – and sometimes twice or three times. I am a regular visitor of the beaver website and a supporter of those who have photographed, videotaped, and written about them. I wear my “save the beaver” t-shirt to the gym and always receive approving nods, smiles, and questions. My office in family court displays a “save the beavers” cap, and I am often fielding questions about this from the families that visit me. I have pointed many a parent and child in the direction of Bertola’s and the beaver lodge.

I am writing to express my hope that the city council does the right thing. You have been given an opportunity, a fabulous opportunity, perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, to forever change and shape the future of Martinez. All of this may rest in the fate of one family of beavers downtown. Do the right thing.

Much has been written and said about the revitalization of downtown Martinez. Yet one family of hard-working beavers has accomplished more for a city then any fancy developer or organized planner ever could. We owe these beavers a great debt. They are not even on the city payroll!

Martinez needs to realize this opportunity and capitalize on this. Any monetary investment in the beavers to support willow restocking and dam flow plans will be more than regained. We have the public interest, we have the non-profit formed. Martinez- home of John Muir and one hard-working Beaver family. I see “Beaver Park” signs by the lodge. I see an organized education program. I see educaitonal opportunities for students from grammar school on up. I see a town logo. I see signs on the freeway. I see an organized marketing campaign throughout downtown stores and restaurants. I see a beaver festival. (I see Bertola’s perhaps quadrupling their cash flow). This is money and time well spent. Wasn’t it just New Year’s Day 2008 when the Contra Costa Times, in their annual “welcome to the new year” article, stated as an aside “whoever could have guessed that Martinez and Beavers would become synonymous?”

I will be out of the country at the date and time of the next City Council meeting where the fate of the beavers will be discussed. You can bet that I will check the news the instant upon my return. I am hoping that the City Council does us all proud.

Thank you,

Martinez Resident and Worker

Thank YOU for sending this letter on our beavers’ behalf and for agreeing to let it be posted! I especially like the rousing “I see a beaver festival” section…which is a fantastic improvement on downtown’s current sixth sense impersonation…(“I see dead people”). Not to mention that since beavers mate for life there is an obvious subtext to a divorce mediator suggesting we need more beavers! Of course we do.

Can beavers teach a city how to listen?

heidi08 Beavers or Social Ambasadors April 12, 2008

When I think of the November 7th meeting, (and I think of it often) I remember the remarks in particular of a young man from another town. His comment came late in the meeting, after much discussion of flooding and bridges and possible threats caused by the beavers. He said with a dynamic and oblique wisdom that impressed me greatly at the time, “I hear a lot of talking tonight about possible damage to the bridge. But what I would worry about, if I were you, is the bridge between you all (gesturing to the council) and these people here (indicating the audience.) That’s the bridge that’s in trouble.“

This pithy comment highlighted one of the most important aspects of the civic response to this issue: Martinez residents often don’t feel listened to. We aren’t certain our interests are represented. We drive home past the refinery or stop at the post office near the city central jail and we feel impossibly aware of how little our needs can matter to the management of this town. Certainly someone is getting listened to, but it is rarely us. And when the woman stood up at the meeting and said fiercely, “Maybe the beavers need to stay and all of you need to go” it was obvious where the energy in the room came from. Residents were angry and tired of being ignored, and the beavers were a perfect example of shortsighted, special interest, citizen-indifferent thinking by a body that had given us too many examples already.

Maybe if we lived in a responsive, attentive city we wouldn’t have filled up that room and made our clamor heard. Maybe we would have trusted the judgment of our representatives and allowed the beavers to be bundled off to the reservation for the convenience of the larger town. But we knew from experience that careless decisions could be made on our behalf in the name of “progress”. We knew that sometimes the will of the people was ignored in the service of unseen power. I was born in Martinez, and growing up in the downtown hills I saw an entire neighborhood taken under eminent domain to make way for the county detention center. I remember the lovely houses that were torn down; one in particular with a dumbwaiter and a servants pass thru into the wood-paneled formal dining quarters. I grew up knowing how needs could be eclipsed, and it never occured to me to question whether a city could learn to listen.

The formation of the subcommittee challenged that. Despite my historic mistrust, I was impressed that the s/c included strong beaver advocates who were allowed to speak for the community’s attachment to the animals. In my mind, it marked a perhaps nascent respect for the people that probably can’t be erased. We have tasted democracy and the flavor isn’t likely to go away any time soon. Beavers change things: It’s what they do. Why not let our beavers give residents a voice, while simultaneously giving the city a chance to show that they can make difficult decisions that reflect the needs of their citizens. Keeping the beavers isn’t as difficult as rebuilding roads or making a new downtown. It’s simpler than tearing down the empty county building or creating more parking spaces for the courthouse. It is an easy way to say “yes we’re listening” that will speak to downtown, uptown and all the places inbetween.

It won’t change a history of feeling threatened or ignored – but it could be one heck-of-a start.

Heidi P. Perryman, Ph.D.

Beavers change things: it’s what they do. Part II

heidi08 Beavers or Social Ambasadors, Uncategorized April 13, 2008

Long-time beaver friend Linda K. sent this list of “Beaver Firsts”. It is worth reading aloud to a friend or co-worker. I originally met Linda at the bridge after she read the June article in the Contra Costa Times announcing that there was at least one kit. That morning was her very first beaver sighting, and as we stood together and talked we saw Dad swim by with not one but two babies on his back. For a first visit, that was some amazing beaver luck. In fact, you can faintly hear her “Oh my god!” on the footage in And then there were two. Here is what she wrote:

Before the beavers I had never:

spoken up at a public meeting
known so much about beavers
known so much about tidal activity
gotten up in the middle of the night and gone out in the rain to keep watch over something I cared so much about
spoken to strangers
smiled at strangers
spoken to people who had the appearance of having much different value systems than I
cared about the pollution in Alhambra Creek
learned to shut up and listen to opposing opinions
written a letter to the editor
sent emails to city officials
researched the brown act
dared to express a conflicting opinion at a public meeting
actively campaigned for a cause
had the tiniest belief that the Martinez city government was responsive to the wishes of its citizens (it remains to be seen if this will remain the case)
helped to organize a public event
been interviewed by a newspaper reporter
been interviewed by a television news anchor
purchased anything at Luigi’s store.
eaten at bulldog Barbeque
Actively recruited people to come to a city council meeting
met Martinez residents who feel the same way that do about many issues, not just the beavers.
Been proud to be a Martinez Resident (at least for a while).

That’s quite a list. And you know there are many more (possibly hundreds more) lists like this out there. Why not send me yours and help document what a keystone species can do in a town that honors its influence.

Heidi P. Perryman, Ph.D.

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Beavers change things: it’s what they do. Part I

heidi08 Beavers or Social Ambasadors, pictures, Why We Care April 13, 2008

As I stood at the dam this morning, watching junior working on some finishing touches, I thought about the idea of beavers being a “keystone species”. This is an ecological term coined in the 60’s which means basically that certain animals create a broad impact on the habitat where they live and that the ecosystem wouldn’t be the same without them. A more detailed description of this concept is in the report under the environmental section and it’s a good idea for all beaver advocates to be familiar with. Obviously the dam increases rich sediment which increases insects, which increases fish, which increases the things that eat fish (birds, mammals, turtles and so on).

Remarkably, an opinion was added to the conclusion of this section that while other beavers may well be considered a “keystone species” there is no evidence to suggest that these beavers are having an impact on Alhambra Creek.

(Other than the photos and the movies and the daily witnesses, you mean?)

Obviously we’ve seen the beavers change Alhambra Creek, and the media section of this website will help document those changes. Still the idea has gotten me thinking about some other ways beavers have changed Martinez; the community, the politics, the visibility. Beavers change things. It’s what they do. I myself had never written a newspaper article or made a video before the beavers came. I had barely ever attended a city council meeting or spoken to a stranger on the street. I had never had a documentary filmed in my living room or started a non-profit. More importantly, I had never realized how many people around me cared about the very same things I cared about.

How did beavers change you? I know some have told me they hadn’t spoken up at a meeting, or actively campaigned before. Some have said they hadn’t really noticed the creek or followed the wildlife on their way to work. Others started reading the Gazette or talking to their neighbors, and some just changed their dinner plans to visit Bertola’s in the evening. If you have some thoughts you want to share, send them to mtzbeavers@gmail.com. I’d like to follow with up with a tapestry post of how these beavers have impacted our lives.

My reflective morning visit to the dam ended with a chat with the now famous beaver-rescuer “K” while we watched Dad pull mud from the bottom and reinforce the downstream side of the dam. After he left for work I heard a whisper to “come look” from an unknown gentleman who had spotted this great display near the secondary dam. A cyclist paused to see what I was photographing, and commented that he had never seen such a clear view of these (or any) beavers.

I thought about how seeing beavers in our creek had changed my morning, and those three watcher’s morning, and wondered how many similar changes were waiting to be learned about.

Heidi P. Perryman, Ph.D.

Another Saturday Night

bruce85@mac.com Beavers or Social Ambasadors February 20, 2008

Linda Meza

And unlike the lyrics to the song of the same name I had plenty of people to talk to. I encountered one gentleman sitting along the banks of the pond and we struck up an easy conversation. As it turned out he was visiting from Philadelphia, attending an opening at the Martinez Gallery and heard about the beavers.

After answering a few obligatory questions he ended up taking a call and I politely excused myself and resumed my watch up by the lodge. Within a minute or two he found me standing besides the railing, chatted me up for a moment more and wandered off to find his friends. Not ten minutes passed when he returned with a very colorful, very artsy group of folks.

I wouldn’t have even considered this to be all that noteworthy were it not for my passion for Monet. There is a particular painting of his entitled “Morning on the Seine by Giverny” that is by far my favorite piece. When ever I find myself in Chicago I make a special point to visit the Art Institute where it hangs.

Wouldn’t it be something else if our little waterway, teeming with life, turned out to be the inspiration for Martinez’ version of a Claude Monet or even a Cat Stevens. After all where better to see the moon’s shadow than filtered through the newly budded leaves of a willow beside a quite body of water?