Iowa is worried about climate change. They are afraid the marshes might be too dry for the next trapping season. Gosh darn it no matter how many beavers they kill the streams still seem to dry up!

Outlook good for trappers this season

Iowa’s furbearer season opened Saturday and the outlook for trappers is positive — most species populations are steady, and there are some early indications wild fur pelt prices could be trending up this winter.

The challenge, however, could be that fewer marshes and streams have good water levels.

“Our water levels are similar to last year in some regions, even with a wet spring,” said Vince Evelsizer, state furbearer and wetland biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

“These wet/dry-dry/wet swings within a year can have an impact on aquatic furbearers — otters, mink, beavers and muskrats. But the upland species — bobcats, red fox, coyotes — are much less impacted.”

Oh darn. We killed too many beavers last year and for some darn reason our marshes all seem dry. Why is that? We better trap more next year!

Evelsizer encouraged trappers to do some preseason scouting as marsh water levels vary by location with many either dry or drying by the day.

The furbearer season is Nov. 2 to Feb. 28. Beaver trapping closes April 15.

A regulation change allows youth age 15 and younger to go trapping with a licensed adult trapper without purchasing a license. This change brings trapping in line with hunting.

Hurry you better kill more this year. Those dam beavers keep stealing all your water.

 

 

Beavers are notorious for slipping out of their tracking devices. The Houdinis of the animal kingdom it is super hard for researchers to tell if they stay put where they were relocated. Of course researchers are busy people. They don’t have time to go back and look.

You know I’m so old that I remember a lady who saw her beavers every day for a decade and knew right away if a new kit was added to the family or a yearling had dispersersed and understood right away if a stranger was trying to move in on their territory.

But that was a very long time ago and the story might be apocryphal. Researchers need something they can analyze.

Environmental DNA reveals beaver presence

A small vial of water collected two kilometers downstream is enough to reveal the presence of beavers in a waterway.

“It’s pretty promising that they are very easy to detect,” said Jesse Burgher, a PhD candidate at Washington State University Vancouver.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife had been translocating beavers around the state, either for conservation reasons to boost numbers in some regions or to remove problem beavers in others. But they didn’t have a good way of tracking whether beavers stayed in the places where they were translocated. VHF tracking devices attached to their tails didn’t stay on for very long, so they didn’t give a great picture of where translocated beavers were going.

I got really excited when I first saw this article. I am so naive that I assumed it meant they could track SPECIFIC beavers and see how they were doing. But no, that’s sentimental crap. They aren’t looking for a particular beaver.

Just the essence of generic beaver.

In a study published recently in Animal Conservation, Burgher and his colleagues turned to environmental DNA—or eDNA—techniques, to track the presence and absence of creatures in the wild.

Environmental DNA, which wildlife researchers are using in an increasing number of situations, involves taking environmental samples from soil, water or even air in some cases. Researchers then analyze these samples in the lab using DNA detection methods to determine the presence of the species they are looking for.

Can eDNA analysis find beavers?

In this case, the team used water to sample for the presence of 10 beavers that they released, split between 2020, 2021 and 2022. Before releasing VHF-tagged beavers in Gifford Pinchot National Forest and Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in the Washington state Cascades near Leavenworth, the researchers first took water samples downstream from the planned release sites to make sure there weren’t any beavers there already.

They sampled the water again the day after each release, the following week, and after a month at various distances from the release site, up to 2 kilometers away. They continued to take samples for two subsequent months after the first month, as well.

In almost all cases, the researchers were able to detect beavers in the water samples the day after they were released. Regardless of the time and distance from the release site, they detected beaver presence 93% of the time. “[Environmental DNA] was fairly reliable at detecting them if they were upstream,” Burgher said.

Oh I guess that is fairly useful. To know if you helicopted 20 beavers into a stream that they are still hanging around that watershed.

Hey have you ever tested the water in public drinking fountains to find out if the city council members who voted to banish the beavers are still around? Because that would be plenty interesting too.

 

Beavers may be a shiny new thing for the rest of us, but the Methow Project was doing this work long before we even started praising them. You can thank forest service visionary Kent Woodruff for that, although you don’t see his name talked about anymore you see his fingerprints all over.

Local conservation groups receive Ecology grant to restore streams, floodplains

Local conservation groups will use beavers, log structures, riparian plantings and other techniques to restore streamflow and connect floodplains in seven streams degraded by wildfire in the Methow and Okanogan watersheds.

The Methow Beaver Project and Methow Salmon Recovery Foundation received a $1.186 million grant from the state Department of Ecology for the work. The beaver project will manage and implement the three-year project with assistance from the salmon recovery foundation, public land managers, tribes and community members.

The project is a crucial component in recovering from large-scale wildfire and in building resilience to fire risk. It aims to increase water quantity and extend the availability of cold water. It will also expand the wet riparian zones that naturally slow wildfire, according to the application.

The project will use beaver dam analogues, structures that attract beavers and can spur them to construct dams. It will also erect log structures and repair existing dams, and relocate beavers where feasible.

It’s expected to restore approximately 23 kilometers of linear stream habitat and 915 acres of riparian habitat altogether.

Trust Methow to know full well that actual beavers are wayy better than pretend beavers,

By reestablishing natural processes, the project should increase streamflow and support downstream endangered salmon populations downstream. It should also reduce the risk of flooding and habitat degradation that can occur in stream channels affected by wildfire.

A healthy structure will enable streams to spread onto adjacent floodplains at high water. It will also use beaver complexes, wetlands and floodplains to store water and function as a sink during high-water events.

Natural ground filtration will keep water temperatures more stable, moderating both heat and cold extremes year-round, according to the application.

I guess the LA Times isn’t willing to endorse a candidate for president, but they still have the courage to tell you what movies to see.

This one looks good.

Boiling Point: Go see ‘The Wild Robot’

This mind-bending scene — part of DreamWorks Animation’s “The Wild Robot,” currently in theaters — lasts just a few seconds. But it’s hardly the only hint of climate crisis in a unique, wonderfully inventive movie.

The filmmakers do a superb job weaving together an emotionally resonant story about motherhood and finding purpose with a gorgeous parable about the natural world — and the importance of protecting our planet.

Especially in a movie marketed to kids and families, that’s a valuable accomplishment.

Because entertainment isn’t just entertainment. The narratives we consume in movies and on TV can shape our opinions and habits, even our votes. That’s why the U.S. government turned to Hollywood studios to build public support for World War II. It’s also why the Walt Disney Co. faced hateful criticism in 2022 for featuring an out gay teenager in its film “Strange World.” Ideas shown on screens can change hearts and minds.

Which is why Jeff Hermann, who produced “The Wild Robot,” wants to start conversations about climate.

Guess who makes a cameo? Well think climate change and charismatic animal and who imedliately comes to mind?

NRDC experts provided guidance on environmental storylines, including an unexpectedly fierce storm battering the island and the construction of a beaver dam. They also suggested ideas for the geese migration sequence — including brief peeks at a human world altered by climate change, at an indeterminate point in the future.