BEAVER DEFENDERS NEVER RETIRE

Maybe things do change in D.C. after all. Just check out this new report from the hill.

Eager Beavers

What An Increase in Beavers Might Mean for the District

The District is located at the confluence of two rivers, a city built around streams, marshes and wetlands. It’s the home of 800,000 people. It is also the perfect habitat for beavers. Over the past few years, residents and visitors have increasingly spotted the sleek, orange-toothed rodents and their activity in and around the city’s waters.

One of those places is Kingmn Island, where Friends of Kingman Island Vice President Lora Nunn and her family like to explore along the shoreline, he colooking for what her two children call ”beaver evidence”; trunks stripped of bark; trees felled, leaving pointed stumps; dams in the water. If they are very lucky, they will spot a beaver itself, swimming in the water under the bridge between Heritage and Kingman Islands.

“They leave significant evidence on a tree that is unmistakably beaver,” said Nunn. “The kids love seeing it.”

Funny thing, You know who else lives in Kingman Island? Dr, John Hadidian, the new retired science director for the Humane Society, You know the responsible for getting Skip Lisle to do workshop in Massachusetts which was attended by one young Mike Callahan so that he could learn to install flow devices himself and eventually start the Beaver Institute which has educated so many since then,

The beaver activity is proof of a tremendous resurgence. What does that mean for the District’s environment, its wildlife and its residents?

“Absolute beaver numbers are always going to be limited by the fact that they can only occupy stream channel and flood plains,” agrees City Wildlife’s Dr. John Hadidian, formerly a scientist with both the Humane Society of the US and National Park Service (NPS). “That’s something that [only] extends 100 to 300 feet from the water, depending on tributary size. “

Beavers are nature’s engineers, so well-known for their abilities that a determined beaver is the logo for the MIT athletic teams, the Engineers. Beavers dam rivers and streams to create ponds where they build their underwater homes, or lodges. In their lodges, they raise multi-generation families—babies, called kits, will live with their parents for two years, helping to raise the next yearlings.

tandTheir environmental modifications can have many benefits. Beaver dams slow the flow of water, creating new wetlands that can become the ideal habitat for birds and animals like muskrats, shorebirds and ducks as well as amphibian and plant life. The dams also act as natural filtration systems, capturing pollutants and silt before they can enter the river.

Beaver activity is tremendously beneficial to the District, said Jorge Bogantes Montero, Stewardship Program Specialist for the Anacostia Watershed Society (AWS).

Excellent! I’m thrilled to know John is still standing up for beavers, even from retirement. John was an early helper in the Martinez campaign and a good friend if Sherrie Tippie]s. I consider him a founding father in my own conversion.

The AWS team was walking upstream, focused on the area’s mussel population, when they realized the path of the stream looked different.

“I said, that’s weird,” Bogantes recalled. “I wonder why that is.” Walking up to the culvert where the tributary passes under the parking lot of New Smyrna Missionary Baptist Church, they found a big beaver dam. When they returned in February 2022, Bogantes counted up to four more dams.

Many stream restoration systems are inspired by the work of beavers, he said, but the DOEE project attracted nature’s experts in engineered waterland restoration. “The beaver dams you see at Nash Run are exactly doing that,” he said, “slowing down the water, filtering nutrients, trash, sediment. It’s exactly what we need.”

“We just have to evaluate the side effects [on] the people.”

Yayaya, Worrying about the people is always the majority of the job, That’s where the heavy lifting comes in,

There are devices that can maintain water levels—pond levelers—that can also help resolve flooding conflicts, though none are yet known to be in use in the District. Trees can be protected wo spray repellents, or more effectively, with wire mesh. NPS has employed the latter measure for some time.

McGinty said rangers are monitoring the situation. If there is a significant negative impact, he added, NPS might have to consider relocating the beavers.

Well I’m sure John has rallied a team of smart and willing volunteers thawill see this through to the next chapter,. Old beaver defenders never quit they just know when to colonize

NRDC IS INSPIRED BY CAROL EVANS BUT FORGETS HER NAME

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and Culvert Protection, Beavers and water, Beavers and Wetlands April 13, 2022

Now this is what I’m talking about. I like everything about this article except for the huge sight around mentioning its inspiration.

Restoring Riverscapes and Beavers in the West

Lands managed by Bureau of Land Management (BLM) are often misunderstood, and their conservation values underestimated. However, as the single largest federal public land manager, BLM has a critical role to play in addressing two inter-related crises—biodiversity collapse and climate change. Key to fighting both challenges is the restoration and protection of freshwater resources. And, now, with the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, BLM has access to new funding it can use to invest in natural infrastructure, restoration, and building climate resilience. (more…)

THE CASE OF THE MISSING SALMON TAKES SHAPE

heidi08 Beaver Art, Beavers, Festival April 11, 2022

These arrived this weekend. Prompting me to ask the age old question: How much do you wish you were a child so you could solve this mystery?

As you’ll recall children will receive a TOP SECRET DOSSIER outlining the “Suspect List” and have to go to participating booths to collect all six “alibi cards” so they can solve the mystery.

Which if they solve correctly they will earn one of these generously donated ornamental magnifying glasses which they can make into a necklace if they wish and take with them.

The whole thing was planned such a LONG time ago that’s it’s lovely to think it finally gets to happen!

NEVER WEAR PERFUME AGAIN CAMPAIGN

heidi08 Beavers, Who's Killing Beavers Now? April 7, 2022

Well the price of dead beavers just went up in the tippy top of Canada, behind Alaska. And just before international beaver day to boot. How thoughtful!

Beaver castors being bought for $65 ‘long overdue’ addition to N.W.T. fur program

Hunters and trappers in the N.W.T. are able to make more money harvesting beavers, after the territorial government added beaver castors to the list of things it’ll pay advances for.

Male and female beavers have a pair of castor sacs located under the skin, between the pelvis and the base of their tail, which produce castoreum. The scent is used to mark the animals’ territory and according to a press release issued Monday, it’s also “highly prized” as a flavour and an ingredient in perfumes.

Now, a pound of dried castors will fetch an advance of $65. (more…)

WE DON’T NEED BEAVERS. WE CAN DO IT OURSELVES!

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and Nitrates, Beavers and Nitrogen removal April 5, 2022

I’m sure you remember the exciting news that came a few years ago about beaver ponds removing nitrogen from soil, right? Well I’m not sure how I feel after comparing this recent article comparing it to Arthur Gold’s great study in 2017. I guess farmers will be more happy to make their own wetlands if they’re almost as effective as beaver ponds at removing nitrogen?

Small wetlands can have big impacts

In a new study, researchers have shown that wetlands built next to farmlands can dramatically reduce the amount of excess nutrients reaching aquatic environments.

“Even very small wetlands can be effective,” says Maria Lemke, lead researcher of the study at The Nature Conservancy.

The study was conducted over 12 years on a 272-acre farm in McLean County in central Illinois. Many farms in this part of the United States use tile drainage systems—a network of interconnected underground pipes that drain water from the farms.

“Our findings show that constructed wetlands can be very effective at reducing excess nitrogen losses from agricultural tile systems,” says Lemke. “We also show that these wetlands can capture dissolved phosphorus efficiently.”

Lemke and colleagues showed that wetlands as small as 3% of the tiled area draining into them can be effective. These wetlands catch excess nutrients draining from surrounding farmlands. This means less nutrients end up in streams and rivers, and ultimately, the ocean.

Really small. Say like “pond sized”. Like ohh say something a beaver might make. Though not an ACTUAL beaver because they’re icky.

Constructed wetlands can be a useful conservation practice that mitigates nutrient export from farms to aquatic ecosystems. Nitrogen runoff that enters wetlands comes in the form of dissolved compounds called nitrates. Microbes in wetlands can use these dissolved nitrates as energy sources.

These microbes convert the nitrates into harmless nitrogen gas, which is released into the atmosphere. Conversion from dissolved nitrate to nitrogen gas results in less nitrogen exiting the wetlands into aquatic ecosystems. “Wetlands provide the perfect habitats for microbes to perform this process,” says Lemke.

Phosphorus removal from farm drainage is a more complex process. Soil chemistry and clay content play important roles in removing dissolved phosphorus. “It’s important to analyze soils at potential wetland sites to characterize their long-term retention capacity for phosphorus,” says Lemke.

Even the smallest wetlands reduced nitrogen loss from farm tiles by 15 to 38%. As drainage water moved through a series of connected wetlands, nitrogen loss was increased up to 57%.

Sure beaver ponds do it BETTER and when the pond is damaged the beavers fix it for free but they’re so icky and unpredictable. No one wants them around. People just want beaver benefits without beavers. That’s possible right?

Beaver Ponds: Resurgent Nitrogen Sinks for Rural Watersheds in the Northeastern United States

Using the annual range of denitrification observed in our three ponds, we estimate that denitrification in beaver ponds that average 0.26 ha can annually remove 49 to 118 kg nitrate N km⁻² of catchment area. In beaver ponds that average 1 ha, denitrification can account for 187 to 454 kg nitrate N km⁻² of catchment area. Moore et al. (2004), using the SPARROW model, predicted total N catchment yields between 200 and 1000 kg km⁻² for undeveloped land uses (i.e., rural) in southern New England. Based on the beaver pond/watershed area ratios (0.18–0.7%), and interpond variability in denitrification, we estimate that beaver ponds in southern New England can remove 5 to 45% of watershed nitrate loading from rural watersheds with high N loading (i.e., 1000 kg km⁻²). Thus, beaver ponds represent an important sink for watershed nitrate if current beaver populations persist.

Well, okay, beavers are better, but to refer to my previous point. they’re icky. And so unpredictable.It’s much easier to do it without them.

“The idea is that if we combine in-field practices with edge-of-field wetlands, we may be able to decrease further the wetland sizes needed for desired nutrient reductions,” says Lemke.