Category: City Reports

RIGA: Rigged or Genuine?

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Who's Killing Beavers Now? February 14, 2011

Remember the ‘contest’ they were having in Latvia to find a solution to their pesky beaver problem? They said the beavers were chewing trees (no!) and tunneling into the bank. They wanted suggestions for how to solve the problem without killing and made the quirky distinction of only taking solutions from locals. Thus our foreign correspondent, Alex Hiller from Germany, decided it was time to vacation in the Baltic region. So he hopped over Poland and Lithuania 1100 miles and just dropped in. He sends these photos and description of his investigations in the field, so I’ll just let him speak for himself. (And yes, that is a Worth A Dam tshirt he’s wearing in the first photo!)

Hi, greetings from Latvian capital Riga, situated at the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea about 300 US-miles south of Finland. For a week now I`ve spent my vacation time to check on proper solutions for a beaver contest launched in mid-June by Riga City Council: The Old City of Riga is surrounded by Old City Canal that stretches around in a half-circle of two US-miles mouthing at both ends into river Daugava. The canal is embedded into an enchanting park alongside its banks with neatly mown lawns, lots of flowers and awesome old trees lining up its whole curved stretch like an water alley.

What was suggested by newspaper articles of mid-June was a UNESCO world heritage site being vandalized by resident beavers that showed up first time two years ago. Instead of trapping out the culprits instantly Riga City Council decided to launch a contest asking its human residents for ideas how to protect beavers and greenery at once.

Arriving in mid-August the only beaver I caught sight of was its image printed on the cover of a book I found in the Latvian National Library, titled in Latvian language “Nature`s engineer – the beaver”, written in 1982 by the late Latvian beaver scientist, Mr. Mártinjish Balodis, ( + 2001 ), well-known in Latvia as “bebrs-Martinjish”. Starting his career with Latvian forest service it were about 60 to 90 beavers in excactly 30 settlements to be found in 1952, nowadays the estimated number of beavers in Latvia has reached about 80 K.

That population pressure brings migrating beavers down the river Daugava to Riga and since two years to visiting Old City Canal. As I was told by well-informed residents, none of the visiting beavers has taken residency so far, mere or less just swimming in and out, unfortunately taking a good bite of bark from unprotected tree trunks and leaving some deep carvings on old trees from unsuccessful clipping attempts.

None of the old trees with visible teeth-markings has lost its vitality. Several trees were wrapped by sturdy wire, but by far not all of them. In Kronsvalda Park covering one third of the length of Old City Canal it were just 27 out of 135 trees standing directly alongside the banks that are being wrapped properly.

Due to massive sheetpiling from the waterline down to the bottom of Old City Canal ten years ago beavers won`t the chance to dig burrows into the steep banksides with its entrances beneath water-surface.

Supposedly thanks to an early e-mail in July from Sharon Brown of Beavers, Wetlands and Wildlife Organization, to Riga City Council, no more inappropriate chicken-wire or plastics fencing could be found on my research as it had been on video-display in June. Nevertheless did I take the chance to hand out Sharon Brown`s letter (painstakingly translated) into Latvian language to a semi-official of Riga, whose importance to environmental issues cannot be overestimated: Dr. Indulis Emsis, the founder of the Green Party of Latvia in 1990, long-term Latvian Minister of Environment and short-term Latvian Prime Minister in 2004.

I was granted the chance to have lunch with him on August 23 and being informed in perfect German language about beaver issues of today from his scientific and administrational knowledge in Latvian forest service. Mr. Emsis offered to hand over Sharon`s letter to the head of contest launching Riga Environmental Committee and member of the Green Party, Mr.Robyn Klavins.

At the end it is similar with tourists and beavers: If you want them to stay, you will have to offer suitable accommodation and food supply.

Alex Hiller

Alex! What a fantastic report from such a beautiful city! Thank you sooo much! That park looks like Disneyland and certainly deserves beavers! You gave them a fighting chance and we’re sending you another shirt!

Some Memos…

heidi08 Beaver News, City Reports August 24, 2010

Some visitors to the park have been kind enough to send me a copy of their letter regarding park name. I thought you might enjoy a sampling…

We sent in a couple of suggestions

Beaver Preservation Park

Kit Park

Wildlife Preservation Park

This is a wonderful step. Personally, I think “park” is a harsh sounding word. How about:

Beaver Gardens

Beaver Terrace

Beaver Flat (in honor of their tails? nah)
Beaver Glen

Beaver Green

Beaver Grove

Beaver Coppice Park or Grove or…I like this one.

As a downtown merchant, this park has been referred to as Beaver Park for at least three years now. There is, in my opinion, no need to confuse the community. It should always be called Beaver Park.To me, this is a no-brainer. Let’s not waste any more time on this and focus on issues that really need our time and attention.

I too think Beaver Park a good choice. How exciting to have John Muir Laws sketch our Beavers. He is quite a guy, did you get a chance to chat with him while he was sketching?

The North American Beaver (Castor canadensis) is the only species of beaver in the Americas. Beaver Park sounds o.k. to me although this could provide a good educational opportunity to get people think about science by using the name Castor Canadensis Park but it might be too esoteric for the layperson. (I think that Alhambra High School should change their mascot name and actual mascot to the Beavers).

How exciting! Yes, Beaver Park! How great!

You in the city council have done such a remarkable job in protecting a colony of beavers right within your community against a host of nay Sayers. The effects of this effort go far beyond this single colony of beavers. You have brought nature right into the center of Martinez where year after year of your young people have become acquainted with the ways of the main key species of North America. It is virtually certain that many of these young people will grow up and work to save the ecology which is our life support system on spaceship earth. I can’t think of a better way to commemorate your amazing work than to call the park by its unofficial name of Beaver Park.

William Hughes Games

New Zealand

For What its worth

I suggest Baby Beaver Park

It is Cute and helps get away from the snicker, snicker effect of mentioning beavers

Now it has become an everyday event to go to the creek and enjoy the Beaver Family. They can teach us humans so much about how to get along, take care of each other, build, feed each other, groom each other, and respect each other’s space. How blessed we are to be able to learn from God’s creatures great and small. Of course it has to be BEAVER PARK; it already is.

Frogard Butler

I think Beaver Park works well!
All the best,
Skip Lisle

I enjoyed the article about the effort to name for the park near Marina vista and Castro streets. A city park’s names should reflect the will and vision of the people who enjoy it, and I am heartened by the call for public nominations. Still, it is confusing to me why 2000 attendees at a Beaver Festival over the past three years and nightly visits from out of towners, doesn’t make this choice obvious.

I suppose the city is hesitant to name a park after an issue that generated so much controversy. That seems shortsighted and neglects the real truth that the beavers have become a hugely unifying symbol and natural rebranding effort that put Martinez on many maps. More than this, they have turned a neglected urban creek into a habitat for otter, mink, heron and steelhead.

If the city refuses to call it “Beaver Park”, I have a few other suggestions that might reflect the values of the area. How about “Sheetpile Vista Plaza”? Or “Drinking-in-the-daytime Park”? It’s too bad the powers that be didn’t choose to name it in the 6 years it sat finished and unappreciated before the beavers moved in. I guess no one really noticed the park in those days. I wonder why?

Oh and don’t forget the reporter from the LA times who wrote that he liked my Sheetpile Vista Plaza best!

“It’s too hard”

heidi08 Beaver News, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Environmental, Massachusetts Trapping Law, Who's Killing Beavers Now? October 24, 2010

The poor sportsman and sore losers club at the Massachusetts Committee for Responsible Wildlife Management continue to bemoan the inadequate list of nine exceptions to the beaver-trapping law. They feel burdened by the remarkably simple standards the law requires them to meet. Just to be clear, when any single one of these conditions are met, beavers can be killed in every convenient fashion. However, in the rare instance when no such condition is present, the animals can still be killed, just not with leg hold or body crushing traps. Apparently its toooooooo hard for their little trapper brains to meet a standard and ask permission, (even though I’ve never read even a single story of any request being turned down).

It seems like every 6 months we get new complaints about the awful flooding caused by the increase in beavers in Massachusetts that blames the crazy hippies who were tricked into banning leg hold and body crushing traps in 1996. To these troglodyte minds, the onerous burden of being asked to spend five minutes completing the necessary request is a bridge too far: they won’t stand for it! Now the powerful lobby has attached more exceptions to the exception list in a rider that slipped in at the end of the house session. It sits politely on the governor’s desk with a name like “protecting babies” or “safer streets” to await his unknowing signature. The Massachusetts Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is asking residents to call and remind the governor that there are already perfectly adequate lethal solutions in place and we don’t need to add more. Perhaps you’d like to join them.

Mike Callahan of Beaver Solutions, who is admirably much more even-handed than I, was interviewed about the story yesterday by CBS channel 3 Springfield. Now this is must see TV!

All Politics is Beavers?

heidi08 City Reports, Creative Solutions August 15, 2010

Have you heard the news about the race for the city council in Martinez? It’s an actual RACE with people that are actually NEW. I was told once by a man I very much respect that the combined time in office for our current city council (if you add up all the years one was mayor before one became a council member etc) is 50+ years. That’s what I call an old school. Well a new school year is in session and Martinez actually has real options. I thought I’d introduce you to two of my favorites today and maybe if you’re downtown for Art in the Park you can stop by and meet them for yourself. Before I do, I am reminded by Worth A Dam member Lory that the goal of Worth A Dam is to align with all beaver supporters everywhere and alienate no one. Certainly we are a broadly based group with attachments and beliefs all over the political spectrum. Worth A Dam as an organization doesn’t endorse any candidate without castor glands. Let me just say that these are two women I, Heidi Perryman, happen to like. They have been good citizens and good friends to the beavers and are smart, creative thinkers.

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{column2} Kathi McLaughlin

I first met Kathi at the final beaver subcommittee meeting in April where I presented the findings to the board at the county chambers room downtown. She came up and introduced herself and her support, asked me to think about running for council, and said that she was planning to do so after another term on the school board. Fresh from 90 days of controlling my temper on the subcommittee (well 89) and dealing with very stubborn politicians and staff I said that I would rather be eaten alive by wild dogs but a friendship was sparked.

Kathi became more involved several months later when the sheetpile palooza party started. We relied on her knowledge of the Brown Act to play “spot the atrocity” as the council steamrolled a very bad idea over the voters objections. One of my favorite memories of Kathi was going to a council meeting where they had a “closed door meeting” before the regular one. She asked them to take public comment before the session and they indignantly said that they didn’t have to. She produced her Brown act book and said that it was the law and perhaps they’d like to check with the city attorney? They furrowed their collective brow, went and called the city attorney with came back sullenly to take public comment before a closed door session – which they never did before, but which is now routine. One of the things I will like best about having Kathi on the council is having someone who knows the rules.

Gay Gerlach

I met Gay through Bill Wainwright, a former council member who was {/column2}instrumental in helping me know how to advocate for the beavers. I went to her delightful home for a meeting about networking and circulating information. She is on the Parks, Rec, Marina & Library commission which is every bit as ungainly as its name suggests. Gay is the voice of reason and cool clarity at those meetings. With a background in her own successful business and success now devoted to caring occasionally for her grandchildren, she knows how to get things done and how to redirect stubborn interests. When we went to ask permission to install the tile bridge and the very fopish member pontificated that they couldn’t approve it because “there was no cultural plan for the city so he couldn’t know what art was” Gay quietly motioned the project be approved. And it was. Gay has seen the best of Martinez and is pretty much known to everyone who knows anything: her home is the site for opera fund-raises, candidate luncheons, and exciting discussion. She’s also seen the worst of Martinez: broken promises, secret backroom deals and lots of buck passing to blame the other guy. Gay knows how things work in the ‘real world’ but also knows how to appreciate the spirit of community gifts like the beavers.

I’m thinking that this years election cycle will offer some real choices. The beavers and Worth A Dam will like you whomever you vote for, but spend some time checking these two candidates and think about what they might have to offer.

In the world of beaver news we had a confirmed otter sighting last night at the secondary dam, a new tree chewed almost to falling over the water and a possible mink visitation. Three kits, GQ, visitors from Los Altos and two more converts from my Close to Home talk, all who went out to dinner in town.

Beavers In Mother Earth News

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beaver News, City Reports, Educational, Environmental December 9, 2023

Our beaver-friend Ann Riley sent me the July issue of “Mother Earth News” with a four page article on beavers and a nod to our friends at Beavers: Wetlands & Wildlife. It was fun to read about their activities from someone who appreciates them, but I had mixed feelings about parts of the article. My sense was that the author advocates for keeping beavers in the same way that a bud light commercial advises you to “drink responsibly”: they have long figured out that you won’t do it anyway.

My sensibilities were particularly ruffled by two parts of the article: the first was that damming was entirely ‘based on instinct’, which if it was true, why would beavers stay with their parents for 2-3 years? And why does a particular beaver’s damming behavior get better over time? More importantly, his statement that beaver populations have ‘recovered’ is true only if you use the kind of mindset that the Bush Administration did when they took bald eagles off the endangered species list. (“Well there are so many in Alaska!) It’s ‘recovered’ in the sense that they probably aren’t dying off any time soon, but it isn’t ‘restored’ to its original numbers by a long shot.

Here’s my letter to Mr. Krautwurst. I haven’t been able to find an address to post your own but you can use the form at the website if you’d like.

Mr. Krautwurst’s article on beavers is a necessary – but not sufficient – look at the impact this keystone species has on our habitat. Contrary to his statement that beaver populations ‘have recovered’ it would be more accurate to say that they have recovered a fraction of their original range. Beavers were once in “every river, brook and rill” (samuel de champlain). Krautwurst doesn’t discuss the essential role that beavers played in the geology of american soil and how the realization of that motivated federal agencies to offer some protection in the early 1900’s. He also notes that beavers build dams and chop trees based solely on instinct, which can’t possibly be true. Any animal that reaches physical maturity but remains with its parents for two to three years is obviously learning and perfecting skills. Finally he credits the beavers excellent ‘reproduction rate’ with its fictional recovery. A female beaver is in estrus 12-24 hours every year, so beavers reproduce at a slow, steady rate. Touting their proficiency only makes them more likely to be killed when their behavior interferes with humans. The beaver baffler was the only tool of choice about 20 years ago for beaver management. The new flow device technology has come a long way and can solve virtually any beaver flood-related problem. The article should have also emphasized that beaver trapping, besides removing wetlands and hurting wildlife, is a short term solution that must be paid for again and again. Installing a flow device or culvert fence is an investment that will pay for itself many times over.

Let me end by saying how DELIGHTFUL it was to sit under the trees at John Muir Mountain Day Camp and hear children quizzing each other on why the beaver was considered a keystone species and how it impacted other wildlife. Ahhhh