Category: City Reports

Narrow Escape at Beaver Dam

heidi08 City Reports, kits June 16, 2010

Last night Cheryl stopped down at the dam for her usual visit and found a family of five humans sprawled across the dam surface. Grandma, Grandpa, Mom and two Children were fishing. They seemed surprised at the company and when Cheryl told them about the new baby beaver replied that they already knew about it and hoped they would see it. Clearly the notion of our lovely kit injured with fishing tackle had never entered their foggy minds, but they sheepishly left the dam and went to fish on the bridge. Their family was having an enjoyable outing, why think about the beaver family? Why think about the mountains of fishing tackle we remove every year from the banks?

Every summer I worry about fishing. People get excited about the idea of catching one of the carp at the beaver dam. They plan on releasing their catch so they feel they aren’t “impacting” the wildlife in any way. They don’t think about what happens when their hook or line snags on one of the million twigs or branches in the water. They don’t think about what happens when they cut the snag and leave the tangle of fishing wire for birds of beavers.

Fishing gear–related injuries in pinnipeds most commonly occurred in summer. Derelict fishing gear—lost, abandoned or discarded sport and commercial line, nets, traps, etc.—in the marine environment is a significant cause of injury in California coastal marine wildlife.

Brynie Kaplan Dau, Kirsten V. K. Gilardi, Frances M. Gulland, Ali Higgins,
Jay B. Holcomb, Judy St. Leger, and Michael H. Ziccardi

Fishing at the beaver pond is like trawling in an aquarium, playing soccer in the nursery or darts in an aviary. It’s like having target practice on the schoolyard. It’s very, very, very dangerous and something is certain to get hurt. It may not be the intention of anyone of these fishermen to harm wildlife, but the area is so small, so packed with birds, and so heavily trafficked there is no way it won’t. I have implored the city to do something about it, but the mayor only rubbed his hands together somewhat gleefully and answered that “Maybe the beavers will be victims of their own popularity”.

There is no city response to “shooting our fish” in this particular barrel. There is just us. There is only beaver people, the compassionate “minutemen” of Alhambra Creek. Worth A Dam needs your help to keep our adorable baby beaver safe. Explain the risks to anyone you see fishing, and tell folk to keep off the dams. Let us know when ever you see something worrisome and remember that your concern makes an enormous difference.

267 marine species have been reported to be affected by fishing gear entanglement and ingestion injuries.

Don’t let our beavers become 268.

SRO in Montclair

heidi08 City Reports, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental June 8, 2010

My, my, my. That was quite a crowd. I’m told the room accommodated 100 people, but there were people standing and chairs being added. Apparently its one of the biggest crowds they’ve had. The space was beautiful, the people warm and generous and the entire evening was kind of magical.

If you’ve never been to Montclair Presbyterian, the church is nestled in this jewel of a setting with twisty streets under overhanging branches and homes that make you think you’re in Inverness or Occidental, not minutes away from the Caldecott Tunnel.The vision, heart and hands behind Close to Home is Cindy Spring, who was organized, appreciative and well equipped. The technology of the evening ran smoothly, and we had everything we needed for the 90 minute talk.

I talked about the beaver drama, the civic response, the publicity, the sheetpile, the children’s art, the festivals, the subcommittee and the animals themselves. It was delightful to finally have enough time too be able to explain it all. I was even able to conclude by mentioning the beaver historic prevalence research we are working on, which the room found very intriguing. I talked about salmon and bird populations going up with the number of secondary dams, and I’m pretty certain most of that room will be taking amtrak in the next month to beaver watch in the evening and have dinner downtown. Lots will come to the beaver festival too. And most will write the mayor when they do.

It was one of those tightly attentive groups where everyone laughs in the right places and rolls their eyes at the same things. When I finished talking there was applause but not a single person got out of their chairs. They had great questions and clapped again after I answered them. Afterwards, a handful of people came up to say it was a great presentation, to say they were inspired by the idea that someone could get so personally involved, and to thank me for making them feel involved too. Cindy insisted on setting up a donation box and we received generous cash donations in addition to the payment for the talk Close to home provided. All in all, it was such a positive evening that we chattered cheerfully all the way home and forgot to pick up Jon’s car from where he met me at the office.

Oops!

Thank you for a great night, and the final performance on this season’s beaver speaking tour! I won’t be doing any more beaver talks for the foreseeable future and can concentrate on the festival and the day job. Thanks Igor Skaredoff for introducing me to the Close to Home folks last year, and Cindy for reminding me how many caring, intelligent and responsible people there are in the world.

If seven maids with seven mops
Swept it for half a year.
Do you suppose,” the Walrus said,
“That they could get it clear?”
“I doubt it,” said the Carpenter,
And shed a bitter tear.

Lewis Carrol

More great gulf reporting from Rachel last night. The SF Examiner wrote about it this morning.

Here’s a little cold slice of fiscal responsibility you might consider as well from this mornings New York Times;

The idea that BP might one day file for bankruptcy, particularly as part of a merger that would enable it to cordon off its liabilities from the spill, is starting to percolate on Wall Street. Bankers and lawyers are already sizing up potential deals (and counting their potential fees).

Given the plunge in BP’s share price — the company has lost more than a third of its value since Deepwater Horizon blew — some bankers and analysts say BP is starting to look like takeover bait. The question is, who would buy BP, given its enormous potential liabilities?

Shell and Exxon Mobil are both said to be licking their chops. And already, flinty legal minds are dreaming up scenarios in which BP would file a prepackaged bankruptcy and separate the costs of the cleanup — and potentially billions of dollars in legal claims — into a separate corporate entity.

Blame the Beavers: Part Infinitum

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Who's Killing Beavers Now? September 10, 2010

Poland has had massive flooding, rains, levee failure and deaths. The minister of the interior knows JUST who to blame.

Is the beaver “the greatest enemy of the flood defences”? According to Jerzy Miller, Polish minister of the interior, there is no doubt. “They live everywhere along the levees on the Wisła River and cause a lot of damage to them,” the Daily Telegraphcited. Since torrential rain caused rivers to swell beyond emergency levels in southern Poland almost two weeks ago, the surge has spread further to the regions of Wrocław and Warsaw.

Ahhh the beaver-levee conundrum! What could be more alarming than collapsed water walls because of beaver burrowing! We’re terrified of it in the Delta, so much so that in some parts of the state there is an official movement to replace the word “boo” with the word “beaver”.

By gnawing through dykes, digging tunnels in dams and thus sapping protective barriers from the inside, beavers caused further flooding. So far, the flood claimed 16 victims and around 4,000 people had to be evacuated. Overall, about 20,000 people were affected by the deluge.

Beavers gnawing through dykes? Seriously? Okay, middleschool sniggers aside, aren’t dykes made out of dirt? Are you really saying the beavers chew dirt? I’ll grant you beavers are excellent diggers, so maybe that’s what you mean. You should probably read the paper at the written by biologist Skip Lisle about the limited extent to which beavers tunnel. They aren’t coal miners. You know of course that most damage to dams is done by muskrats, right? Which far outnumber the beaver population in your country? And that muskrats are faster breeders and especially like to tunnel along levees?

Never mind. I’m sure you’ve thought this through.

During the course of the catastrophe, local governments increased the hunting quota on the apparently unconcerned beaver to mitigate the problem. Hitherto protected by the state, the Castor fiber (European beaver) seems to have lost its environmental immunity in Polish inshore waters.

Well there you have it. No reason to fix a problem by better planning or environmental management. Just kill some beavers that you’ve been protecting for a hundred years. Great solution! And nice blame shifting. I see a promotion in your future.

Yet, blaming and preying on the beaver appears, once again, to be a way of dealing with the unforeseen consequences of human actions. It is not the first time that Poland experienced such a devastating flood. In 1997, when the country was hit by the most severe deluge in recent history, 54 people died, more than 150,000 people were evacuated and the overall damages accounted for billions of euros. The question remains, what measures have been taken to prevent and deal with such emergencies?

Seven Maids Update:

Well it looks like the top kill isn’t working, although BP will tell us more when they’re good and ready thank you very much. In the mean time you should definitely read the article in today’s New York Times about what’s being found below the surface.

Non-Response

heidi08 Beaver News, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports May 21, 2010

Ahhhh the form letter! “Thank you for bringing this issue to my attention.” Why is it sent? Who does it serve? Are people ever really soothed by the form letter? I suppose maybe when the trouble is taken to post it and mail it there is some modest value attached. I got one from the white house once with raised lettering on the seal, and that was exciting. 44 cents worth of appreciation for my civic interest. Surely the email form letter is worth less- far less. Just the effort it takes to hit the “reply” button. It communicates that the person has the time to respond to and acknowledge the letter, the energy to cut and paste your name, but lacks the engagement to respond in a meaningful way.

This week I received a fine specimen from the Premier of Prince Edward Island – (“150 nuisance beavers to be culled“). The letter is bold in its simplicity and dramatic in its failure to communicate a single intention or act. I have read a few non-responses in my day and this is remarkable in its negation of all meaning. It is a black hole of responsibility through which all impending decisions are sucked so that no one can ever be blamed, certainly not the author. See for yourself:

Dear Dr. Perryman

Thank you for your e-mail. I can understand your concerns and I am aware that officials in the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal plan to re-visit this issue from a policy and operational basis with senior officials in the Fish and Wildlife Division of the Department of Environment, Energy and Forestry.

I can assure you that we want to develop sound, ethical practices to address this situation and take a balanced and measured approach.

We appreciate your input.

Sincerely,

Robert Ghiz

Premier

Are dramatic legal cases ever won on the basis of a form letter? Imagine the classic Perry Como (an attentive reader points out I mean Perry Mason moment – which is true but you have to admit a Perry Como moment would be charming!) “Your honor I didn’t know my ship was leaking oil. It was never brought to my attention.” the smooth haired businessman intones. Then from across the courtroom the glinty-eyed lawyer produces a worn piece of paper, “If you didn’t know about it then what’s this? If no one brought it to your attention, how do you explain this!” and then reads

“Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention…”

So you see, its important to notice when you get a form letter and to save it or post it on a website that gets 1000 readers a day. I’m sure when PE notices how steeply their bird population declines, or finds out their salmon run is reduced by half, they might wonder who’s responsible.

The whole thing made me think of this beloved episode of Cheers;

Alls well that Ends Well in Newberg

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Environmental, Who's Killing Beavers Now? September 10, 2010

Remember the Oregon story of teenagers rallying to prevent beavers from being killed along their local creek in Newberg Oregon? It had all the makings of a successful beaver story en vitro, so I made sure to write the media, city council and public works folks about better options than trapping and why they were worth doing. I got a very nice response from a councilwoman, a very flippant response from public works and no response at all from the columnist. Turns out he was busy closely reading the articles I sent. I was happily surprised with this:

Beaver believers urge mitigation for local population

Wildlife lovers recommend ways to keep Sheridan Street culvert clear without trapping

By: David Sale Published: 5/12/2010 12:00:00 PM Newberg Graphic

After the city of Newberg Public Works Department reversed its decision to trap beavers on Chehalem Creek, supporters and detractors of the animals are making their voices heard.

“I am the primary property owner where the damage is occurring,” said Sheridan Street resident Terry Carlson. “The beavers are taking tree after tree from my property that is costing me in devaluation — (and) it is causing an erosion issue and cleanup costs.”

“Trapping beavers is a problem-solving tool that lasts a season,” argued California wildlife activist Heidi Perryman, whose group, “Worth A Dam,” seeks to spread word on humane methods of beaver control. To prevent blocked culverts, other municipalities have erected “beaver deceivers,” or fencing arranged in a trapezoidal shape along both stream banks and across the channel to deny beavers access to the culvert itself, and catch debris from upstream. Flooding from beaver dam failure can also be controlled by creating a culvert in the dam itself — a section of 10-inch flexible tubing run underneath the dam, its upstream end screened to prevent blockage.

“This allows the culvert to be protected and the beavers to build habitat for wildlife, which is what they do best,” Perryman said. “Beavers are a keystone species and an investment in your wetlands. In fact, NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) fisheries report that they are essential in creating habitat for juvenile salmonids.”

Perryman provided a 2006 report from the Virginia Department of Transportation to city officials. Not only are beaver to be found in “the Old Dominion,” but they are equally prone to plugging culverts as their West Coast brethren. After suffering $145,000 in flood damage that year at 14 such sites, Virginia transportation officials trapped the beaver for an additional $6,000 — only to see the sites resettled the following year.

After investing a total of $44,526 in flow control devices, beaver-related road repairs dropped to zero at the 14 sites in question, with maintenance of the devices costing about $276 per year. “For every $1 spent, VDOT saved $ 8.37,” the report concluded.

“Flow devices are the proper solution,” fellow beaver supporter Dr. Rick Lanman added. “Killing or relocating will fail as the beaver will recolonize. The flow device option is by far the cheapest anyway.”

Now THAT’s what I call a happy ending! Ohhh wait there’s more – from the May Editorial.

A hearty ‘hear-hear’ to the Newberg public works department for taking a step back in the drive to eradicate beavers from a stretch of Chehalem Creek near West Sheridan Street. The department originally dispatched a trapper to rid the waterway of the rodents, who were blocking an important culvert with a dam. The department has been approached by a national group about erecting “beaver deceivers” to protect the culvert while sparing the critters. We’re all for that because, after all, the beaver is the symbol of our state and the mascot for one of our favorite college teams.

National Group? Well I guess we are at that, having officially affected the outcome of beavers in Alaska, Oregon, Wisconsin, Chicago, New Jersey, Georgia and Washington. Don’t forget Ontario. Does that make us International? Gosh. Close the curtains. I’m blushing.