MURAL PROJECT APPROVED! Mario will be here tuesday morning to start prepping the bridge. Why not celebrate by sharing this tweet to help pay him! Three days left!
Red sky at night, sailors delight.
Yesterday or today is International Beaver Day. I always thought the seventh, and BWW says the 7th, but yesterday the examiner said the sixth, and a very strange thing happened out out of the blue. Two days is certainly better than one. But certainly far short of the 365 that beavers deserve.
In celebration of International Beaver Day, Loggly’s very own Hoover 
Beaver is offering a limited-edition super hero Hoover shirt to support our local beaver nonprofit, Worth A Dam.
Okay, this is strange. But stranger STILL was sitting at the city council meeting last night and listening to every single member say nice things about the beavers and the mural and, frankly, me. Really. What weird energy is at work when an entire city council, stops to shake the hand of the burr that’s been under their saddle for nearly a decade. “You did a fantastic job, burr.” They inexplicably said. “Your energy and commitment really made something beautiful in Martinez, and inspired us all”.
Burr was very pleased.
We retired to toast the artist on the porch before they actually voted, and I won’t believe everything is progressing until I see it in print, but the meeting went very very well. And all winds seem favorable at the moment.
N
ear as I can tell Lara moved they took staff recommendations for items 2-11 (we were six) and the council gave a unanimous vote in agreement. So it happened. Is happening.
Looks like Martinez gets another dam mural!
Now any normal person would be saying, wow, great job. Give yourself a glass of champagne. That was frickin awesome. Nothing else what so ever is going to replace this moment in your day. Just stop and bask for a while.
And then I read this headline this morning.
Who on earth KNEW that ‘Perryman’, in addition to being the last name of the burr in question, was also an incorporated area of Maryland? Not me. I’m fairly certain this is the finest headline I will ever read.
Yesterday they finally released the agenda for tomorrow night’s city council meeting. I’ll be presenting on the mural project and the city council will vote on whether or not to approve it so it can start happening. It was October when I first talked with artist Mario Alfaro about the idea and we’ve jumped through many hoops since them. He is being a very good sport and driving up AGAIN from San Jose. Worth A Dam folk will be there to show support, and we will all gather on my porch afterwards to toast the BEST DAM MURAL in Martinez.
Literally.
This part kind of made me dizzy. I’ve never been named in a WHEREAS before. 
Whereas is legal speak meaning something like ‘due to the fact that’ and this proclamation won’t be approved until they vote that night. But there’s a space for signatures AND two lovely images of the mural and where it will go. Which has got to be good news, right?
The whole process is a little intimidating, but when I feel awed I just remember that Mario was forced by the city to paint over an unauthorized beaver, and they still fight every year to get him to paint over the tail on his signature.And now the city council is voting on letting him paint a bridge full of them.
That is a dish best served cold, I think.
Are you sitting down? Are there children in the room? You may want to shield your eyes from this horrific and dystopian glimpse of a future no city should have to endure. Consider yourself warned.
Ew! Ew! Ew! I bet that creek stretches for miles with low dam after low dam stepping its way through the carnage and ruining all that potential drought and future FEMA money! Thank goodness Mr.Hammonds was on hand to alert authorities to the damage. I’m sure it could have gotten much worse.
Austin Acy and Dwight Chavis have been hired by Saddletree farmer Ronald Hammonds to bust down dams and get rid of beavers that have built as many as 32 dams along a two-mile stretch of Saddletree Swamp between Saddletree Road and Mount Olive Church Road. Chavis said that he recently got rid of 28 beavers in one day near the dams that Saddletree property owners say need to come down to prevent roadways from flooding, bridges from being destroyed, farmland from being turned into fields of mud, and trees that could be harvested from being drowned
No one can say exactly how many beavers call Saddletree Swamp home, but that the number has increased following recent heavy rains in Robeson County.
“It’s out of control,” Hammonds said. “We need some help to bring these beavers down to a manageable level. I’m not against beavers. When controlled they are good for the environment. But what is happening concerns me. I don’t want to leave behind for my grandchildren an environment that isn’t in good condition. We have to take care of our environment.”
After which, Mr. Hammonds shook his cane and angrily added, “Get off my lawn!”
This article provoke a rage in me as few can manage, it not only merrily reports on the deaths of hundreds of beavers, it has a photo of the plucky trappers shooting at one. Mr. Hammonds is such a miscreant and angry reverse-lorax, that he even makes USDA seem reasonable by comparison. And that’s saying something. But this is the part that still has my jaw dropping.
David Wallwork, who owns property near Saddletree Swamp, agrees that controlling the local beaver population is necessary to protect the beauty and integrity of the swamp.
“This is a beautiful ecological area with an abundance of wildlife,” Wallwork said. “We will not only help property values but help the ecology and environment in Robeson County by controlling this rodent.”
Saying that the presence of too many beavers is ruining the all the ecology and wildlife in the creek is like complaining that too much sand and water is ruining the beach. It’s like saying that your forest has too many trees, or you couldn’t see anything when snorkeling because they’re were too many fish blocking your view.
Must I go on? It’s the comment of someone who understands nothing whatsoever about the natural world. Nothing!
“The commissioners are concerned about beaver problems and are addressing them,” he said. “For the past 18 or 20 years they have been participants in the Beaver Management Assistance Program.” According to Benton, the commissioners are currently paying $59,000 a year to participate in the Beaver Management Assistance Program, including $4,000 to join and $55,000 for manpower and equipment to remove beavers and destroy dams.
Benton said that he has worked on 42 projects throughout Robeson County since June, removing 160 beavers and 50 dams. “There is a mess in there,” Benton said, referring to Saddletree Swamp. “The swamp is overpopulated with beavers.”
For a mere 64,000 dollars you can maintain your current level of ignorance. But if you want to get even stupider it’s going to cost you. If you pay a bounty as well, you can hand out money to more idiots who will help you deplete the streams and wildlife. Your practice in the past has been to cut off a tail as proof, but why not just take a soil sample from the dry stream, or a photo of where the fish, woodducks and the otters aren’t. That will work fine,.
What a surprise. I commented on this site yesterday to helpfully point out the daylight coming through the many gaps in their thinking, and today that comment is gone! They must have taken it down to treasure it always and keep someplace safe.
Grr.
Alexandria Costello is a masters student st Portland University studying the geomorphic influences of beavers in urban streams. She just came to the geology conference in San Francisco to present a poster session. Then went to Napa to meet Robin and Rusty and walk the beaver habitat. She posted this on Facebook and I asked for a closer look to share. Can I just say how much I love the idea that folks are talking about “urban beavers” at a conference?
Oh my goodness. I’m intrigued already. Aren’t you? It’s a funny thing to think about the educated, generous, ecologically-minded city of Portland learning anything at all from a stubborn ol’ refinery town like Martinez, isn’t it?
Recognize those puppets? I am so proud of us sometimes. I especially like the part where she says cities in Oregon should invest in similar programs around the state to help people learn about the benefits of beaver. You know like the city of Martinez invested in us with all the funding and sponsoring they did of our message and effort. Haaaaaaaaaa Ha Ha Ha. 
Sorry, I just suddenly thought of this comic for some reason and needed to post. I’ll allow Alex to continue.
I’m so impressed with this presentation, and with Alex for putting it together. Everyone had a grand time in Napa, and I am so pleased they connected. Apparently even WS is the best behaved it will EVER be in Oregon, under the steadying hand of Jimmy Taylor. I’m so grateful to have contributed to the story with our playful puppets.
While we’re on the topic of the successes of friends, I heard the other day that Wyoming beaver believer Amy Cummings, and Washington advocate Joe Cannon of the Lands Council are headed for an Idaho event sponsored by our beaver friends at Watershed Guardians. The event is cleverly called A Reverse Rendezvous, and is held on the day the trapping season ends. (History lesson: The original rendezvous were gatherings of trappers where massive furs and goods changed hands, and where you could connect with a new company or glean some insights of areas that were trapped out. There was lots of bragging, drinking and whoring too, I’ll wager. Probably more than a few fights or fatalities, as minimally socialized loners found themselves in a sudden crowd where impulse control was required.)
Anyway, this reverse one is going to be way better.
In the summer of 1826, the American Fur Company set up a small camp in the Powder River basin in western Wyoming to buy furs from various trapping companies and free trappers. There were gifts, story telling, contests and music. All to celebrate beaver that had been killed. We’re going to do something similar but opposite at the Reverse Rendezvous. On April 15th, 2016, we’ll be doing something similar, but with a twist. We’ll be celebrating the beaver that WEREN’T killed. Come join us!
Our story tellers are Amy Chadwick and Joe Cannon. Amy is an environmental consultant specializing in rehabilitating damaged ecosystems. Joe Cannon is part of the most successful beaver re-introduction program in history. We are excited and pleased to have them both.
I’m so jealous I won’t be on hand to hear all the stories. Maybe someone will be taping? Worth A Dam wishes you the hardiest of successes.
Meanwhile, I’m hard at work with an idea for this years festival. Over the years I’ve probably gathered every wonderful graphic, historical image or photo of beavers, now I just need to find some old scrabble games!
