Category: City Reports

Helping Trees by Hurting Beavers?

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Who's Killing Beavers Now? March 9, 2012

Apparently the city of Guelph Ontario loves their trees so much that they’re willing to kill their beavers to prove it. Not exactly sure how a lowered water table and weaker riparian border helps trees, but the good folk in Guelph must know best. They’re saying it doesn’t make sense to make a plan to protect trees without making a promise to kill their ‘predators’. And don’t talk to them about coppicing and new growth either!

Coun. Bob Bell says a plan that the city is developing to better manage its trees over the next 20 years should include a section on one of the enemies of trees – beavers.

Enemies of trees? W0w. Strong language from a man who’s not afraid to call a spade a spade! So 300 years ago before Canada had killed its population of millions more beavers there was no forest canopy because all those beavers devoured them? Really? And it was only when people trapped every single last furry one and planted a few token trees in the ground that the canopy bounced back?

“It is definitely an issue, and I would hope our new forestry plan would address beaver removal,” he told a city council committee last week. Derek McCaughan, the city’s executive director of operations and transit, said city officials are looking at the problem of damage by beavers.

I’m sorry the oddly named city of Guelph is plagued by enemies of trees. Are there also enemies of information in your borders? Or will you listen when I explain how the trees you want to protect can be wrapped or painted with sand to prevent chewing? Will you try and understand that beaver chewing produces a natural coppice cutting – an old forestry term which refers to hard cutting a tree so that it grows back bushy and more dense. If you don’t have willow along your streams you should plant some because they are a preferred food and quickly rebound. And when beaver dams raise the water table they help prevent drought and actually expand the riparian border.

Before you decide to kill beavers to protect trees you should think about the fish populations that will be harmed, the otters who will be forced out, the birds who will lose feeding and nesting ground. You should think soberly about what a massive impact you would have on all this wildlife if you take out this one, disliked, actor.

That’s what “Keystone Species” means, by the way.

Oh and here’s a recent letter to the editor from one of your residents about what they think about these “Treenemies”.

Pleased to see beavers are back

Guelph Coun. Bob Bell is insisting that urban forestry management include a policy for the removal of beavers.

How sad that man’s response to nature has so often been nothing more than removal of the bother. Perhaps the urban forestry management should consist merely of all tree removal given how much leaves and branches can be a bother.

Beavers are a natural treat to watch and there are ways to fence off critical trees and allow them access to some that are less critical. Indeed, some of the damage I notice is of brush, not just grand trees.

As well, there are ways to control animal population growth short of total removal.

When I first moved to Guelph 43 years ago, there were beavers on our rivers, but the city soon hired a trapper and they were all gone for years and years.

Well, they have come back and many of us are pleased.

I thought the problem issue was being handled when I saw that some trees had fencing around them, but now Bell is proposing removal.

Surely a more intelligent approach could be taken that would leave our urban forest a bit more natural, but not destroyed entirely. Does our local university not have any better ideas than Bell’s?

Jim Mottin

Guelph

No Solutions for You!

heidi08 Beavers or Social Ambasadors, City Reports, Educational, featured March 7, 2012

I was very sad to learn that the trapping-nazis at the four seasons had refused to try non-lethal solutions (even if someone else paid for it) (even if there was no danger from flooding) (even if it made their facility look bad) and had already hired a trapper to place 5 traps underwater. The Sierra Wildlife coalition fought valiantly to get even a temporary stay of execution, and Dick Parsons who had started the petition to save the beavers actually drove to Martinez with his wife, had lunch downtown and called me for a tour of our beaver habitat and flow device. Since I was at work Jon met the very nice couple and walked the dams with them. They saw a green heron and a muskrat and several mallards, and expressed their sadness that apparently problem-solving skills just aren’t what they used to be.

Later Jerry posted on facebook that he believes the beavers are dead and I could feel his heavy-hearted resignation. I tried to imagine what it would feel like to face that in a community with people you had to see every day – where you had to look across the creek in your own backyard and see the backyard of the very neighbor who wanted the beaver eliminated. Back in the drama days we had fierce opponents living nearby too, but mostly they were not voices accustomed to public scrutiny – preferring to make their influence in the background, slinking from the darkness to cast their spells and disappearing again from public view. Different from the fallout that comes from violently disagreeing with the neighbor you see every sunday in the coffee shop or at church.

The closest I could come to imagining what their loss might feel like was the horrific days after the sheet pile decision was made. I remember those days tasting like ashes and I remember the lost, falling, bereft feeling I had every waking moment. Within a day or two I managed to move into combat mode, and I found new goals to move forward, but that horrible night where the city council voted to put metal through the beaver lodge, and told me I could be on the citizen oversight committee as long as I didn’t try to alter or affect the work in any way – (and I tearfully declined) – that night was the blackest beaver advocacy moment I have ever faced.

Now on the other side, I can be somewhat grateful for the severity of that night, because the beavers weren’t killed by the decision, (although mom’s eye condition was never seen before its effects) because it released me from the need to “behave” and “make nice” and freed me to use every possible skill at my disposal to push without worrying about looking ‘pushy’ – more so because it showed me that the rules I had been playing by weren’t in fact the actual rules at all, and that the real contract driving the city had nothing to do with the one on paper. Of course, the fact that it was all for a big lie helped a great deal of course and in a way I will always be grateful for the clarity.

So Jerry and Dick and Helen and all beaver supporters at Four Seasons, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for your beavers and sorry for your hearts, which probably feel a little bruised today. You did something good and compassionate and even though you couldn’t stop the outcome you made an incredible difference. It may not feel like that right now, but you should know that you did. People will remember this story the next time beavers come to Four Seasons, or to your neighbors in El Dorado Hills, or even Elk Grove. You introduced a new way to think, and a new way to solve problems and it will make a difference. I’m going to reprint this letter which made us feel so much better so many years ago – because you deserve it. Thank you for your good effort.

This is a letter from Mike Callahan of Beaver Solutions to Heidi, but we really think it applies to everyone who has supported the beavers:Dear “Beaverlady”, 😉

Your efforts are Herculean. It is so difficult to promote coexistence with beavers in an urban setting, especially one that is prone to flooding without beavers. Nevertheless, your efforts have given these beavers a fighting chance at survival.

Irregardless of the City’s final decision with the M. beavers I hope you can see that your efforts have had huge positive effects for not only the Martinez beavers, but also for beavers everywhere. Along with others, you personally have raised beaver awareness in the California masses. Not an easy task, and extremely important if our society is to evolve a better culture of coexistence with the animals on this planet.

I thought you should know how impressive your efforts and results have already been, because I know when a person is in the middle of a fight it is hard to see the entire battleground. I’m glad you are involved. Thanks.

All the Best,

Mike Callahan Beaver Solutions

I’m thinking a trip to Martinez, a cold beer and a nice bout of beaver watching would be just the thing for your spirits right now! Don’t worry, it’s on us!

From the Sierra Wildlife Coalition:

We are so very sorry, and know how awful it feels to lose a friendly beaver that you had enjoyed watching…. and for no reason. Jim is following through with DFG to see if the permit was given properly, and thought perhaps KCRA or the Sacramento Bee might be willing to do a follow-up….

You all did a great job of raising awareness of inhumane and unnecessary trapping, which as Heidi says, is not easy when your own neighbors are on the other side…. thank you. We will all work to make sure it does not happen again.

Best wishes, Mary, Sherry & Ted, and Jim

Cubby Beaver

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCRA) — Cubby the beaver was carried out of an El Dorado Hills neighborhood on a pitchfork Wednesday morning.

Trappers caught the animal and removed it from the area.

Several traps remain, just in case there are more beavers in the Four Seasons community.

“Mock tombstones and beaver signs draped in black cloth are being erected in memory of Cubby,” said Jim Sajdak, of the Sierra Wildlife Coalition, in an email to KCRA 3. “The (coalition) has sent documentation to the California Department of Fish & Game showing that removing beavers by a depredation process has proven to be an ineffective long-term solution, as well as a degradation to a wetland area.”

The decision on what to do with the beaver had previously split the community.\

KILLING FIELDS IN EL DORADO HILLS (Letter to the Editor by Resident)

Cubby, the Beaver and family, are being trapped and drowned in the quiet, pristine community of Four Seasons in El Dorado Hills, just off White Rock Road. This morning at 8:07 I witnessed an employee of Dept. of Fish & Game carrying Cubby’s dead body! What’s worse is that my husband and I, along with other members of our community, had staged an effort to get our Homeowners Association Board to slow down, to study, to educate themselves about beavers and their habitats. But, they voted three to one to kill the beaver. That was one week ago to the day!!! And now, looking out that same window I see a vulture poised on a rock, eyeing the open space. He smells death and so do I. The killing fields of El Dorado Hills. And here I am living in it.

Sandra Parsons

Valuable

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Educational, Environmental, Who's Killing Beavers Now?, Why We Care March 3, 2012

Let’s say (and why not) that you were a mild mannered beaver advocate associated with arguably the most famous beavers in the golden state and a fairly impressive website. What if some unnamed media outlet wanted your opinion on some internal memos obtained into the dealings between a certain beaver-stricken city and the federal agency that usually handles such things. And that after getting mad, nauseated and breathing into a paper bag every 5 minutes while you’re reading this delightful list of beaver-bashings you notice that a major contract for the city isn’t with the beaver-trappers, or with the tree planters, or even with hydrologists.

It’s with the beaver-re-education squad, who will provide brochures, website content, and even classroom visits designed to teach residents how destructive beavers can be and overcome any natural compassion or curiosity in the populace. Money to combat people like…oh..say…ME.

Let’s say that you were to find out that this beaver disinformation campaign is not unique to any particular city, but is part of most every beaver-management response once the public reacts negatively, or the media gets involved, or folks start spouting crazy-hugger humane ideas. Like Martinez for instance. Like the “expert” that suddenly showed up in our city and advised our city staff that flow devices always fail. Remember her? Let’s assume after seeing the amount of money that changes hands for a re-education campaign I have become more certain than ever that she didn’t come to Martinez for the view.

All of this is to say that information is power. And this website, with all its flaws and quirks – with all its solutions and stories and community, is powerful. The powers that be spend copious amounts of money to influence public opinion. And we have spent very little money and re shaped public opinion in a way that will affect thinking about beavers for decades to come. Every time we’re in the news-cycle, or talk to folks at Earth Day, or someone looks up the website because they want humane solutions, or children explain what a keystone species is at the beaver festival to get a charm bracelet, I’m reminded how much.

I guess after all the horrific displays of stupidly reflexive thinking, it was nice to realize that a city spends a vast portion of its time and resources thinking about the knotty problems caused by people like us.

Oh and check out Don’s lovely article about beavers in the Washoe newsletter. (Page 12) Hopefully we’ll make some new friends and I’ll find out some gossip about the beavers I’ve been watching for the past 7 years!

Would Vivaldi Trap Beavers?

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Who's Killing Beavers Now? March 1, 2012

Neighbors battle over beaver

So the Four Seasons Active Senior living community of El Dorado Hills Ca. last week got an anxious email from a resident there that the board of directors had made the decision to hire a trapper to kill the resident beaver(s) in their creek. When I saw where El Dorado Hills is located (right next to Elk Grove) I wasn’t exactly hopeful. But I gave her arm loads of information and told her to come back if she needed more.

Two days later I received a second email from a second person who didn’t even KNOW the first person cared about the beavers. I put them in contact with each other, gave him additional armloads of information after spending some time looking up media contacts in the area.

Beaver lovers Dick Parsons and Jerry Baldo, left and center, jokingly square off with fellow Four Seasons resident Ross Johnson, right, who feels that the so-called Grassy Creek beaver is destroying young Oaks and Sycamore trees growing behind his home in the popular El Dorado Hills active adult community. Village Life photo by Mike Roberts

This morning it’s beginning to pay off. I’ve been told two news stations are coming out to film the big meeting tonight.

A homeowners association decision to remove and destroy the beaver that’s set up shop in the Four Seasons Active Adult Community in El Dorado Hills has residents collecting signatures to save the creature while an intransigent HOA general manager insists the beaver’s fate is sealed.

The beaver lives in Grassy Creek, a headwaters tributary of Deer Creek that winds through the Four Seasons, serving as both flood control and a scenic wetlands corridor for the planned development.

The Grassy Creek beaver, as residents have taken to calling it, has turned the formerly well-defined, narrow creek into a shallow marsh between Covered Bridge Way and Monte Mar Drive.

Hmm. It’s almost March so I suppose it’s theoretically possible that this wayward beaver is a disperser and on his own, but given that they’ve been watching him a while it’s much more likely that he has a family or at least some help. Both emails described the creek as ‘ephemeral’ and I assured them that if the beaver stayed it probably wouldn’t be any more! Apparently there’s a big meeting tonight

Four Seasons Owners Association General Manager Scott Jefferson notified Parsons by e-mail on Friday that the eradication of the beaver was “in the best interest of the community” and was moving forward despite his petition.

“The membership lacks the necessary authority to overturn or postpone the implementation of an operational/maintenance decision of the board of directors,” he said, “regardless of the number of completed petitions that may be submitted.”

On Saturday a frustrated Parsons conceded that barring a miracle, his efforts to save the beaver had failed. “People here in our little community find this marsh and its inhabitants life affirming,” he said. “We want to live and let live.”

He lamented that his HOA board acted hastily and “entered into this with their minds made up.”

The next board meeting is 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 29 at the Four Seasons Lodge.

I love the idea that they have the authority to MAKE the decision but not to CHANGE it. That’s rich. Well I guess the managers want active adults but NOT active wildlife. I told my beaver-protecting buddies to bring some grandchildren to the meeting and try to get them on camera maybe holding a picture they drew of a beaver, so we’ll see if anything slows this killing campaign. Apparently there’s a retired forester in the area who wants the beaver eliminated because some oaks are getting flooded.

Apparently the reporter took this whole story seriously enough to do his homework. He called Fish & Game who had this to say.

State Fish and Game Warden Patrick Foy, reached by phone, reported that beaver problems in semi-rural subdivisions are common. “We can’t really take a problem beaver in one area and move it to another,” he said.

Beavers are routinely removed and destroyed, trapped underwater to drown or simply shot, he said, often over the loud objections of animal lovers.

He said the species is not endangered or protected, and is well-established along waterways in western El Dorado County, with known beaver communities along Deer Creek and Carson Creek.

Urban beaver dams can be breached with combinations of pipe and screening that lower water levels and might save some of the trees along Grassy Creek, he added.

Now it may not seem like much but that last sentence is the VERY FIRST TIME in the history of beaver watching that I have heard a quote from Fish and Game recommending a flow device. Think about that, and think about their constant refrain to interested parties that ‘those NEVER work’. I would argue that that sentence can be directly attributed to the success of Skip’s Flow device and the televised drama of the Martinez Beavers.

Of course, no gift comes without tarnish…

The so-called “beaver relievers” prevent flooding but create frustrated beaver who often go to great lengths to clog the breach and restore their habitat, or simply move on.

Beaver Relievers? I can only assume this is a direct quote from the warden and not a misunderstanding by the reporter. Beaver Relievers! Its sounds like some kind of pain killer for rodents referring to the Salicin properties in willow! Maybe fish and game hasn’t evolved at all. He’s basically saying “I don’t know its name and I know they don’t work anyway.” Sigh.

Well good luck tonight in stopping your HOA from making the beavers DOA. Of course they will say they have no choice. It’s people who don’t want to be blamed for their choices always do. Tell them about options and benefits and otter and fish and heron.Tell them about solutions and say that Worth A Dam will help with information, referrals and a possible scholarship. Remind them that if they put up with

←this they might just end up with thi s→

Half a eulogy…

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Friends of Martinez Beavers, In the News February 28, 2012

Beaver-Nature’s Engineer

OUTDOORS Dave Sartwell

There is no doubt that the beaver (castor canadensis, for you Latin fans) is the master mechanical engineer of the animal kingdom. He is a nonstop builder that can create some of the most elaborate and strong dams that are able to hold back vast quantities of water. I have seen in Canada dams that are a quarter of a mile wide that have created back-ups a mile long.

Oh! Settling down to read this article was like sitting down with a nice letter from a friend and a cup of tea on a rainy Sunday afternoon. I was deliciously excited. He describes the importance of the fur trade, the softness of the pelt, the dispersal of youngsters, the building of habitat, the care of families, the defending of territories. It was all so exciting to read from beaver-war-torn Massachusetts of all places that I couldn’t wait to turn to page two and read about all the benefits that their engineering does for the entire ecosystem.

Page two….

Page two?

There is no Page Two.

No discussion of birds or fish or water tables or climate change. No reference to otter or mink or Atlantic salmon. No mention of sediment or meadows or coppicing or riparian extension. Sigh. This is clearly HALF a beaver article. Maybe the other half was cut by a space-seeking editor. But maybe it was never written.

I wrote Mr Sartwell to encourage him to work on the more important part next. You know I would provide all the ideas and references he could possibly need. Let’s hope the paper is at least curious about what all these benefits do? Does Massachusetts care about genuine trickle down benefits?

Don’t worry. A better article is on the way. I just got a phone call from a “fact checker” for the Atlantic Monthly. (Are there still such things?) Remember when the reporter came for a tour of the beaver habitat and a talk about the importance of beaver in our Urban Creek? (Um, maybe I was being discrete and didn’t post about that. I sometimes manage it. Well, it happened in early December and as it happens there were unbelievable amounts of beaver activity that night.) So the fact checker is going through the article and says dubiously, “It says he came to a town that’s a suburb of San Francisco is that right? And beavers moved right into the middle of your creek in town is that right? And he saw two yearlings from a street bridge is that right? Reallllllllllly???”

Ahh that was a fun conversation!

Well its getting ready to go to press. Including the prominent name of OUR CITY where this remarkable sighting was made possible. I asked for copies to give the city council.

Fingers crossed.