Category: City Reports

Here Come Da’ Judge…

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Who's Killing Beavers Now? September 27, 2011

The case against Princeton Animal Control Officer Mark Johnson is scheduled to be heard in Lawrence Township Municipal Court on Oct. 12 at 10 a.m.

You’ll remember that New Jersey Animal Control Officer Mark Johnson took it upon himself to shoot some pesky beavers near the open air theater of Peteranello Gardens, after first pointedly stopping to tell the nice woman who came to watch them of his murderous intent. You will also recall that after the story broke there was scrambling at all levels to say that the shooting was neither authorized nor ordered at the higher levels. You may also recall that the maximum fine Mark could pay for his castorcide was 300 dollars, but that the local judge couldn’t hear the case because they were bridge partners or some such thing. It has now been nearly four months since the beavers were killed and the paper reports the case is finally going to trial.

New Jersey has waited a DAM long time for its 300 dollars of justice.

Mr. Johnson is accused of illegally shooting two beavers in Pettoranello Gardens in Community Park North in May. Officials have said the beavers were deemed a “nuisance.”

The incident has raised concern because there was no permit issued for the trapping of the beavers or any beaver activity with the state Division of Fish and Wildlife. A permit is needed for the trapping of a beaver. It is illegal to shoot beavers, which are a protected species in New Jersey, according to the game code of the state. Beavers cannot be relocated either.

The case will not be heard at Princeton Township due to a conflict with the judge, said Corinne Sliker-Monda, Princeton Township court administrator. It was also transferred from Ewing Township due to a conflict.

Well good luck Mark, I’m not really worried about you because if for some remarkable reason they DID decide to fine you, you could easily afford it with the four months of uninterrupted salary the city has been paying you. I suppose its vaguely humiliating which is a kind of consequence, so I’m grateful for the kabuki wrist-slap. I’d love to see 20 children with beaver tails waiting outside the courtroom so that some news cameras can add to the burn. Maybe next time you’ll think about using a flow device or calling our friends at the Unexpected Wildlife Refuge.

Oh and good news about Central Frontenac, the story I reported on a couple days ago. The mayor herself wrote me back, committed to using a flow device and getting it right, and she was very happy to learn that her name was passed along to the CBC producer who is in her neck of the woods and looking for a local story to follow. They’re supposed to talk this week. So look for Central Frontenac to be a star in next year’s “Beaver Whisperer” project!

Beaver-gate?

heidi08 Beaver-themed merchandise, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports September 23, 2011

Honestly, my phone rang off the hook yesterday, and every reporter who called me began the call by laughing hysterically. As civic marketing strategies go this ‘make-yourself-look-petty and incapable-of-learning-gracefully’ campaign is certainly paying off. I should really send the darlings at Mainstreet Martinez a thankyou note, because the beavers haven’t got a story in the SF Chronicle since 2009, and we didn’t even have to throw a festival or take anyone to court for this!

Let’s be reasonable. I wasn’t crazy about the beaver on the mural in the first place and I’ll tell you wby. It makes the city look to REASONABLE – as if they eventually saw the light and recognized the beaver as an asset to the community. It erases the gasping struggle that left claw marks down the length of Castro street where we had to drag them kicking and screaming every inch of the way to even approach doing the right thing. The mural inclusion of the beaver was a beautiful, responsive, act of ultimately false advertising right in the middle of town. It made our leaders look GOOD and even though we ultimately depend on them and want them to BE good, we don’t want them to get away with appearing to be good when they haven’t earned it.

So, in retrospect, this bit of participatory theater beaver cover-up is a more honest, community minded depiction of our history than anything the artist could have painted. And once again, Martinez shows to the world that its community heart is in the right place but its civic head is too busy (cutting off its nose to spite its face) to pay attention.

Which I’m never happy about, but as a piece of beaver attention-getting drama, works for me.

Meanwhile in the actual beaver world, Sherri Tippie and Mike Callahan are delivering their speeches today at the Living with Wildlife Agenda Conference. Their presentations are in the afternoon, and they met last night for dinner with the Canadian Documentary filmmakers who are interested in changing the story about beavers in the country. The entire venue got twice as big as it was planned and had to be move to a new setting. You can imagine how jealous I am that I can’t be there. I expect reports back from them and from Adrian Nelson who is kicking off the beaver discussion and I’ll let you know what I hear.

In the meantime guess what arrived at my house yesterday? I’ll give you a hint. The last word is Manifesto and the first word ain’t communist! I’ll be pouring through the pages post haste, and make sure I let you know when I get to the good parts.

As if that wasn’t enough good news, I just received Ian’s 7th beaver creek Episode. Enjoy!

Broken…

heidi08 Beavers, City Reports September 22, 2011

Well apparently 12 days of wisdom is all Martinez could tolerate. That’s how long the beaver lasted on the mural before it was slathered in paint and covered from view. This morning’s Patch had a colorful story of ME being an overeager you-know-what and asking for a beaver to be added. (Which is funny because I’ve been here for all 4 years of this grueling campaign and after a bitterly sheet-piled learning curve I KNOW better than to think the city would ever add a beaver.) The editor has since revised the story to reflect my flatly stated position that I had nothing to do with it!

Originally the story said that I handed the artist the photo and illicitly asked to have it included. Never mind that I read that a beaver was going to be included on the SFGate August 12 and wrote the author to verify. He wrote me back that he had heard it directly from the artist himself. The story is now posted on that website, with a title so clever (at a moment’s notice) that I’m morbidly ashamed I didn’t think of it myself in the last 12 hours. “Martinez Cover-up” Isn’t that beautiful? To be clear I never spoke to the artist. I did look up his website and write him that we had lots of photos on our site if he wanted to use one. Never heard from him one way or the other. I even found his description of adding the beaver on his website, which is now down.

Once the painting was up I thought I recognized it and went searching through our images to find the original. When I found the original I posted it here. That’s the sum total of my involvement in it, which means that EITHER someone else asked for the beaver to be added and handed Mario a photo from the website OR someone in the story is lying so that the whole mean-spirited and vindictive tale makes something dimly approaching sense.

(I guess its possible that I was hit in the head and in my post-concussive amnesiac phase forgot the trench coat moment. Hmmm.)

The whole story reminded me vaguely of a story I heard from a tour guide in the Sistine Chapel and turned to verify in wikipedia. Apparently when Michael Angelo finished his masterpiece depicting the final judgment the greatly turmoiled characters were naked, (including God). An anxious master of Ceremonies to the Pope (Biagio da Cesena) objected saying “it was mostly disgraceful that in so sacred a place there should have been depicted all those nude figures, exposing themselves so shamefully,” The unwilling artist was not happy about repainting clothes on the finished work but muralists do what they’re told.(In Rome and in Martinez).

They also get even in their own way “Michelangelo worked Cesena’s face into the scene as Minos, judge of the underworld (far bottom-right corner of the painting) with Donkey ears (i.e. indicating foolishness). It is said that when Cesena complained to the Pope, the pontiff joked that his jurisdiction did not extend to hell, so the portrait would have to remain.

Have you looked closely at all the faces of those dead fish the Italians are processing in the Mural? Just sayin’.

Don’t call her the “Beaver Whisperer”…

heidi08 City Reports, Creative Solutions, Environmental, featured, Friends of Martinez Beavers, Why We Care September 15, 2011

Over the past 25 years, Tippie has probably live-trapped, fed, cuddled, relocated, observed, defended, conversed with, serenaded and otherwise saved from annihilation more beaver than any person on earth. Her expertise has been achieved through long hours in muddy, trash-choked creeks and endless struggles with know-nothing bureaucrats, smug exterminators and homeowner associations that view beaver as an invasive species. In 1987, when Tippie first started Wildlife 2000, her grassroots organization dedicated to beaver rescue, she was ridiculed by wildlife officials as a rank amateur; now members of those same agencies seek her out for advice and beg her to conduct seminars on how to trap safely.

Ohhh add Alan Prendergast’s remarkable article to the growing list of the “best beaver articles ever written”. Sherri Tippie obviously makes an inspiring subject and you won’t want to miss any one of his fantastic eight pages talking about her life, her work and her attitudes. He finds time along the way to sing the praises of beaver and make sure the reader knows why she bothers.

: Sherri Tippie has found new homes for hundreds of beaver threatened by Front Range development, including this refugee from Aurora.

This is my favorite sentence:

Even some of her most loyal supporters wish Tippie was a little less outspoken in her views on exterminators, dunderhead wildlife officers and others. But that’s just not who she is. “She’s the most ethical person I’ve ever known,” Gasser says. “And one-minded — is that a good word? Just totally focused on the beaver. I wouldn’t say she’s high on the diplomatic approach, but I have seen her do that.”

One minded about beavers? Outspoken about dunderhead wildlife officers? Be still my beating heart! No wonder I cried throughout most of her presentation in Oregon. Her marathon advocacy is so robust it makes me feel wondefully safe, like a child sleeping in the back of the car on the way home from a long day at the beach. Don’t worry, Sherri’s got this. She knows exactly what she’s doing.

And as for the rest of us, we can only watch and admire a hairdresser who let beavers crawl around her kitchen and talks to them on an ATV. This article is the best thing you’ll read all year and just in time for my birthday. Enjoy.

Sherri Tippe gives a dam about Colorado’s beavers from Village Voice Media on Vimeo.

Pieter! Welcome to the fam!

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Environmental September 12, 2011

I am writing in defense of beaver dams as they are proven to be effective in helping with flood control. As a matter of fact; beavers are generally referred to as nature’s flood control experts. Despite this, every time there is a flood event associated with higher than normal amounts of rain like that associated with the recent downpours associated with the storm Irene, misinformed local residents start squawking about the “darn beavers.”

I am writing to say that flooding downstream of a beaver dam is not the fault of the beavers at all — there was a lot of rain. The beaver dams in the area would help keep the water back, gradually letting the flood waters off and would help to prevent higher waters downstream and road washouts.

Of particular concern to me is the beaver dam on Hibernia Brook, just north of the Meriden Road Bridge. This dam holds back a fairly large amount of water and surely did assist in keeping the bridge there from washing out and leaving Meriden Road residents without access to Green Pond Road.

Local residents are grumbling about the dam in a misinformed way and I hope that they are not trying to influence the local road department and others in the way of destroying a good piece of natural flood control work.

Beavers have been helping to control floods in New Jersey for millions of years. They know what they are doing.

Pieter Prall

ROCKAWAY TOWNSHIP

The writer is illustrator, coauthor and editor of “The Easy Bird Guide – Eastern Region,” co-founder of the Highlands Conservation Initiative and founder of the Partnership Plan to Preserve the Beaver Brook/Hibernia Brook Watershed.

Thanks Pieter. I couldn’t have said it better myself.