Category: Creative Solutions

BEAVERS MAKE UNEXPECTED FRIENDS

heidi08 Creative Solutions, Flow Device Installed, Who's saving beavers now? December 6, 2019

Great news coming out of Rhode Island where both our friends Mike Callahan and Ben Goldfarb helped find a sweet end to a beaver complication.

Beavers Continue Their Rhode Island Comeback

CUMBERLAND, R.I. — At the Cumberland Land Trust’s nature preserve on Nate Whipple Highway, beavers created numerous dams on East Sneech Brook in the years after their arrival in 2014, flooding the property and forcing the organization to detour its hiking trail and build a boardwalk over the wettest areas.

Worse, the flooding killed many trees in the Atlantic white cedar swamp, a rare habitat found at just a few sites in Rhode Island.It’s a sign that beavers are continuing their comeback in Rhode Island, after being extirpated from the region about 300 years ago.

When the white cedar trees began to die, the land trust took action to address the situation. They hired a Massachusetts beaver-control expert to advise them on how to install a series of water-flow devices — a combination of wire fencing and plastic pipes going through the beaver dam that tricks beavers into thinking their dam is still working but which allows the water to flow down the stream unhindered.

Hurray for Mike! Hurray for the Cumberland land Trust! Just because Rhode Island has the word ‘Island’ in its name doesn’t mean you are going to avoid beavers. You get what we all get. And its good to know you understand how to cope.

According to Ben Goldfarb, author of the award-winning 2018 book Eager: The Surprising, Secret Lives of Beavers and Why They Matter, beaver ponds also help to recharge aquifers, dissipate floods, filter pollutants, and ease the impact of wildfires. A 2011 report he highlighted estimated that restoring beavers to one river basin in Utah would provide annual benefits valued at tens of millions of dollars.

“Even acknowledging that beavers store water and sustain other creatures is insufficient,” Goldfarb wrote. “Because the truth is that beavers are nothing less than continental-scale forces of nature, in large part responsible for sculpting the land upon which we Americans built our towns and raised our food. Beavers shaped North America’s ecosystems, its human history, its geology. They whittled our world, and they could again — if, that is, we treat them as allies instead of adversaries.”

“Great blue herons gravitate toward newly flooded areas with dead standing trees,” Brown said. “But beaver ponds aren’t perpetual. They come and they go. Beavers create a dynamic state of change that can benefit a lot of things.”

Yes, yes they do. Including humans. I’m so glad you could see the forest for the [cedar] trees and make the right decision. You are a Land Trust after all, that should include wetlands and wildlife right?

There’s time for a little bit more good news right? I mean both its a little big of news and a little bit good, Well we are grading on a curve. And its USDA, So I’m pretty sure its good.

Helping beavers move to the suburbs

Nick Kaczor, CWB, an assistant manager at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, met with Wildlife Services in Colorado to explain that the arsenal was going to try to re-establish a local beaver population. The refuge management plans include promoting a native population of American beavers (Castor canadensis), which would aid in restoration of a stream.

At the same time, another cooperator was requesting relief from damage caused by beaver on a suburban property in southern Douglas County.

The Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, a 15,000-acre urban wildlife refuge just north of Denver, seeks to conserve and enhance populations of plants, fish and wildlife and to provide compatible public uses. Over time this land has transitioned through a variety of uses, first from prairie to farmland, then to a military site in the 1940s and to a chemical production site in the 1950s. A public-private partnership carried out clean-up efforts from the 1980s through 2010, and today the site is a sanctuary for more than 330 wildlife species including bison (Bison bison), black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes), and burrowing owls (Athene cunicularia).

Hmmm so someone wants beavers and someone wants to get rid of beavers. Wait, don’t tell me,I know how this ends.

Under a permit from Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Wildlife Services-Colorado used suitcase traps to capture five beaver causing damage elsewhere. They were trapped during the summer months until mid-September in order to relocate them when they were old enough to survive on their own and find adequate habitat before winter.

They were released on the refuge at sites where staff provided fresh-cut trees for temporary forage and shelter. Refuge staff will continually monitor the sites, while also protecting bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nest trees from beaver damage.

Wildlife Services-Colorado appreciated this opportunity to support a localized recovery effort and the recognition we received for it from the Colorado Trappers and Predator Hunters Convention. We look forward to finding more beaver that are looking for a suburban Denver lifestyle.

TRICKLING DOWN

heidi08 Creative Solutions, Who's saving beavers now? September 14, 2018

Years ago Jakob Shockey was a young biologist who attended the State of the Beaver conference for the first time. He heard speaker Mike Callahan talk about installing flow devices and a host of presenters talking about why beavers matter. And he thought, “Hey, I wanna learn to do that” So he started talking more with Mike, who invited him out to work with him in Massachusetts, and then he came back to Oregon and a whole bunch of beaver-believing folks helped him get this new business off the ground.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Nedonna Beach Group finds solution to beaver issues

The beavers of Nedonna Beach have become a problem. But thanks to a group of neighbors, there may be a solution to allow beavers and homeowners to live harmoniously. After the critters built dams blocking McMillan Creek and flooding neighboring properties, many homeowners complained resulting in the trapping and killing of the beavers and otters that inhabited the area.

Seeking a more humane solution, the Nedonna Beaver Group set out to find a solution to the conflict between beavers and homeowners so property can be protected without removing or killing the beavers.

“The water would build up behind the dam and it would flood the homeowner’s septic drains,” Nedonna Beaver Group member Gillian Holbrook said. “It also made the foundation of the house go down since it is all sand, so they needed a solution.”

The solution was a pond leveler or ‘beaver deceiver.’ The group hired Jakob Shockey of Beaver State Wildlife Solutions to install a pond leveler in McMillan Creek on Aug. 13, in a beaver dam behind the house of a family who volunteered to try out the leveler. The Nedonna Neighborhood Association donated $250 to the pond leveler. The owner of the property and the other neighbors who were interested in the welfare of the beavers also contributed to funding the project.

Be still my heart. Folks chipping in for a flow device! 250 contributed by a neighborhood association which is practically a HOA. How amazing! I think I might be moving here when I retire. (Living in California we could probably afford a mansion, but I bet the neighbors would hate us. Hmm…).

Nedonna Beach is on the Oregon Coast about two hours from Portland. Think of it like the Bodega Bay of the Bay Area. Now with a flow device. The part that makes me most curious is that these beavers deal with some tidal influence just like ours. They might even use the ocean to disperse?

Shockey’s crew arrived with all the equipment and with the assistance of local volunteers, assembled the pond leveler in just a few hours and put it in place by rolling the cage over the creek side vegetation. The creek is very low this time of year and the device is exposed, but will be underwater when the fall rains come.

A large flexible tube goes through the dam and the upstream end of the tube is in a cage located a distance from the dam so the beavers do not discover the source of the ‘leak’ and close it off. The water level will be maintained at a level that will not flood the backyard, but high enough to provide protection for the beavers.

Beavers are an integral part of Oregon coast wildlife. The pools behind their dams provide safe, cool habitat for young salmon and other fish and create a wetland that supports mammals, birds, crustaceans and insects.

“With all the new rules regarding salmon, beavers have become really important to their habitat, Holbrook said. “Forest owners need to provide this kind of structure to promote a healthy salmon habitat.”

Mcmillan creek is one of two salmon-running streams in the area, so there are extra special reasons to be nice to the beavers.

Holbrook said pond levelers are growing in popularity and are commonly found in parts of Canada. The Nedonna Beaver Group will be monitoring the device to see if it works as it should, which means beavers can continue to live in the creek, the problems they can create for homeowners are gone and everyone gets the benefits of a healthy habitat for wildlife.

Holbrook said the device is pretty permanent solution to the ongoing issue.
“Only two percent of them don’t succeed for whatever reason,” Holbrook said. “They do require a little maintenance, but it seems like a much better way of deal with the issue as opposed to killing the beavers and pulling out their dams.”

These folks are practically our grandchildren when you think about it. Jakob was trained by Mike who was trained by Skip. It’s all one great big family tree! I’m thinking I’m sending a care package to the beaver group, ecosystem poster, tshirt and a copy of Ben’s book!

Welcome to the family guys!

Michael Pollock gets his very own episode of parks and rec

heidi08 Beavers and salmon, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Who's saving beavers now? November 11, 2017

Isn’t it amazing how one of the unexpected consequences of having really bad men (and Betsy DeVos) busily looting the country is that it can motivate really good men and women to run for office? I mean, people who have important jobs and are soberly committed to things that take a great deal of their time – people that you would never expect to take an interest in local or not-so local politics.

Say, senior researchers at NOAA Fisheries, for example.

Pollock dethrones longtime incumbent in parks board race

Having successfully ended a dynasty, unseating longtime incumbent Kirk Robinson and claiming the Commissioner Position 5 of the board for the Bainbridge Island Metropolitan Park & Recreation District, Michael Pollock’s celebration was much less involved than his campaign.

“I just chatted with a few of the other elected officials, the ones that made it, and had a drink and went to bed,” Pollock said. “A raging party on Bainbridge is one that’s over by 9 o’clock.”

Pollock claimed victory with an immediate, commanding lead in the parks board race Tuesday. He received 54.9 percent of the vote, while Robinson locked up just 45 percent. Pollock had 2,733 votes to Robinson’s 2,243 in the last vote count.

The position on the five-member board carries a six-year term.

Bainbridge is an island just outside seattle where Michael Pollock has lived for years. The park system controls some 1600 acres of parkland and 32 miles of trails. It is a lovely place to live, facing the usual pressures of urbanization and conservation you might expect of an island that’s commutable to Seattle by ferry. And I’m guessing it is going to be a very, very nice place to be a salmon or beaver in the very near future.

Pollock — a former member of the Bainbridge Island City Council, but a new face in the arena of parks — easily outpaced Robinson in the race, who has held the job since 2003.

“Definitely, change is in the air,” Pollock said, referencing both his own victory and the several other newcomers voted in during Tuesday’s election.”Island voters, Pollock said, seemed to have “caught a little bit of the national mood.”

pollock

Congratulations, Michael on your big win! You are positioned to do great things for Bainbridge and I’m sure folks know it. I just have to ask, did you actually make yard signs that said “vote Pollock” and distribute them to neighbors? If so, can I please have one? It’s hard to imagine you on election night, watching the votes pour in and taking that official winning phone call.

(I, myself never ran for office, but I learned from my time on the John Muir board that there is a lot of governance that involves patiently listening to ridiculous things, holding your temper, mechanically seconding motions and trying to stay awake without slipping into a meditative coma.) You are obviously much more skilled than I, and have dealt with doubters, academic and government blowhards and naysayers all your life. I know for certain that you are more than up to the task!

Big decisions need you, and we are thrilled at your success!

It’s been ten years since that DAM meeting!

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Educational, Friends of Martinez Beavers, History, In the News, Who's saving beavers now? November 7, 2017

beaversary Ten years ago today there was no Worth A Dam, no website, and no beaver community. There were only a bunch of citizens who thought it was a bad idea for their city to kill their beavers and showed up at a meeting to tell them so. This short clip of the UK documentary Beavers Las Vegas, produced by the independent film company Middle Child Productions, shows only the barest HINT of how many passionate and persuasive comments occurred. The clip I put together isn’t very long, but you should definitely watch all the way to the end to understand why it was so successful in changing the city council’s plan.

That Dam Meeting! from Heidi Perryman on Vimeo.

A handful of very passionate folks gathered at my home right before the meeting to discuss strategy. Former city council member Bill Wainwright brought port from the local city vineyard to share for courage, and gave us lots of advice about how to pitch our message persuasively. I spent the week handing out these stamped opinion cards and I’m sure hope the city got several.

card

That night, having never spoken at a public meeting before, and after barely being brave enough to call Sherri Tippie and ask for advice about relocation, I delivered the following comments:

I’m a lifelong resident of Martinez and a downtown homeowner. While I would much rather have the beavers relocated than killed, I feel the city has failed to capitalize on a remarkable opportunity and let us all down. In this case the DFG made some unique concessions and creative solutions, the Lindsay museum agreed to go above and beyond its calling, but the city of Martinez did neither.

Although it has been widely reported that the city “Tried to think of another way to manage flood risk” the evidence for this is not strong. The city Manager’s report does not even mention water-flow or leveling devices. In fact these techniques have been used successfully for years and are well researched and understood. Reports show a 93-100% satisfaction with them. There is other evidence of neglect: the hydrology report does not mention tides and describes the dam as a “concrete weir” which of course it is not. Finally, no report has looked at the likely environmental impact of removing the dam and the possible effect on new and returning species that depend on its waters: such as the famous baby otter, or the less famous but still endangered California pond turtle which has been in evidence.

If the city is determined to remove the beavers, they should be aware that successful relocation is not uncomplicated or well understood. Since the state of California does not routinely allow relocation, there are few trappers trained in its use. Hancock traps must be employed, and when misused can still result in harm or death. Snare traps can cause invisible internal injuries. Beavers have no internal temperature regulation and are there for highly vulnerable to hypothermia. Families must be caught and released together. I have spoken extensively with the nationally renowned expert in this area, Sherri Tippie, and have outlined her suggestions as well. I submit them along with reports on flow control for their review.

Many cities face these crises with technology, creativity and compassion. I wish Martinez was among them.

In the end it didn’t matter what I said. What mattered is what 50 people got up and said, and what 200 people applauded and cheered. The council sat frozen like four [Janet was in China, thank goodness] deer in headlights and we could tell we had all their attention. We knew the meeting was special while it was happening, getting more remarkable with every comment and cheer of solidarity. No one left early. And no one got tired. Nearly four hours sped by. To me it felt like a huge electrical charging station that filled me with unexpected energy for the road ahead. Remember, there was an offer on the table to ‘relocate’ the beavers, and I truly thought I might be the ONLY person to show up and disagree with that.

People sometimes assume that I somehow organized or ‘made’ that meeting. But they couldn’t be more wrong.

That meeting made me.

news

Ohio Offerings

heidi08 Beavers and Birds, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and Insects, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental, featured, Who's saving beavers now? November 6, 2017

This has been a busy month. I knew another pin was going to drop, but Ohio? Who would have guessed?

John Switzer: Beaver moon highlights species’ revival in Ohio

This month’s moon is called the beaver moon, and it was full Saturday.

It is called the beaver moon because now is when beaver dens are snug and stocked with food in preparation for the winter. All fall, beavers have been cutting branches and taking them to their dens so that they can dine on the bark and wood. Sounds like a tasty winter meal.

There’s another reason the November moon is called the beaver moon. Hal Borland wrote in the book “Twelve Moons of the Year” that by November the beaver’s pelts are in prime condition. Back during this nation’s settlement, beaver hats were all the rage here and in Europe, and pelts were considered the same as currency. Their pelts were so desired that by the 1830s, beavers had been extirpated from Ohio, said Jim McCormac, a wildlife biologist.

But beavers are again relevant because they have returned to all 88 Ohio counties, entering the state from the north and east, McCormac said. McCormac said Ohio is home to an estimated 30,000 beavers. He also said that if beavers live in your area, its biodiversity and natural heath are profiting “big-time.”

Many plants and animals benefit from beaver dams and the ponds they create. He gave the example of the beautiful wood duck, whose population is increasing partly because of beaver dams.

“There are no better ecological engineers,” McCormac said of beavers.

Capture

But having beavers in the area is not without its negative consequences. When they dam up creeks and streams, they sometime cause the flooding of farmland and other places that humans rely on.

I’ll give you an example. Early last spring I went out to Glacier Ridge Metro Park near Dublin and the park’s wetlands and a few of the nearby bike trails and hiking paths were covered by water. Beavers had dammed up the small stream that flows through the area and, by the end of the winter, caused a small flood.

But all was not lost. The Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks placed pipes through the dam so the water level could be easily lowered mechanically. “That allows us to drop the water down and not interfere with the beavers’ activities,” said Peg Hanley, spokeswoman for the parks system.

WOW! Jim McCormac is a wildlife biologist who knows his beavers! My goodness that’s exciting to read from the state. You can tell the columnist, John Switzer of the Columbus Dispatch, is not exactly sold on the flat tailed animals yet – but this article is a formidable start. I’m terribly pleased!

I was so impressed that I had to go searching for Jim McCormac and found his nature blog, Ohio birds and biodiversity. It is a wonderful collection of photographs and information. Jim is photographer and a self-described naturalist. The website has been around since 2007!

“I am a lifelong Ohioan who has made a study of natural history since the age of eight or so – longer than I can remember! A fascination with birds has grown into an amazement with all of nature, and an insatiable curiosity to learn more. One of my major ambitions is to get more people interested in nature. The more of us who care, the more likely that our natural world will survive.”

Obviously his site has enough respect and readers to get attention, and his opinions about beavers are making a difference. Thanks Jim! You are welcome any year at our beaver festival!