Category: Creative Solutions

Not an April Fool’s Beaver joke

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and Birds, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Environmental, Who's saving beavers now? April 1, 2016

*On the river Isla: beavers’ bankside felling and stream damming creates a complex habitat that feeds many species. Photograph: Louise Gray*

Beavers pool effort in watery DIY

The dipper bobbing along the top of the dam looks oddly smart in this drunken landscape, his clean white bib reflected in the water below. All around is chaos. The beavers have felled most of the bankside birch, sycamore and other trees they like to eat and use for their dams.

Beavers work at night. During the day it is only humans tap-tapping away with their hammers, building a hide above the Cateran trail to allow walkers to catch a glimpse of the creature that engineered this bog.

Pink-footed geese fly overhead on their way back to Greenland, rooks caw in the beech trees, a charm of chaffinches sing from the dead branches of an alder, and black-headed gulls follow a tractor ploughing in the distance.

Spraint smeared on a rock announces that otters are here too. They have a rather one-sided relationship with beavers. The otters benefit from the increase in fish and invertebrates around the dams. Come spring they will also hunt the vulnerable beaver kits, obliging the mother beaver, twice the size of the predatory mustelid, to patrol the lodge.

The dams, constructed of twigs and branches laid on top of one another, are constantly being repaired and rebuilt to create a series of pools and canals where the beavers can move safely undetected and build entrances to their lodges and subsidiary burrows underwater.

The Burnieshed has been re-braided: forced into narrow rivulets it rushes and tumbles, waiting in pools it fizzes and foams. On Baikie Burn, another tributary of the Isla, the beaver dam has been cleared away, but not before a field nearby was flooded.

A swath of winter wheat is dead, drowned and scorched by the sun. The only sign of life is the tracks of a roe deer pricked into the earth. The burn flows quietly now, past a mink trap and beneath the road.

This article by Louise Gray is a vibrant look at the beaver pond and the many creatures who benefit from it. Environmental writer to the Telegraph and freelance author, Louise has really captured the pond here. I couldn’t be more impressed. She must have spent many hours at the Ramsey’s beaver pond or read this website over many consecutive days! Honestly, she hits every beaver improvement made, right down to the invertebrates and re-braiding rivers. This article is so well written and beautifully phased it reminds me of this:

Onto a slightly less informed but no less passionate article from the editor of the New Carlisle News in Ohio where a Wetlands is being monitored and attended to just outside the town of New Carlisle.

Group Promotes Appreciation for New Carlisle Wetland Species

So there’s a wetlands site in New Carlisle, and it’s kind of a big deal. Laden with unique and threatened plant species, the Brubaker Wetlands is hidden away just a stone’s throw from downtown, and I feel very comfortable calling it the city’s best-kept secret.

Tucked away just off the bike trail that runs through Smith Park, the wetlands truly are a separate microcosm within the city’s hustle and bustle, as the setting is somewhat surreal—full of strange, sometimes stinky plants popping up from the sodden ground—giving the visitor the impression that they’ve stepped far back in time.

One New Carlisle family is devoted to studying the wetlands and sparking an interest in the unique site among fellow residents. Having plans to schedule monthly cleanups along the trail and at the edge of the wetlands, as well as an upcoming snake survey, Nathan Ehlinger has lead the charge of bringing awareness to the unique site rich in biological diversity.

Ehlinger is a biologist who grew up in New Carlisle within sight of the wetlands. Now raising his own three children, he realized how significant the site is for its diversity and positive impact on the city’s drinking water, so he decided to promote it, hoping to instill appreciation for the wetlands in the younger generation.

Hurray! Appreciation for wetlands! In Ohio! A biologist who’s looking out for them! Monthly trail cleanups and classroom education! He invites the editor down to have a look at the outdoors he’s trying to defend. I’m almost entirely thrilled.

Almost.

He noted that the city even has its resident beaver, which has constructed at least five dams in one section of the wetlands. He pointed out that the beaver hasn’t caused any problems, but instead, works to control water levels and create open areas that are ideal for other animal species.

“The engineering of his den provides a habitat for migrating birds, and fish,” Ehlinger said of the beaver’s natural instincts to build.

Raise you’re hand when you see the worrisome part. I’ll wait. Read it again if you need to. “The engineering of his DEN provides habitat for migrating birds and fish.” That’s right. I just connected with Mr. Ehlinger and he assures me he was misquoted. He understands beavers don’t live in the dam and he’s very interested in what we’ve done in Martinez. It never ceases to amaze me, though how many people confuse the concept of lodge/den and dam. I would think some part of them would harken back to their days playing in the mud or building sandcastles as a child. How much water can you possibly hold back with a hollow wall? Beaver dams are solid. Nothing lives inside them, except some very happy invertebrates I guess.

Nothing succeeds like Beaver Success!

heidi08 Beaver-themed merchandise, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and water, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Environmental, featured, Friends of Martinez Beavers, In the News, Who's saving beavers now? March 31, 2016

Excellent news from the great Beaver Beyond, where Sarah Koenisberg has been working hard putting the finishing touches on her Beaver Believer Film. I can barely remember years ago when she came to the the festival and filmed the long interview in my backyard. She’s been working nonstop ever since. And supposedly the film is ready to be released on the film festival circuit.

Beyond the Pelt

Washington-based filmmaker Sarah Koenigsberg was getting tired of all the apocalyptic doom-and-gloom climate change stories floating around the media circuit when she happened upon an unlikely glimmer of hope: beavers. After filming these ecosystem engineers for her own feature-length documentary, “The Beaver Believers,” she helped the Trust produce a short film showcasing three success stories of how the return of beavers has transformed public lands across the West. Here, we talk to Sarah about beavers, activism, and catching the slippery critters on camera.

Most people know beavers build dams, but how do they help address climate change?

Beaver dams create ponds and wetlands that collect precipitation, letting it sink slowly into the ground instead of rushing straight out to the ocean. In the arid Southwest, this water storage is incredibly valuable, as it recharges the aquifer and holds water underground until it can slowly trickle back into our streams. Local wildlife, spawning fish, and migrating birds also thrive in the pockets of diverse habitat that beavers help build. The list goes on!

What is next in the queue?

I’m in the final stages of post-production on my film “The Beaver Believers,” which is really exciting. I had something like 70 hours of footage shot over two years for this 50-minute film. You can learn more about that project and watch our trailer at www.thebeaverbelievers.com. We’ll begin entering it into film festivals this spring!

Martinez is part of those 70 hours and I’m hoping something of us made it past the cutting room floor! I know that she included part of Mark Comstock’s beaver ballad because she wrote once that she had gotten it stuck in her head after editing footage with it again and again. Gosh, that seems like a long time ago. In 2013 we had three kits and one yearling from our new mom who had been around just over a year.

I remember that thursday, they drove here after filming Suzanne Fouty and Carole Evans in Nevada. I spoke at Kiwanis that day and came home to be interviewed for another 7 hours before having them to dinner. Friday was the usual insane packing for the festival and I barely saw anyone at the event because we were all working so hard. They headed off in their movie-making horse trailer that evening. To hit the next target for inclusion.

And now the film is getting finishing touches and then shipping out. Go read the whole thing and learn how and why Sarah does what she does. I wonder if it is headed for the Wild and Scenic Film Festival in Nevada where Ian’s went. It would be fun to have them close to home and start a whole beaver genre to that event!

The Beaver Believers Kickstarter Trailer from Tensegrity Productions on Vimeo.

Yesterday, we heard the exciting news that Jeremy Fish’s amazing artwork was finished after being temporarily matted by founding member of the Martinez Arts Association Cathy Riggs of “I’ve been Framed” downtown. She didn’t charge us a penny but clearly spent hours on it, using contrasting mats to pick up the colors. I sent the photo to Mr. Fish who was very impressed. I know it will be a hot item at the auction, and you’ll probably want to come bid on it yourself. Thanks so much Cathy!

Drawing attention to the Housatonic

heidi08 Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Who's blaming beavers now? March 29, 2016

The Housatonic is a 150 mile long river in Massachusettes that eventually flows into CT and out to the sea. It has suffered an even more than many industrial rivers suffer, with PCB’s and Mercury leading the charge. In parts has been restored, with flyfishing and outfitters that will rent you a boat, in other parts it is deeply scarred. And that’s what Denny Alsop wants to draw attention to.

It was nearly 30 years ago that Denny first made this journey to demonstrate the need for clean waterways. Companies like GE that were pouring waste into the water have mostly been regulated into submission now. But the entirety of the work remains undone, so he decided to repeat the paddle.

Actually looking at that long pole and the short canoe it’s more of a punt than a paddle. But I’m sure the water is too shallow in places. He’s stopping to meet with student field trips along the way and headed towards meeting at the capital in Boston. The river has new obstacles since he visited it last. But he’s using those to his advantage too.

Environmentalist, canoeist Denny Alsop makes a local stop

For the past week, he has been paddling along the lower Housatonic, the area dubbed “Rest of River” in a cleanup plan south of Pittsfield that has been mandated by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA is requiring industrial giant General Electric to rid the river of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), a man-made compound believed to cause cancer in humans and wildlife.

General Electric used PCBs in parts of its machinery for decades until the substance was banned in 1979. The company disposed of the substance into the Housatonic. The EPA has ordered GE to undertake a $613 million cleanup of the river by dredging portions of the riverbed and shoreline. GE is presently fighting this action on various legal, logistical and technical grounds

Alsop had an enjoyable, if exhausting, day at Muddy Brook Elementary School in Great Barrington on Friday, where he spoke to students there about conservation.

“That was fun,” he said. But when he began paddling again, Alsop discovered there had been some changes in the course of the river since he had been there last.

“The river had changed a little since the last time I’d been there,” he said. “The beavers had built a dam, and rerouted the river, and I ended up dragging my canoe across the grass to another part of the river. I’m still sort of recovering from that.”

Alsop’s journey takes him, he said, to vistas the experts don’t always see.”

One thing he’s seen is proof that one of the potential solutions forwarded by General Electric is unlikely to work. GE has advocated for a shallow dredging and capping on that stretch of the Housatonic.

But Alsop said he saw evidence of intense beaver activity along the lower Housatonic shoreline. Beavers, he noted, dig several feet into the riverbed and riverside and bring up silt and sludge to create their dams.

“You can see the beavers have excavated several feet into the silt,” Alsop said.

Alsop said he believes that GE’s scientists are aware of what he calls “the beaver problem.’

So GE dumped chemicals in the river and is now proposing they will repair it by dredging the top 3-5 inches of contaminated soil. Denny noticed that there are some residents on the river that dig deeper than that. And I’m sure you can guess who I’m referring to. Maybe GE will helpfully say, that’s okay we can just kill them but I’m hoping Denny has other ideas.

I hope Denny makes a point of objecting, and explains how beaver work can help clean their damaged river – even if the ungrateful beavers do make him portage now and then. Beavers do assist river restoration, but after decades of pollution no one is usually eager for the help. Because beaver digging exposes evidence of their damage they would prefer remained buried forever.

Ascending Beaver Stars

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Beavers or Social Ambasadors, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental, Who's saving beavers now? March 26, 2016

Today is full of inspiration. I couldn’t be happier. We can start with this fantastic story.

After Muskrats Damaged Pond, Beaver Moves In to Make Repairs

Noelker’s parents, the late Walter and Evelyn Noelker, had built the pond some 80 years ago, and the family used to fish in it.

Then a few years back, muskrats showed up and began burrowing holes into the pond bank, damaging it to the point where it was too weak to hold up anymore, said Noelker. A section of the bank gave way and the pond was drained down to just 3 feet or so of water.

Then about six months ago, Noelker — who can see the pond from his house in neighboring Forest Hills subdivision — noticed the pond looked deeper again, back to its original 8- or 9- foot depth.

When he showed up to investigate he found his answer in a row of tree stumps with pointy tips surrounding the pond and a water-tight dam made from those felled tree trunks, other sticks and mud.

A beaver or a family of them had moved in and repaired the hole in the bank that had been created by muskrats.

How much do you LOVE this story? Not only does Mr. Noelker let nature take its course, he also has the good sense to recognize the help the beaver is providing. If I told you to close your eyes and guess what state this is from you’d be right. The beaver IQ capital of the world: Washington.

“We don’t care that the beaver is here. He’s our buddy now,” Leon Noelker said, smiling.

He rents a cottage on the property and wishes he could see them. We wanna stay! Trust me, they will be amply visible in the coming fine summer days that seem to stretch forever. Those hungry kits will wake up before the sun goes down and then he’ll be in for a real treat. Muskrats AND beavers!

Every beaver’s great friend Glynnis Hood is back in the news, this time international.

Beaver Hills area named UNESCO biosphere reserve

*Glynnis Hood, professor of environmental science at Augustana Campus, lives near Lake Miquelon and guides students’ research in the wetlands of the Beaver Hills area.*

An ecologically rich area of Alberta that is home to a University of Alberta research station and fertile ground for dozens of researchers over the years has won international recognition.

Home to a mix of preserved wetlands, green rolling hills and dense boreal forests, the Beaver Hills area east of Edmonton has been designated as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Biosphere Reserve, under its Man and the Biosphere Programme. The area joins a network of 669 sites in 120 countries that foster ecologically sustainable human and economic development. Researchers from various faculties at the U of A have conducted dozens of studies there over the last 30 years, focused on work ranging from wildlife and outdoor recreation to wetlands and land management.

“It’s a hidden gem,” added Glynnis Hood, an associate professor of environmental science based at the U of A’s Augustana Campus. “Beaver Hills is spectacular because of its subtle beauty. There are ecological surprises around every corner, because you’re not looking for the big features like mountains, but for the small surprises.” One of those surprises is the fisher, a weasel thought to be gone from the area that seems to have a healthy population and is now the subject of a collaborative University of Victoria study involving Augustana Campus.

“The Beaver Hills biosphere offers a rich opportunity to keep exploring questions that are right in our own backyard,” said Hood, who lives near Miquelon Lake and has for years guided students in researching area wetlands. She’s also studied human-wildlife conflicts and is currently researching low-impact wetland management practices.

Okay, I’ll let you guess what habitat-restoring engineer has been working hard to keep beaver hills so biodiverse. I’ll even give you a hint: they named the hills after them. We are always thrilled to see the way Glynnis continues to demonstrate their effect on habitat, and our need for wetlands. Now we have UNESCO appreciating her good work as well. This sentence intrigued me.

Last year she and colleague Glen Hvenegaard led the first field course in environmental science and ecology at the Miquelon Lake Research Station, which opened in 2015.

If that name sounds really familiar it should. Dr. Hvenegaard is the author of this paper on the importance of wildlife festivals which is very near to my heart.

Potential Conservation Benefits of Wildlife Festivals

Wildlife festivals promote a variety of social, educational, economic, recreational, and community development goals. As ecotourism activities, wildlife festivals should also promote conservationgoals. This article examines five potential conservation benefits of wildlife festivals which can be generated by providing: 1) incentives to establish protected areas; 2) revenue for wildlife and habitat management; 3) economic impact to nearby areas, encouraging residents to conserve wildlife; 4) alternatives to other uses that cause more environmental damage; and 5) support for conservation by educating local and nonlocal participants.

Truly a kindred spirit of ours. I’m glad they’re working together to teach the importance of interconnected ecosystems and getting out in them!

A final stunning moment comes this morning from Rusty Cohn of Napa. He used his drone to aerial film the creek and beaver lodge. Yesterday he and Robin Ellison met with the Geography Masters student I met at the State of the beaver conference last year. Alexandra Costello. She interviewed me for an urban beaver paper she’ll be doing a poster session for this year at the upcoming Geography conference in SF. While she’s in the area she wanted to see some urban dams. Robin and Rusty were only two happy to assist. The three had a fantastic visit and really surprised her, because even it’s ‘under construction’ spring state, the Napa dam was still bigger than the urban ones she’d seen in Portland. Those are made entirely of grass and mud, she said, with no sticks.

Roosevelt win!

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and Forests, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Who's saving beavers now? March 24, 2016

One for the good guys! Team beaver did a wonderful job in Roosevelt forest, Connecticut. Apparently there was enough of an outpouring that the powers that be actually stopped what they were doing and listened for once. Hurray!

Forest Commission to endorse beaver trapping ban

The uproar caused by the trapping and killing of beavers in Roosevelt Forest will prompt the forest’s commissioners to call for a ban on trapping.

Forest Commission Chairman Bob David said Tuesday that the commission is expected to approve a resolution that would ban trapping of animals or birds in the forest or any public park in town. The commission will vote on the measure at its meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Town Hall.

The resolution reads in part that the town code “prohibits hunting and trapping in Roosevelt Forest” and states that “No person shall do any hunting or trapping of any game birds or animals or discharge any firearms of any kind whatsoever, set any traps or use any bows or other devices for the taking of any birds or animals within the bounds and limits of Roosevelt Forest or any public park located in the Town of Stratford.”

The resolution would also call for the creation of a nuisance Wildlife Subcommittee “to create a long-term wildlife management plan to preserve the forest for safe and enjoyable usage by all town residents for decades to come.”

Hurray for the good folk involved! Protests, letters and public comment. Sometimes it takes enough of a clamor that that you become harder to live with than the beaver problems they’re trying to eliminate. Martinez should know.

Word of the trap placement angered Stratford residents and animal lovers in neighboring towns. Many said it was inhumane and unfair for the town to kill beavers when the animals are only doing what comes naturally to them. Town officials said previously that they had tried to remove one of the dams in order to prevent the beavers from rebuilding, but they only rebuilt.

So far, two beavers have been caught and killed in the traps that were set, said Public Safety Director Larry Ciccarelli. The remaining traps that are in place will be removed tonight, he said.

“What’s important is that as [David] and I worked through this problem, we gained more information and we found information that would help manage the situation in a kindler, gentler fashion than we knew at the beginning,” Ciccarelli said.

Ciccarelli said the solution they heard about was something they had not heard about before. The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said state laws prevent the relocation of beavers.

Let’s be clear. Saying they ‘gained more information‘ is a blazing lie, because I know that myself AND Beaver: Wetlands and Wildlife personally wrote them at the start and told them exactly what to do and how to do it. The ‘information‘ they gained is that other people figured this out too, and weren’t going to stop shouting it in their ears any time soon.

Which I admit, is a revelation of sorts.

I am reminded of the old joke about the stubborn mule. A farmer bragged that all he had to do was ask politely and the mule would do anything he wanted. Then he loaned the mule to his neighbor to plow a field. The mule absolutely refused to pull the plow, so the neighbor dragged him back angrily.

“You said he’d do anything I wanted if I just asked politely. You lied! He won’t even pull the plow.”

The farmer stopped what he was doing and picked up a two by four. He walked over to the mule and walloped him aside the head. (Mind you, when I first heard this joke it was much cringe-worthy and involved a pair of bricks and an appendage) Then he smiled.

” You just need to get his attention, first.”

Now, I was told this joke about teaching teenagers, and I never liked it. But it makes dam good sense about city officials and beavers. Just think of Worth A Dam as a big two by four or pair of bricks, and you get the idea.