Category: Creative Solutions

Good news for beavers (East Coast version)

heidi08 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, Friends of Martinez Beavers, Who's saving beavers now? March 22, 2016

The East Coast is ahead of us in impressive academia and sunrise timing, but it other than inventing Mike Callahan and Skip Lisle it sadly isn’t often they win the beaver IQ contest. Looks like several new steps are getting made at once. Starting with Connecticut, which has recently needed more than its share of beaver guidance.

New Hartford Land Trust eyes resurgent beaver population

NEW HARTFORD — Connecticut has become a virtual “Field of Dreams” for a burgeoning beaver population, a fan of the species told conservationists here last week.

New Hartford Land Trust members explored the nature of the beaver and solutions to the problems their instinctual behaviors cause during the land trust’s annual meeting this week. Presenting the program was Michael Callahan, owner of Beaver Solutions of Southampton, Mass.

“Beavers are second only to people as animals that change the environment,” Callahan said. “Biologists call them a keystone species because they help hold an ecosystem together.”

Callahan said “nature likes change” and beavers are agents of that change. As they cut trees to create dams, woodlands are flooded and natural succession occurs. Beavers eventually create an open grassy habitat called a “beaver meadow,” attracting waterfowl.

As aquatic vegetation grows, invertebrates become common, which attracts insect-eating wildlife such as tree swallows, eastern kingbirds and bats. Fish populations change from cool-water to warm-water species. Mink and otter move in and the wetland becomes attractive to muskrats, mallards, Canada geese, black ducks and least bitterns. Nature is on the move.

If beavers remain in an area, they typically exhaust the food supply and the animals move on to a new territory. The old dams break down and mud flats develop that morph into grasslands supporting birds. Eventually trees grow back and the cycle is complete.

“Beavers can cause us problems, but the benefits put it in perspective,” Callahan said. “Overall, they create a vibrant ecology comparable to the biodiversity of coral reefs.”

Heyyy we recognize that man! It’s Mike Callahan the very good friend of beavers and Worth A Dam. So happy he is preaching the beaver gospel in CT. I dropped the breadcrumbs in a very neat line and hoped for the best. But you never know. I can’t help noticing a rather large shamrock in the corner of that photo, so I’m going to have to say his luck of the irish had something to do with it.
Given his name sake and appreciation of what no one yet understands I can’t help thinking of this long-lost commercial. I can’t help posting it.

Roosevelt Forest Commission to revisit beaver trapping issue

STRATFORD — The Roosevelt Forest Commission is expected on Wednesday to revisit its decision to allow lethal beaver traps to be deployed in Roosevelt Forest, a 400-acre woodland that’s home to scores of forest creatures.

A colony of beavers has set up shop near the dead end of Pumpkin Ground Road, where there’s a trailhead that leads into the forest. Beavers build dams, and the dam that’s they’ve built is backing up a tributary to Pumpkin Ground Brook is causing a stir throughout the region.

The Roosevelt Forest Commission will meet in Town Council chambers in Town Hall. The meeting will begin Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Of course revisiting doesn’t mean they’ll be any kinder on the second round, but thinking twice is certainly preferable to not thinking at all. There have been a few protests and flurries about the inhumanity of trapping, so I’m going to fantasize that some Hartford trust member is best friends with some Roosevelt forest member and says at poker night something like, you know we had this fantastic presentation by Mike Callahan. Maybe you should call him?

Okay, these stories are both about a state as big as a postage stamp. Where do I get off referring to the whole “East Coast”? I’ll tell you where, because yesterday I was sent an email by Dave Penrose of North Carolina, looking for a beaver expert to present at the upcoming 3 day conference on stream restoration. Because he thinks that a stream restoration conference needs a beaver presence. Think about that!

I promptly introduced him to some nearby beaver voices in the land, including the good folks at the Blue Heron Nature Preserve. I also sent it to John Hadidian in case HSUS could get Stephanie Boyle involved from Virginia. The conference is three days in August so I said I was absolutely preoccupied and couldn’t help because of the beaver festival. He said, “That’s intriguing. What’s a beaver festival?”.

Something your state needs, I answered.

Martinez Beaver Festival promo 2015 from Tensegrity Productions on Vimeo.

www: Wetlands Work Wonders

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and water, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental March 17, 2016

Wetland enhancement in Midwest could help reduce catastrophic floods of the future .

According to a new study from Oregon State University, restoration of wetlands in the Midwest has the potential to significantly reduce peak river flows during floods—not only now, but also in the future if heavy rains continue to increase in intensity.

Wetland restoration could also provide a small step toward a hydrologic regime in this region that more closely resembles its historic nature, before roads and cities were constructed, forests were lost, and millions of acres tile-drained to increase agricultural production.

An evaluation of potential wetlands in one watershed in central Indiana found that if just 1.5 percent of the land were used for wetlands, the peak flow of the overall watershed could be reduced by up to 17.5 percent. Also of importance, researchers said, is that expansion of wetlands appears to provide significant benefits across a wide range of possible climate scenarios. The study was published in Ecological Engineering, in work supported by the National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“Flood management in the Midwest is now almost entirely concentrated on use of dams and levees,” said Meghna Babbar-Sebens, an assistant professor of civil engineering in the College of Engineering, and the Eric H.I. and Janice Hoffman Faculty Scholar at OSU.

“Wetland construction or restoration could provide a natural and ecological option to help with flood concerns, and serve as an additional tool for flood management. Greater investments in this approach, or similar approaches that increase storage of water in the upper landscape of a watershed, should be seriously considered.”

What was that? More wetlands in the midwest could reduce flooding and improve water quality? Get out! If only there was some crazy way the farmers could have those wetlands for free – providing a buffer for their crops and absorbing all those harmful nitrates. The article says there isn’t much funding for wetland restoration. Isn’t there anyway this could get done without a lot of money?

Wetlands help reduce some of these flooding problems by storing water away from stream channels and releasing it more slowly, while also improving water quality and providing wildlife habitat. Other studies have shown that wetland construction in the Mississippi-Ohio-Missouri river basins could also significantly reduce nitrogen loads in the rivers, which has led to an enormous “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico.

Robin Ellison just sent this perfect addition!

Rusty Cohn

Speaking of wetland restoration and Napa, Rusty took this last night at Tulocay pond in Napa when he was lucky enough to see FOUR beavers. Oh, I love the breathless anticipation of this time of year, or I would if we had any beavers still in Martinez.

Sniff.

Funnest Beaver Puzzle Ever!

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Who's saving beavers now? March 13, 2016

This is a Waterwheel.
This is a Water wheel on Beavers.

Busy as beavers, really, in Rehoboth, MA

REHOBOTH – In North Rehoboth, where the Palmer River is barely a brook, scattered trees are suddenly being cut down along the banks. What had been a small dam dating to colonial times is being built higher – with sticks and wattle.

The changes, and the gradually rising water in a pair of small ponds, isn’t the work of rural vandals. It marks the return of the North American beaver, a stranger to the area since before the Revolution.

E. Otis Dyer, landowner and longtime authority on local history, sees in their comeback the story of nature renewing itself after centuries of human dominance.

At Stony Brook, environmental workers had to install a bypass pipe called a “beaver deceiver” to dissuade the animals from expanding a dam that threatened to flood a foot bridge.

Dyer says he doesn’t take umbrage at the beaver, who are only reclaiming a piece of their natural environment. Still, he said the animals’ presence is gradually causing the water in his ponds to rise.

I love Mr. Dyers calm historical perspective, and I love the fact that the article mentions a flow device solving a similar problem. Rehoboth is about 100 miles from Mike Callahan and beaver solutions, but something tells me this might get him to take a road trip. Think of what an interesting puzzle this is since the water is already directed into a narrow channel to run the wheel. That means the beavers are damming it and when the dams blow out they send debris into the wheel. I can’t imagine their damming the actual wheel itself, but who knows? It probably is going to require something more like culvert protection than what we had in Martinez. Maybe even a diversion dam.

I nominate Mike for the job!

Speaking of nominations for the job, I’m also nominating Caitin McCombs for the job of educating citizens about the mountain house beavers. She’s done an amazing job so far. She confronted some council members on the bunk they were passing at this week’s meeting. Now her article has appeared in the local paper. And don’t think I love this for a minute only because it praises what Martinez did! (Although that doesn’t hurt.)

MH-Matters

Wonderful job Caitlin! You are doing fantastic work to raise awareness and get folks attention in Mountain House. We are thrilled little Martinez could inspire you to try and coexist with these important water savers. Rumor is she is coming to help us at Earth day so you can congratulate her in person then!

One final outstanding graphic from Elizabeth Saunders at Cows and Fish for you to share. Isn’t this brilliant?

Beaver Believers Far and Wide

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and Birds, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Earth Day, Educational, Environmental, Who's saving beavers now? March 12, 2016

This document is so packed with information it will take a while to upload but I thought it deserved to be browse-able. To download your own go to their website. You won’t regret it!

Beaver-Our-Watershed-Partner-for-WEB

Incredible new achievement from our friends at Cows and Fish in Alberta. They are smart persuaders of beaver benefits for some pretty tough customers. And this really well-designed document covers all the issues and then some. Honestly, these are some of the finest beaver illustrations I’ve seen (besides Amelia’s of course!) I had to show you this one especially. Doesn’t that just say it all?

The whole document deserves a solid read and reread on a rainy day by a window. Click here for the link to it on their website, and please pass it on!

And just in case that news isn’t exciting enough, try this new research from the forest service, to be published next month in the Journal of Fresh Water Biology.

Beaver activity increases aquatic subsidies to terrestrial consumers Summary

Beaver (Castor canadensis) alter freshwater ecosystems and increase aquatic production, but it is unknown how these changes influence the magnitude and lateral dispersal of aquatic nutrients into terrestrial ecosystems.

We examined differences in abundances of dominant aquatic invertebrates, wolf spiders (Lycosidae), and deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus), at beaver and non-beaver sites. We used stable isotopes to track aquatic-derived carbon in terrestrial consumers and linear mixed-effects models to examine the importance of beaver presence and distance from stream channel on the percentage of aquatic-derived carbon in terrestrial consumers.

Sites with beaver activity had >200% higher aquatic invertebrate emergence rates as well as 60% and 75% higher abundances of spiders and deer mice, respectively, relative to non-beaver sites.

More beavers mean more bugs. Haven’t I always told you that? The USFS has been kind enough to count how many. And then look at all the happy spiders and deer mice who get to eat them. Hurray! I can’t wait until the entire article is available but this is a great place to start. Thanks!

Yesterday we worked on the project for this year’s Earth day and made stencil’s for these. Jon was kind enough to model, but just imagine 100 kids walking around with these on the day. We just found out that two of our hearty regulars won’t be able to help out that day! Maybe you are free on April 23rd and want to honor the spirit of John Muir by helping beavers? If you might, email me and I’ll make it sound even better! It’s a beautiful day, lots of ecologically minded folks, and beaver-admiring children. Persuaded yet?

Dams and Damages

heidi08 Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental, What's killing beavers now?, Who's blaming beavers now?, Who's saving beavers now? March 10, 2016

So yesterday the Swiss Canton of Thergau was declined compensation from the government for the woeful beaver damage it had sustained. They were seeking repayment for what they claimed were damages to roads and infrastructure from a population of what they describe as 500 beavers.

500 beavers!

Remember the entirety of Switzerland is only around 16,000 square miles (about twice the size of New Jersey). I can’t easily find the water stats for Thergau (which admitedly has the river Ther and some lakes) but the entirety of Canton is only 383 square miles. So imaging a population of 500 is a bit of a stretch. The parties somehow failed to convince the government with their persuasive argument of “We’ll like the beavers more if you pay us”.

I can’t imagine why.

The funny thing is that yesterday when the bad news broke, the paper ran the story with an accompanying photo of two otters. To which I helpfully pointed out that if their photos weren’t accurate how did we know the article was? And lo and behold today it has magically changed to a photo of a beaver.

Lucky for us I thought ahead enough to take a screen capture at the time.

(I may well have few really special uses in life, but saving embarrassing stories about beavers is definitely one of them.)

On to more bad news from Roosevelt Forest in Connecticut, where apparently public works installed beaver deceiver that never worked and now they have no choice but to kill the beavers.

A dam problem

Town trapping beavers to stop flooding in Roosevelt Forest

Some pesky beavers are causing some flooding problems for homes near Roosevelt Forest. So the commission that monitors the town’s only forest have voted to get rid of them, though the decision was far from easy.

Beaver traps have been placed in Pumpkin Ground Brook by Wild Things LLC after the Roosevelt Forest Commission voted last week to approve trapping and killing the beavers, which have caused a nuisance in the forest and threatened nearby homes.

.The town’s Public Works Department had installed a flow device, sometimes referred to as a “beaver deceiver,” into the dam to prevent flooding. But David said the beavers reinforced the dam by putting rocks and dirt in there. Public Works later breached the dam several times. But David said the beavers always fixed it.

“I’m very distraught that this was a solution to eliminate the beavers. I didn’t want to kill them,” said Roosevelt Forest Commission Chairman Bob David, one of five commission members who voted in favor of placing the traps.

At first glance this is the kind of story I hate most of all. A city that did the right thing, and installed a flow device – and a commisioner says he likes the beavers and wanted to keep them! But the darned thing didn’t work and now they have no choice but to hire WILD THINGS to kill them. Ugh.

But lets look closer, shall we? The flow device ‘that is sometimes called a beaver deceiver’ was installed by Public Works. Obviously they had zero input from Mike or Skip other wise they wouldn’t use that inaccurate language. The article implies it didn’t work because of ‘rocks’, what difference would that have made to our castor master? DPW probably made up the technology on their own and stuck in a pipe or a bit of hose. Which the beavers promptly plugged.

And as for the ‘distraught‘ Forest Commission chairman? I was quite moved by the quote last night but this is what I thought of when I reread this morning:

“I weep for you,” the Walrus said:
“I deeply sympathize.”
With sobs and tears he sorted out
Those of the largest size,
Holding his pocket-handkerchief
Before his streaming eyes.

Lewis Carrol

Well it’s not all bad news. Spring is nearly upon us and beavers everywhere are thinking it’s about dam time. Everywhere people are starting to see beavers break from their sleepy winter fog. This is from Art Wolinsky in New Hampshire who made his first beaver stakeout of the year and was lucky enough to capture FIVE swimming beavers on film and two tail slaps.

This makes me jealous and I would be heartbroken if watching it didn’t also make me SO VERY HAPPY.