Suffice it to say, whenever you are shown stunningly beautiful photos with mountain ranges bisected by water, it is usually Norway you are looking at, whether they mention it or not. This matters to beavers because Duncan Halley is an avid researcher there, (From Scotland originally) and a noted beaver devotee. He sent me a note yesterday announcing a new paper about population dispersal.
Why should you care about beaver dispersal of Castor Fiber in another country? Because one of the findings was that beavers travel for long distances (25 km) over saltwater and across continental divides to colonize new habitat. Which means that the world is pretty much their oyster, and California has been insane to insist for years that they weren’t in the Sierras because the hills were too steep.
Social Hour at the State of the Beaver Conference. Duncan is the vested man in the middle looking at the camera. On the far right is Adrien Nelson from Fur-bearer Defenders, then Mike Callahan of Beaver Solutions in Massachusetts. In the background are conference champions Lois Houston and Stanley Pietrowski. And to Duncan’s left is Paul Henson from FWS, the source of the very apt suggestion that we consider beaver as a surrogate species.
Which brings me to this morning, where I am trotting off to Rona Zollinger’s Habitats and Cultural Change Seminar at Vicente High School to talk to the students about why beavers are useful and how it could be smart to designate them as one of the important Surrogate Species identified by FWS. I’m thinking 30 essays from some ecologically savvy 15-year-olds, (and hopefully 10 from some genius silicon valley 8 year olds from Helios the school that did a field trip a few months ago) just might sway the judges.
Wish me luck!
Dr. Rona Zollinger at the Martinez Beavers habitat
One of my favorite comediennes, Paula Poundstone, used to do a bit about the irony of Columbus claiming to discover America when there were already a bunch of people living there. When as an industrious student she had raised this point to her teacher she had said “Yes but he was discovering it FOR SPAIN”. As in it may have been important to all these other folks but Spain didn’t know about it. Paula would talk about how off-putting that might be, sitting alone in your apartment and having someone ride up with a flag and “discover” it for Spain, and how that might feel.
Which is kind of how I felt when I read this article from Wyoming yesterday.
This is one of many dams built in the Pole Mountain Unit of the Medicine Bow National Forest. Courtesy photo
Hundreds of beavers live in the Pole Mountain area, changing the landscape each time they build a dam and flood a meadow.
As the landscape changes under their watch, so do the plants, wildlife and fisheries. Matt Hayes, a University of Wyoming graduate student, found a way to quantify some of those changes for his thesis project, which he completed in November. Hayes’ advisor was associate professor Scott Miller.
The project was funded by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.
“A lot of times we focus on beavers being negative, but when managing Pole Mountain, the beavers are instrumental to these fluctuating changes that are happening in riparian areas,” Hayes said. “You have to have those changes throughout the system to have the healthy system we have up there.”
Well, alright then! It turns out beavers are helpful in Wyoming too! Sorry, that’s overgeneralizing, they’re helpful on Pole mountain in Wyoming. Better do other graduate research on every mountain in the state to make sure it applies. I mean we certainly can’t apply research from Alberta and New Mexico and Maine and Alaska to someplace like Wyoming. It might be totally different.
Hayes said beavers might be a possible management tool when looking at increasing winter forage or rejuvenating aspen growth.
Beaver ponds hold snowmelt for long into the summer, keeping storm run-off from flooding downstream, plus they contribute to the quality of fishing in Pole Mountain.
“Without beaver ponds, there wouldn’t be any fishing habitat,” he said.
Alright then. Kill the fatted calf or whatever. Late to the table is still at the table! Beaver Festival Wyoming anyone?
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This appeared yesterday from Kate Lundquist of the OAEC, shown here watching beavers in the black hat on the footbridge. Enjoy!
COQUILLE — A visiting conservationist will give a free presentation about beavers Feb. 25.Wayne Hoffman, coordinator of the MidCoast Watersheds Council, shares his presentation up and down the Oregon Coast to build support for beaver conservation. In smaller streams where beavers build dams, they can help stream ecology and watershed processes by improving the quality of habitat for juvenile salmon and for a variety of other wildlife.
Wayne Hoffman again to the rescue! It’s nice to read that this is happening in another city. After the last article I tried to write and introduce myself, but have heard nothing yet. I even wrote Mike and Skip about his idea of installing starter dams away from the culvert, which they both thought was interesting, and I passed their feedback along to him, – still as yet there has been no response.
Never mind. If folks are already preaching the beaver gospel….there’s no need for a ‘connect with the home office’!
Beavers also can be pests by plugging culverts, flooding agricultural lands and eating valued trees and plants. This presentation will include techniques for avoiding these problems and fostering peaceful coexistence between beavers and humans. A short Q & A follows the presentation.
Peaceful coexistence with humans. I like the way that sounds! Great work Wayne in teaching folks how and why to live with beavers! Let’s talk soon about teaching a JOYFUL coexistence with beavers…
Sadly the ‘making of the beaver whisperer’ mentioned here yesterday is visible in Canada only. It is dark in America and Europe. Believe me when I say I tried to figure the whole thing out, and received a slew of bi-continental emails from folks eager to help. The wisest was the startled response that “The Nature of things” episode on beavers airs in March and Canada, and not on PBS until November. Argh. They aren’t letting the cat out of the bag, and the video is not downloadable.
I’m told a producer will send me one, but I’m sure they’re very busy with gay soirees and launch parties so I’m not holding my breath. So close and yet so far!
We are a full service station here at beaver central. We don’t sugar coat it or report only the bad news to get better ratings. Beaver stories are like any stories, sometimes they bring good news and sometimes not. Thank goodness the good news is coming more often these days.
I was raised Catholic so we better start with the bad news first:
That’s Byram Mississippi in case you were wondering. Not exactly a font of ecological wisdom but it’s on the nightly news so they must think there’s an ounce of interest in the story. If you go to the city’s website it opens explaining what forms you need to fill out if you want to be mayor/alderman. I’m thinking I’ll pass.
Medium news? How about an update on our Bronx river beavers in New York. The first caused such a splash when he arrived, and another showed up the following year spawning tales of romance, but they haven’t been seen for a while and our friends who keep an eye on them have wondered what is happening.
The folks at the New York Botanical Garden and the Bronx River Alliance had been wondering what was up with José and Justin, the beavers who first made headlines in 2007 when they turned up in the Bronx River – the first exemplars of New York’s state animal to be spotted alive in New York City in 200 years.
“We knew they were here, but they hadn’t been spotted for a while,” said Ann Rafalko, the garden’s director of online content. The garden’s Critter Cam, a motion-sensitive robot camera mounted in an undisclosed location in the garden’s 50-acre forest that flanks the river, has provided an answer.
It’s wonderful when folks realize beavers are good news and tell the media as media. Not exactly sure why these beavers have been named as if they’re a gay couple, but we’re very broad minded and don’t mind. The garden’s critter cam is going to be in for a surprise come this summer I think!
The increased activity of beavers in and along streams of Northern California has gotten local landowners, public agencies and scientists talking about these large rodents. The beaver is best known for its iconic teeth, flat tail and lustrous fur. Scientific research also supports the idea that beavers are beneficial to restoring fisheries in the region.
One of the most significant benefits beavers provide to the environment are the dams they create. Unlike human-built dams, beaver dams provide critical wetland ecosystems and riparian habitats which benefit endangered and threatened species such as coho and Chinook salmon. Beaver activity also opens up the tree canopy, allowing sunlight to reach the water and support the growth of healthy algae and other aquatic plants.
So, beavers may be good for the fish, but what about humans? Private landowners have valid complaints that beavers are destroying trees on their property and causing flooding of fields.
Are you intrigued yet? What a great start to an article! Hand me some popcorn!
In order to answer these questions and more, the Five Counties Salmonid Conservation Program will host a free workshop.
in Trinity County from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday at the Volunteer Fire Hall in Douglas City, located near the Trinity River bridge on State Route 299 that intersects with State Route 3 at 100 Steiner Flat Road.
The event will include practical techniques for assessing and managing beaver dams while protecting property. The workshop is funded by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Fisheries Restoration Grant Program, and the guest speaker is a national expert from Massachusetts who specializes in balancing beaver activity and human interests.
That wouldbe our old friend Mike Callahan of Beaver Solutions who will be teaching the workshop on Saturday, visiting our local installer Ted Guzzi of Sierra Wildlife coalition Sunday, and coming to Martinez monday for a tour of the most famous beavers ever.If you’re wondering just how old of a friend Mike is, this is a letter from him in 2008 which ism so long ago I had not yet ‘inherited’ the website.
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.
It’s official! CDFG has finally turned the page and traded in the “Game” for “Wildlife”. They’ve been busily assuring hunters that it changes nothing and they will be the same folks they always were, but I think there’s a big difference between “Game Wardens” and “Wildlife Wardens” and I couldn’t be happier about it!
And how to celebrate? Why not listen to this radio broadcast from yesterday’s Redwood public radio station with Stan Petrowski and Leonard Houston on our very favorite subject. Folks even got to call in and ask beaver questions, and someone wanted to know how beavers were treated in California! Follow the adorable link below to hear the whole thing, but you SIMPLY MUST click this little snippet to hear about our paper AND discover that the host actually came to Martinez!
