Category: Educational

Beaver Victorious

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, Beavers or Social Ambasadors, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental, Who's saving beavers now? November 25, 2016

Yesterday was a RED-LETTER day in beaver fortune, as the ministry of the environment in Scotland finally handed down her judgment on the fate of their beavers. And it was GOOD news!

Beavers to remain in Scotland

24/11/16 14:59

Species set to receive protection, but will require careful management.The Scottish Government is minded to allow beavers to remain in Scotland, Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham has announced.

Ms Cunningham has said the species will have to be actively managed, in line with practices in other European countries.

Work has now begun to ensure beavers can be added to Scotland’s list of protected species as soon as possible. It will be the first time a mammal has been officially reintroduced to the UK.

Scottish Ministers have agreed that:

Beaver populations in Argyll and Tayside can remain
The species will receive legal protection, in accordance with the EU Habitats Directive
Beavers will be allowed to expand their range naturally
Beavers should be actively managed to minimise adverse impacts on farmers and other land owners
It will remain an offence for beavers to be released without a licence, punishable by up to 2 years imprisonment and an unlimited fine

“I have been determined to find a pragmatic approach, which balances the biodiversity benefits of reintroducing beavers with the obvious need to limit difficulties for our farmers.

“I want to put on record my appreciation of the efforts of the Scottish Wildlife Trust, NFU Scotland, the Royal Scottish Zoological Society, and Scottish Land and Estates who have worked in partnership to set out a way forward.

“Beavers promote biodiversity by creating new ponds and wetlands, which in turn provide valuable habitats for a wide range of other species.

“We want to realise these biodiversity benefits while limiting adverse impacts on farmers and other land users. This will require careful management.

Management techniques to prevent beaver damage, such as controlling flow through dams, or protecting valuable trees can be carried out without a licence.

More intensive management techniques, up to and including lethal control, are permitted under the Habitats Regulations for specified purposes and subject to there being no other satisfactory solution, and no adverse effect on the conservation status of the species.

The Scottish Government will provide advice and assistance to farmers in understanding their options and helping them implement mitigation and prevention measures.

The truth is, that if I had sat down and written a wish list of things the Scottish government would decide in determining the fate of the beavers, that is about pretty darn close to what I would have written. Beavers get protected status, check. Both the fancy official trial beavers in Argyll and the scrappy free beavers on the river Tay, check. People can use Mike Callahan’s training to install flow devices without a license, check. And farmers will receive education and assistance to manage problem beavers, check. If lethal means are needed they need to get approval √√√√!

Pinch me I’m dreaming!

Ohhh and guess what else? The beaver as been afforded ‘Native Status’ in the country, which it apparently lost after being absent for 5oo years. To which I’m pretty sure a beaver wold reply,
“Mighty white of you, indeed” Ahem.

The good news was blasted on the BBC and Guardian yesterday, and I’m sure several whiny farmers had very unhappy afternoons. But our good friends Paul and Louise Ramsay were thrilled, and their beaver group facebook page rang with congratulations far into the night. Paul ran a photo of a special shirt they’re taking orders for, and you might want one I think.

I, of course, had to mark the occasion with my own beaver braveheart FREEDOM speech, which I’m sure is more amusing to Americans than to Scots.

Honestly, this website has been so attentive to the beaver dilemma in Scotland for so long this victory feels personal. All the way back since the days when we were thrilled about the Argyll beaver trial to the sad day when they decided they were going to catch all the ‘free beavers and put them in zoos’ to the woeful death of Eric in the Edinbur0 zoo, to the great news they were going to stop trapping while they made their decision, to the story of the first secret beaver conference abroad! I got my only strike on youtube for sharing a fantastic video that ran on Nature Nuts there, and made friends with so many of the heroes in this fight. Including professor Lavelle who wrote me yesterday over the moon with the good news!

I can’t believe all the campaigning, letters to MPs and MSPs ‎has finally paid off! Who knew politicians sometimes listen? I am so excited I will not sleep for the next week. This is the best political news of the year. Well, it would be the best news of any year, but given the disasterous year we’ve had this is even more welcome.

Forward brave beavers of Scotland!

Suilin xo

Dr. J. Suilin Lavelle.
Lecturer, Philosophy,
University of Edinburgh.

It was our second beaver festival when the children’s parade placed the clay beavers they had made on the map of Scotland, which I had signed by the minister I met when he visited the John Muir site. It’s touching to see this now and remember how far we’ve all come.

And a child shall lead them…

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers, Beavers and Birds, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and Insects, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental, Who's saving beavers now? November 24, 2016

Mike Callahan posted these photos on the Beaver Management Forum page. This is a first year robotics team called the “Greenheads” with a leader that employed Mike recently to install a flow device and unflood a trail in Massachusetts. Vance the leader blogged about it nicely which I’ve excerpted. You can read about the whole project here:

This fall The Greenheads are taking on the Animal Allies Challenge. The challenge is composed of Core Values, Project and Robot Game components. For The Project, they were tasked with:

Identifying a problem when people and animals interact.
Designing a solution that makes the interaction better for animals, people, or both.
Sharing the problem and solution with others.

The team began by conducting some online research. This led them to consult with beaver expert Mike Callahan from Beaver Solutions. During their interview, Mike explained that beavers are a Keystone species and their work is critical for biodiversity. He did a great job describing how the work that beavers do can be a nuisance for people but how simple solutions can be deployed to remediate common problems seen when people and beavers interact. The kids proposed their idea of building a bridge to replace the current planks on trail 75 and Mike offered feedback on the pros and cons of such a bridge, along with the materials that could be used.

I couldn’t be more proud of The Greenheads. Their teamwork was first-class, they had a lot of fun, and they learned a great deal about the importance of human and beaver interaction. Their solution is certainly an improvement over the previous one and hopefully their efforts will improve the alliance between people and beavers by allowing the beavers to continue to improve biodiversity and water quality in the area while permitting people full access to the trails throughout the year. The team is now sharing their work with the community and preparing for their upcoming robotics event later this month. Go Greenheads!!!

They went on to teach other teams and their class mates what they did and why beavers matter. Look closely at their lovely folded beaver display because you might recognize one of the photos. (And no, I didn’t photo shop it in!)

From Vance G. in Ipswich, MA: “Just a quick update. Thought you’d like to see some pictures from their event this past weekend. They did a great job educating the judges and other teams about beavers.”

That’s right, with a decade of blogging and designing, we’ve created a trickle down beaver economy that will keep pollinating itself long after we’ve gone! That’s my graphic in the middle using Scott Stolsenberg of Ohio’s awesome photo and about 20 other artists silhouettes because creation requires collaboration.

Even without beavers in residence I guess there’s still lots to be thankful for this year. Have a wonderfully thankful day!

MORE TO BE THANKFUL FOR! This just in: Beavers approved in Scotland!

Beavers to remain in Scotland

The Scottish Government is minded to allow beavers to remain in Scotland, Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham has announced.

Ms Cunningham has said the species will have to be actively managed, in line with practices in other European countries.

Work has now begun to ensure beavers can be added to Scotland’s list of protected species as soon as possible. It will be the first time a mammal has been officially reintroduced to the UK.

Scottish Ministers have agreed that:

Beaver populations in Argyll and Tayside can remain
The species will receive legal protection, in accordance with the EU Habitats Directive
Beavers will be allowed to expand their range naturally
Beavers should be actively managed to minimise adverse impacts on farmers and other land owners

It will remain an offence for beavers to be released without a licence, punishable by up to 2 years imprisonment and an unlimited fine

Research has shown beavers, which were native to Scotland before being hunted to extinction in the 16^th century, provide important biodiversity benefits.

Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said:

“I have been determined to find a pragmatic approach, which balances the biodiversity benefits of reintroducing beavers with the obvious need to limit difficulties for our farmers.

We are soo SOOO happy for our Scottish beaver friends. I know for a fact it was a heck of a lot of working protecting them in a single city. Imagine how much harder it was to protect them in the entire COUNTRY!!!! Congratulations Paul and Louse et al al al!!!!

The Power of Friendship

heidi08 Educational, Friends of Martinez Beavers, Who's saving beavers now? November 23, 2016

Jeanette is a grand-hearted PGE employee who saw Jari Osborne’s Nature documentary on beavers and contacted me a few years back asking how to help. Since then she has been a regular volunteer at our festivals, as you can see here pictured with her niece getting into the spirit (Jeanette’s on the right). Even though she lives all the way in Auburn (the beaver killing capital of the state) she has family in Pinole and that meant she could be local enough to help out from time to time. It also meant she could attend my talk at SARSAS and get excited about the beaver/salmon connection.

Last year Jeanette worked on a prize wheel idea for the membership booth and was able to get the project accepted under the matching funds program for the company. Which meant that yesterday donations to Worth A Dam arrived from both PGE and Jeanette, which is pretty dam wonderful when you think about it.

(Also kind of full-circle considering my father started work for the company as an oiler in Oakland a million years ago and worked his way up to a shift foreman in many river plants before retiring as general manager of operations from the downtown San Francisco office. It was my father with whom I first saw the Martinez beavers, and who brought me to the Martinez plant once as a child: I remember we shared half a sandwich and some pea soup from his black lunchbox in the noisy powerplant before checking the screens to pull up the only eel I have ever seen. And it was my father who arranged for the newly emigrated Jon to have a job interview when no one else wanted to hire an ‘alien’.)

So you can imagine how happy I was when Jeanette forwarded this from a foreman in Sacramento who knows of Jeanette’s love of beavers:

Ho ho ho! Since a power pole is treated with nasty chemicals to make it resistant to termites and other invaders, we’re hoping this beaver didn’t swallow at all as he sharpened his precious teeth. But I treasure this photo and its sender. Jeanette is a genuine beaver blessing.

And Dad, wherever you are, this one’s for you!

Actual Help vs Hired Help

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Educational, Environmental, Who's saving beavers now? November 22, 2016

Glastonbury Connecticut was settled in 1693 with just 13 families in Pyaug on the eastern bank of the CT river, making it one of the oldest municipalities in the country. Just in time for Thanksgiving it really was obtained by negotiation the local tribes and the purchased for just 12 yards of trade cloth. (I’m sure it was worth every penny!)

Glastonbury very kindly offers us this story in time for Thursday’s offerings.

Beavers Block Glastonbury Plan To Drawdown Blackledge River Pond

Beavers 1, Town of Glastonbury 0.

Last month, the conservation commission approved a plan by the town to empty Blackledge River pond. The town had hired Milone and MacBroom, a Cheshire engineering firm, to create a plan to remove the 19th-century dam and reconstruct the river directly east of Blackldge Falls Park.

Only one problem. The beavers that call the pond home had other ideas.

According to Daniel A. Pennington, director of physical services/town engineer, beavers have not only added a layer of sticks, branches and mud to the top of the dam to raise the pond’s water level an additional 6-8 inches, the rodents have also plugged up a release value with the same material making it too difficult for the town to release the water. The town threw up the white flag.

“The beavers have won this battle,” Pennington said.

Ha! The beavers may have won this battle but not the war, because I dare say you’ll be back in the spring and to trap them out. I mean why let some beavers restore a creek naturally when you can pay experts millions of dollars to do it for you?

The town is removing the dam to help migratory fish species, including Atlantic salmon, sea lamprey and American eel navigate more than two miles of habitat up the Blackledge to the Gay City State Park dam. The Blackledge winds through Hebron, Glastonbury and Marlborough before linking with the Jeremy River. The two waterways form the Salmon River in Colchester which flows into the Connecticut River in East Haddam.

The town has a deadline of June 30, 2018, to remove the dam. It is estimated the removal and restoration work will cost $1.2 million.

Well, readers of this website all know about the relationship between beavers and salmon, but I thought I’d do a little reading up on the lamprey which I’m less familiar with. Turns out beaver friend Duane Nash of Southland Beaver has a whole column about their important connection, so I’ll let him take it from here.
Lamprey may be so important that their continued survival may be pivotal to the health of salmon fisheries. How is that so? you might be asking They parasitize and sometimes kill salmonids?

Turns out the lamprey youngsters, which are called ammocoetes, are not parasitic at all. In fact they do not even eat flesh- they filter the water, cleaning up algae, detritus and other bits from the water – and also burrow into the substrate. For these reasons they are often dubbed the earthworms of the river.

At this stage, which may last 7 years, ammocoetes serve as food for a number of critters- especially salmonids. There are loads of examples of steelhead stomachs being found just crammed with these guys. So although later they parasitize salmon, for the majority of their life they serve as food for them. And through their filter feeding abilities they promote cleaner, and therefore more well oxygenated environments that we all know salmonids love.

And now let us all tie it all back together with the beaver. From the USFW page on lamprey: Shortly after hatching in freshwater streams, lamprey larvae or ammocoetes drift downstream into areas of low velocity and fine substrates where they burrow, and live as filter feeders for up to 7 years. Hmmmm….. low velocity and fine substrates….. where might we find such habitat? Does anyone know of certain buck-toothed rodent that might actually create such habitats?

Thanks Duane! Someone tell the selectmen of Glastonbury that this beaver dam is already doing more to help the lamprey and salmonids than anything Milone and MacBroom is going to excavate or construct. Not to mention all the life you will destroy or displace by draining the creek. Every place you allow beavers to settle they will architect slower, more complex streams that help fish and restore the ecological conditions you once enjoyed.

Plus they work for free. I’m pretty sure you can think of somewhere else to use that 1.2 million. Right?

Another Origin Story…

heidi08 City Reports, Creative Solutions, Educational, Friends of Martinez Beavers, History, Who's saving beavers now? November 19, 2016

I am hard at work on the newsletter for our tenth anniversary, and I spent most of yesterday writing the origin story of Worth A Dam. As nothing else seems to be happening in the beaver world at the moment, I thought you might enjoy it.

It was certainly unusual to have beavers in the middle of town, as our city suddenly did in 2007. Maybe if nothing else had happened that’s all it would have been; a passing interest that eventually – passed. But when the city announced that flat-tailed residents would have to be eliminated people started talking: to their neighbors, to each other, to their representatives, and to the media.

Eventually the city was forced to hold a meeting to discuss the beavers’ fate. There were too many people interested to fit into city hall and the forum was moved to the High School Auditorium. Some 200 people showed up – coming from uptown, downtown, and out-of-town. There were representatives from the Sierra Club, the Human Society, local news and a documentary filmmaker. The vast majority overwhelmingly demanded that the city solve the flooding risk without harming the beavers.

Faced with such vocal public support, the city council agreed to form a subcommittee to study the issue further. I was thrilled to be invited aboard the task force which consisted of council members, creek professionals, beaver supporters and concerned property owners. We had 90 days to address the pros and cons of possibly living with beavers in an urban stream. We quickly recommended hiring Skip Lisle to install a flow device that would prevent possible flooding.

The success of that first big meeting originally left me with euphoric hopes for a positive outcome. I was surprised to learn that even after we succeeded in persuading the city to hire Skip and even though his device worked entirely as promised, there was still uncertainty about the beavers fate. Addressing the real (and imagined) concerns in the subcommittee soon made me realize that the fight was a long way from over. It was Skip Lisle who initially suggested that a nonprofit might be necessary to advocate for the beavers and direct funding over time. After watching the acrimony of those meetings even after flooding was averted with his help, I could see he was right.

In choosing a name for the organization I remember thinking that the struggle was too bitter for something benign like “Friends of Martinez Beavers” or “Wildlife Protectors”. It seemed the name needed to be something snappy with a little feisty backbone to get us thru the long struggle that lie ahead.

Thus “Worth A Dam” was born.

And the rest, as they say, is history.