Category: Educational

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.

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.

Good News for Beavers

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Educational, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers, Who's saving beavers now? March 5, 2016

Great News! We have a date! The beaver mural is finally on the city council agenda for 7:00 April 6! That means that only 6 months after I originally met with the artist and proposed the idea we can find out if its possible! Any and all supporters who want to come should attend because it would help to show public interest in the project. Mario’s coming by next week with his latest edits of a fish and a frog in the two birds mouth, and I’m starting to feel like this can actually happen.

More great news! Another beautiful article from naturalist Patti Smith in the Battleboro reformer. You may remember her as the author of “The Beavers of Popples Pond“. Her writing style is so calmly affirming I love to read about her beaver visits. They are nothing like the train-whistle blowing, swearing homeless-drinking visits we enjoyed in Martinez. But ohhh they’re nice to read.

*The Beavers of Poppels Pond: Patti Smith*

The View from Heifer Hill: A tough break for the beavers

In the middle of January I gave up on waiting for snow and set out on foot to check on the beavers. I had not been to the pond since late November, but felt optimistic that the old one-eyed Willow and her new mate would be doing well; on my last visit I found that the two had built a small lodge and had quite a fine cache of branches piled up outside their door in the pond — their food supply for the winter. Their lodge still needed some work, but they had plenty of warm weather and open water in December to finish sealing things up.

Willow and her suitor had moved to this downstream location last summer and patched up the large hole Tropical Storm Irene had blasted through an old dam. Behind their repairs arose a fine pond, perfectly acceptable habitat for a pair of beavers. I arrived on that January day expecting to find the beavers tucked into their lodge and living beneath the ice, instead I found their pond was gone — the dam had broken in one of the heavy rain events of this weird winter.

Woebegone, I walked upstream to the lodge. The entrance was well above water, fully accessible to predators and therefore no longer suitable for beavers. Their food supply sat like an untidy haystack in the middle of the brook, most of it above the level of the water. Beavers prepare for such emergencies by making bank lodges, simple burrows dug into the bank of a pond. I suspected these beavers had moved into a bank lodge in a small pond just upstream. I could see a few openings in the ice above the intact dam of this pond, and from one of these a slide led down the face of the dam into a plunge hole in the ice at the base. Dusk settled — time for the beavers to become active. Sure enough, a beaver’s head appeared in the water above the dam. I said hello to Willow. She climbed onto the dam and slid down into the beaver-sized hole below. She reappeared downstream at the old food cache and came up through the ice for an apple. She appeared as calm and unruffled as usual. She had not seen the weather forecast — a deep cold would seal the ice on their pond within a few days. She and her mate would have no longer have access to their food supply.

Oh NO! A destroyed dam, exposed lodge and a food supply gone to waste! Poor Willow! How will she manage all winter long without food?

Since then, I have been keeping an eye on the weather for her. Whenever the beavers exit holes freeze, friends and I have hauled a sled load of poplar and beech to the pond, whacked a hole in the ice with a maul, and shoved the beaver food into the water. Our altruism has been doubly rewarded; not only do we suspect how welcome our deliveries are to the hungry beavers, but this wild stream valley is especially beautiful in winter. We have never seen the beavers on these delivery missions, but our offerings always disappear within a few days.

I wish that everywhere there was a beaver there was a Patti Smith to look out for it. This article gives me immense joy and the ending of it is worth reading. I won’t tell you what happens because you should go read it for yourself here. Robert Browning’s Pippa Passes offers a clue.

God’s in His heaven
All’s right with the world!

The results of a Trickledown Economy that works!

heidi08 Educational, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers March 3, 2016

More great coverage of the otter recovery out of Sonoma. Humans are happily taking credit for restoring the streams and improving their fish, but I’m guessing they had some other flat-tailed helpers along the way. Great photo from beaver friend Tom Reynolds too.

River otters coming back to Sonoma County

Winter rains have swollen streams and rivers, recharging groundwater, filling ponds and lakes, and making more visible the network of waterways that traverse Sonoma County. One species that makes good use of this aquatic web is the river otter. Have you seen a river otter recently? If so, you’re one of a growing number because river otters are on the comeback.

The Bay Area is seeing a rebound in river otter populations. Experts speculate that this is a testimony to many overlapping efforts to improve water quality and restore habitat. Megan Isadore of the River Otter Ecology Project says, “The most amazing thing about the otters’ return is they have done it completely on their own. There have been no efforts to reintroduce otters. What we are seeing is the response of the species to improved conditions.”

This time of year, female otters are denning and having pups. Maternal dens can be under large fallen trees or even inside old beaver dams. Each female gives birth to between one and four pups and then, shortly after, will breed with a male in preparation for the following winter. One amazing fact is that females experience “delayed implantation,” harboring fertilized eggs and then keeping the pregnancy dormant for up to 10 months.

Most young otters live with their moms for at least a year, with females often staying to act as helpers with the new pups. Young adult males leave after a year and strike out on their own to find and establish their own territory. Otter observations are often made during the February through March time frame as these disbursing juveniles take chances crossing subdivisions, ridges, roads and farm fields in search of a new and abundant source of fish.

Otters have benefited from on-the-ground habitat improvements and from the evolution of environmental policy. In 1961, California outlawed commercial otter trapping. Otters were trapped for two reasons: to sell their rich, thick pelts to the garment industry and sometimes to protect localized fish populations. Otters have large home ranges and are constantly on the move, so large scale fish populations remain intact even if individual fishing holes get temporarily depleted.

Another policy assist came from the 1972 passage of the Clean Water Act. This ushered in a generation of investments in cleaning the bay and eliminating many sources of industrial and agricultural pollution. Like bald eagles and peregrine falcons, otters illustrate that policy decisions do matter, and that we can repair degraded environments. As recently as 1995, state maps did not even show Marin and Sonoma counties as part of the river otter’s range. Today, scientists confirm that otters occupy much of their former Bay Area territory.

We’ve all benefited from the evolution of environmental policy, that’s for sure. But I’m also thinking that the recovery of another mammal who actually happens to make the water cleaner and increase the fish population might have helped a little too. (Ahem). Congratulations to Meghan Isadore and her merry band of Otter Spotters at the River Otter Ecology Project. We’re always happy when creeks draw human eyes!

Here’s a lovely promotional message from an otter himself demonstrating who he believes has helped his survival. Just look at the shapes he is posing under for a clue about who he thinks helped him most. This video by Moses Silva on Valentine’s day a few years ago shows an otter grooming atop the old beaver lodge.

Although, if otter trapping has really been outlawed 55 years in this state I’d be cautious about how much promotion of their “healthy recovery” I’d want to do in the media. Just sayin’. The nearly extinguished beaver population was protected for all of around 11 years and they decided the population had rebounded enough to restore trapping. River otters have been spared in California for more than half a century!

Ixnay on the opulation-pay evovery-ray is my advice.