Category: Educational

What’s it like where you are?

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Educational, Environmental, Who's blaming beavers now? February 21, 2016

I spent yesterday working on the application for our mural grant, which I am fairly happy with. Then I was amused to see this headline out of Connecticut:

Canton Public Works Department Keeps An Eye On Beaver Dams

CANTON — The public works department has gotten permission to lower or even remove beaver dams in town as it keeps an eye on a few that could cause flooding and other problems.

Public Works Director Robert Martin said his staff regularly monitors beaver dams in town. In anticipation of having to work on a few of them, the department sought permission from the inland wetlands agency earlier this month. That permit was granted for five years with the condition that heavy machinery not be used.

“We have a pretty good idea of where these dams are and their impact on town and private property,” Martin said.

Chris Vann, a wildlife biologist for the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said that agency routinely gets inquiries from municipalities on how best to deal with beaver dams.

“Beavers have been one of our most dealt-with species in the last 20 years,” Vann said. He said the state has a healthy population of beavers, estimated recently to be as many as 8,000.

Permission to lower and EVEN remove the dams? Um. I’m kind of loving Connecticut at the moment. Here in you-know-where the permission public works gets is a little more dire. I’m impressed the department of Energy and Enviornmental Protection has a population estimate though (Who on earth would combine those two departments? Someone who works for the power companies I guess.) Mr. Vann quotes a healthy population of 8000 – Gimme a sec and let me just do some math…

Wikipedia says CT is 5,543 square miles of which 12% are water – that makes around 698 square miles of water. A beaver population of 8000 spread around that would mean nearly 12 beavers per square mile. Which is a lot, if it’s true.

I’m not holding my breath.

Breaching a dam is one option but removing it entirely is often necessary and in some cases problem beavers have to be trapped and removed.

Vann said monitoring beaver activity is a continuous process for towns.

“They are persistent,” he said. “Beavers will use available habitat and towns repeatedly have to go back and remove dams.”

Martin said the town has worked on beaver dams before. One was removed near High Valley Drive that threatened to flood the road. He said he decided to seek a permit from the wetlands board after talking to Town Planner Neil Pade about the work that might have to be done.

“We knew this work would be in a regulated area,” Martin said. “We want to respect the wetlands board and for them to understand what we are doing.”

Oh those darned pesky ‘problem beavers’. Everyone seems to have a lot of those.

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One exciting part of the conversation on Friday was an invitation for me to come to Portland and present to the Wetlands Conservancy and the public about our work here in Martinez. They have the enviable problem where the scientists and officials all want urban beavers and the public aren’t so sure. They would have me present here on a friday evening and saturday morning do a meeting with the interested officials or science folk, which sounds really fun. I hadn’t heard of the Oregon Public House before (even though it made enough of a splash to be talked about in the NYT and Colbert report) but it has a big community ball room where I’d present and TWC will be one of their nonprofits in May so it might work out perfect.

So very Portland.

Speaking of generosity, the plates donation arrived yesterday from Sarah Melancon of the Thirdhalf Studios, Kitchen Beaver. They are so delightful. Thank you so much Sarah! I’m suddenly overwhelmed with an undeniable need for Sunday pancakes.

Do you think it would be too hard for Jon to make them in the shape of tails?

“She Sure Shot down the Sheet!”

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental February 20, 2016

So yesterday was another long meeting for the urban beaver paper that is squeezing past its deadline. We are mostly assembled with some tweaks and shuffles, and I am happy many Heidi remarks will remain, at least for consideration by the big wigs at NOAA. I was told that my section with painstaking references to news articles (and assembling those references was such a pain I cannot describe) may not survive as they are considered “Grey Literature” and unworthy in a scientific paper.

Grey Literature is written for the general public (Like this website) and not subject to peer review (Like this website). News articles are Grey Literature, even though if the thing you’re talking about is the fact that the issue was reported in the NEWS I don’t see how much more valid a reference could be.

Anyway, one exciting part of the conversation was about this reference from the Portugal et al 2015 article from the beaver management plan they prepared for Walmart. I loved SO MUCH of that article I never really got around to thinking about this part, which they had recommended cities try using in the strategy section.

Alright, I know not everybody took the time to read that so basically it advises that if you notch the dam to lower the water level and want to keep beavers from rebuilding it you can thwart them by hanging a sheet from fence posts so it flaps in the wind and scares the beavers sooo much they don’t rebuild the dam. Apparently it was recommended by a trapper who, oddly enough, happens to have family in Martinez, which is a strange coincidence but not part of the story.

I read it and felt a host of responses. First customary shame that I wasn’t informed about this wonderfully proven new technique, then wait-a-minute scrutiny as I narrowed my eyes and read it more closely, then doubt when I thought of our beavers getting used to trains and garbage trucks, then frank disbelief, as I picked up the phone and asked Mike Callahan what he thought.

Consider this an illustration of his response.Suffice it to say our opinions were well matched and I marched into the conference call and said for goodness sake, if my newspaper references were going to be thrown out as “grey literature” then the un-researched bed sheet notion should be hung out to dry too. Beavers habituate to noise, light, people and even linen. They would figure out how to get around it, or rip it down and use it in their dam. Eventually I succeeded in making it sound so ridiculous they were chagrined and agreed with me too.

So, just remember, out of all the many things I failed out and failed to do, change the world, change Martinez, implement a national beaver holiday, I at least bravely succeeded at shooting down the sheet.

And that’s something to be proud of.

The beaver study heard round the world

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Educational, Environmental, Who's saving beavers now? February 17, 2016

The news is quite catching, you see, like a cough
It just takes one news to start other news off
Right now on the covers of seven more papers
Great news are in blossom! They’re rising like vapors.

A paraphrase of Dr Seuss’ Sleep book.

The unhappy BBC did its job. Despite their mealy mouthed un-coverage of the quaint Stirling ‘study’ they set off a host of reports yesterday and today around the science-reporting world. I must have received 5 emails telling me that they were in “Science Daily“, or “The National” and finally our good friends at Phys.org. Or as we’ve come to think of them….

Beavers bring environmental benefits

A study into the ecology and habitat engineering of beavers reintroduced to a site on I fTayside in 2002 has found the creatures can improve biodiversity, minimise pollutants and reduce downstream flooding.

Examining head water streams which drain water from 13 hectares of Scottish countryside, scientists compared areas where beavers had been active with areas in which they were absent. The study formed part of a programme of research at this site by Stirling scientists that has been ongoing since 2003.

Leading the research Dr Nigel Willby of the School of Natural Sciences, said: “Our study found that beaver behaviours have several benefits for the environment. Their dam building skills help restore degraded streams and increase the complexity of the surrounding habitat, consequently increasing the number of species found by 28 per cent. The dams also help improve pollutant levels and store flood water.”

I for one, am shocked, SHOCKED! I tell you, to find that beavers perform a similar function in a narrow patch of southern England as they do in all of Europe and North America! I ask you, what’s next? Will you expect me to believe that gravity functions similarly around the globe? Or that light travels at the same speed no matter what country you’re in? Here’s a photo of that radical beaver conspiracy theorist and an interview from today’s “Good morning Scotland”.

Favorite question: Is biodiversity always a good thing?

Last night’s presentation was well received I think, and folks were positive about the mural. Just got word that the PRMCC voted to approve the project and send it for review by the city council. Hurray! Mario came with his updated painting including a chewed tree and a beautiful green heron. Really exciting to see how this comes together. If you want to watch the presentation (and happen to have powerpoints on your computer) click on the photo below. I tried embedding it on slideshare but it lost all my animation, so I’ve given up on that idea. The average ppt presentation uses about a pinky fingernail size of what the program is capable of – so folks looked pretty impressed last night.

Some beaver-love for Valentine’s day

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beaver Chewing, Beavers and Birds, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Educational, Environmental, Who's saving beavers now? February 14, 2016

Great news this morning in the Guardian, who happily picked up the Devon story. You will like every part of it, so I recommend reading the entire thing yourself. It starts with Dr. Brazier surveying the ‘damage’. Enjoy!

Beavers at work … Devon dwellers reveal their flair for fighting floods

The devastation is part of a scheme that backers hope will provide a template for a more balanced approach to flood prevention. The government is spending £3.2bn on flood management in the course of this parliament. As flood events such as those seen in Cumbria at the end of last year become more common, so attention has turned to flood management, with a call for resources to be allocated not to building flood defences to deal with the water when it arrives downstream but prevent it getting there at all.

The beavers resident on the three hectares of woodland near Okehampton in Devon could be part of the solution. In the five years since they moved there, they have toppled trees, gnawed bark, dug channels, constructed dams and made a rather impressive home for themselves.

“Prior to working with beavers we’d never really come across animals that would disrupt your work so much,” says Brazier, a hydrologist at the University of Exeter, as he surveys the tangle of branches and tree trunks.

But there is hope, too. New shoots are sprouting from the felled willows and a closer inspection reveals that beneath the devastation lies further evidence of new life promoted by the beavers’ work. “They are a keystone species who are obviously engineering the environment to their own benefit,” says Brazier. “But what’s interesting is all the other benefits.”

The Devon project targets three key indicators: water storage, flood attenuation and water quality. The beavers are, they believe, helping in all three. The 13 dams they have built along the 150 metres stretch of water have increased water storage capacity, evened out the flow of water and improved the quality of the water that emerges from the dams.

Oh its good when science evaluates beavers. Because even when the scientists don’t like us the results are ALWAYS our friends. I can’t imagine another incidence of a three hectare study getting reported in the Guardian, but I’m very happy England has had 500 years to get surprised by things they used to see every day. I especially loved this section.

Mark Elliott, who leads the beaver project for the Devon Wildlife Trust, pulls a large stone from the water. On the underside, a small community of grubs and larvae writhe and squirm: they are caddisflies and mayflies. “What’s happened here is transformational,” he says. “You have this incredibly complex mosaic of a transitional, dynamic habitat. There’s now a complex braided stream providing a habitat for orchids, watermint, bog pimpernel, herons, kingfishers, water beetles and damselflies. Five years ago when we started out, we didn’t know where we were going to get.”

They’re called ecosystem engineers for a reason! You could have asked me what you were going to get and I would have told you. But it’s better for the news cycle if you’re surprised and think you’re the first one who discovered this. Well done! There is only one section I enjoyed more – and I’m assuming that’s a valentine gift especially for me.

Perhaps the most common misconception about beavers is that they will eat all the fish in the newly clean rivers, a charge repeated by Labour MP Mary Creagh during a select committee hearing into the government’s response to flooding. It was pointed out that beavers are actually herbivores.

Honestly, go read the whole thing, and send it to your PTA or uncle. It’s worth sharing. And because it’s a very special day, I made us this.

Another chapter in our beaver tale

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, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Educational, Who's saving beavers now? February 11, 2016

Having trouble deciding what to read at night? I might have just found an answer. This imminently published book covers the exciting return of beavers to the Detroit River. It’s lovely writing and illustrations are aimed at children 8-12 but you can bet I’ll be reading my copy avidly and telling you all about it here, at beaver central. I’m attaching the publishers pdf which you can read or download for more details.

And yes. Let’s hear it for the beavers.

Wykes_one-sheet_KS-2

There’s a nice article about our Idaho beaver friends recent beaver count, but I’m sure you’ll agree that the choice of photo is a little inappropriate:

Oof! I wrote Debbie and the paper when this came out but I’m there haven’t been changes. Never mind, lets focus on the words which are wonderful!

“Helping the Portneuf River watershed, one beaver at a time” is the motto of the Watershed Guardians, whose annual BeaverCount on Mink and Dempsey creeks last weekend was part of that effort.

The beaver count is a volunteer effort organized by Watershed Guardians. And the results from the annual census will influence how many trapping permits are issued for beaver on Mink Creek, Dempsey Creek and other streams within the Portneuf River watershed, said Mike Settell, the group’s director.

Several Scout troops and students from Idaho State University’s Outdoor Leadership program took part in the annual count on Saturday, along with 32 volunteer surveyors known as “Flat-tailers.”

During the annual count, volunteers recorded beaver scat, tracks, and slides, which indicate that the animals still occupy ponds on Mink Creek and other areas.

Currently in its fifth year, data collected during the count will be shared at open house events for the public, federal agencies, and Idaho Fish and Game, said Settell, who’s an environmental engineer. The findings will also be presented at the “State of the Beaver” conference in Canyonville, Oregon.

Settell said the number of trapping permits issued for beaver on the Main and the South forks of Mink Creek has been reduced from 10 to five animals, and trapping on the East and West forks was suspended for an additional two years.

Beaver are the original watershed guardians, Settell said. The indigenous animals play a crucial role in flood control, recharging the ground water supply and creating habitat in a pond-wetland-stream ecosystem.

“Along the Portneuf, beaver create habitat for every species from frogs to moose,” Settell said. “This year we’re also looking at fisheries, as well. And streams that have beaver activity typically have more and larger native species of fish, such as the Yellowstone cutthroat trout.”

Meanwhile, a lack of beaver activity leads to an increase in sediment and a greater chance of peak flood-damage downstream.

Settell said Watershed Guardians operates through volunteers and by donations. The mission of the group is to raise awareness about the crucial role that beavers play in maintaining wildlife habitat and water quality within the Portneuf River watershed.

Love that mission. Great work Mike and Team Mike! I’m so happy to have your voice for beavers on the good side. In the past couple years Mike has even undertaken a beaver musical festival known as the “Beaver dam Jam”, and I couldn’t be more thrilled with their many successes. Idaho is one place where sport trapping is still more common than depredation – so its a big deal that folks are looking out for beavers.

Our mural meeting went very well yesterday, we have been approved by the art committee and assuming they have a quorum next week we are on the schedule to present at the PRMCC on Tuesday. Artist Mario Alfaro showed up with a canvas of his latest efforts, and we were all very impressed. Click twice to see a bigger version.

This artwork really focuses on our natural color scheme and boasts an egret and a turtle! Love the many beavers, and very happy to see the children in the stand of trees near the dam. So familiar! I’m thinking this will look amazing on the bridge.