Category: Educational

Could this be the news beavers have been waiting for?

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, Environmental, What's killing beavers now?, Who's blaming beavers now? January 16, 2016

Fish and Game upheaval reveals shift in California wildlife policy

The sudden resignation of the most adamant defender of hunting and fishing on the California Fish and Game Commission could put the finishing touches on a sweeping philosophical shift in the way the state views wildlife, sets rules for fishing and controls predators like mountain lions and wolves.

Commissioner Jim Kellogg retired in late December in frustration over what he termed a lack of consideration for the sportsmen and women he represents. The resignation — combined with the unrelated recent departures of commission President Jack Baylis and Sonke Mastrup, the commission’s executive director — sets the stage for Gov. Jerry Brown to appoint conservationists to the increasingly pivotal state board.

Such a move may, observers say, complete the transformation of the commission from an organization that advocates for fishing and hunting to one that safeguards endangered species, preserves habitat and protects California’s top predators from slaughter.

The five-member commission, whose job is to recommend policies to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, has been wading through divisive issues that could profoundly impact the future of the state, including what to do about diminishing salmon populations, sick sea lions and disappearing sea otters.

“I’m leaving pretty much out of frustration,” Kellogg said in an interview. He had been on the board for 14 years when he retired Dec. 31, the longest-serving member of the commission.

“I’m just tired of being the only one fighting the fight for the hunters and fishers,” he said. “The first 12 years I won most of the battles, and the last couple of years I lost almost every battle.”

Poor Mr. Kellogg. As he said, he used to win most arguments just by showing up. And now with all these darned conservationists at the table he actually has to TRY and use facts and stuff. No wonder he’s quitting.

Why aren’t “Sportsmen” better sports?

And before you say that I’m being unfair to a breakfast cereal, remember that we in Martinez have a very fond remembrance f0r the man. Way back in the day the beavers were first slated for killing, the mayor negotiated a special deal with Mr. Kellogg that would allow two of the six beavers to be relocated, and after a short quarantine period, re-homed on tribal hand in Plumas county. Of course the other 4 would have to be killed, but hey, the man threw us a bone!

(Well, you may remember that on November 7, 2007 Martinez emphatically decided not to be boned. They said pretty definitively they didn’t want to kill their beavers, or save a few. They wanted to keep them ALL. And the rest, as they say, is history.)

Now back to our story, apparently the renamed CDFG is going through an identity crisis. They even hired a black man [horrors!] for the first time in 145 years! Imagine the confusion changing their name caused in 2012. All I can say is that it couldn’t happen to a nicer bully.

But it was the resignation of Kellogg, who often teamed up with Sutton and Richards, that was viewed by many as the end of the line for the hunting and fishing coalition on the commission.

The changes on the commission are an illustration of a statewide phenomenon. Californians, more than ever, regard wildlife, including apex predators, as a valuable part of the ecosystem instead of as food or vermin.

Chuck Bonham, the director of the Department of Fish and Wildlife, says he is committed to embracing science-based wildlife and ecosystem management while preserving the history and traditions associated with hunting and fishing.

Clearly, though, there has been a movement away from those traditions. The transformation became vivid in 2012 when then-Assemblyman Jared Huffman of San Rafael, who has since been elected to Congress, introduced a bill to change the name of the department that has managed fishing and hunting in California since 1872 from “Fish and Game” to “Fish and Wildlife.”

The bill passed in 2013 despite opposition from hunters, who saw it as a signal that game animals would soon be made off-limits. The commission itself, however, maintained the “Fish and Game” moniker despite lobbying by environmental groups to change the names of both the commission and the department it serves.

Hmm, I wonder who will replace Kellogg on that commission? I have some suggestions if you need any. In the meantime we should be cautiously optimistic that this, and the pressure to save salmon, will nudge something in the beaver’s favor. It’s a new world, baby. Where bobcat hunting is outlawed and people have to actually crack open those old ecology texts to figure out what words like “Apex predators” and “Keystone species” actually mean.

Given the week we all had, this song is perfect for the occasion.

Beasts of the Field – The Builders

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers elsewhere, Educational, Environmental, History, Who's saving beavers now? January 15, 2016

Ooh Santa came an extra time this year, and lovingly scanned “The Builders” chapter for my reading pleasure. Turns out he needn’t have gone through the trouble because the entire book, including its charming illustrations in the margins, is online and searchable here.

The author was a minister in Connecticut in the last 1800’s who would journey every winter to the “Wilds of Maine” and report on his findings. His chapter on beavers is appropriately called “The Builders”.

Of course I’m interested in the subject, but I’m even more intrigued by any man who stops what he’s doing and actually watches beavers work over time. I love his descriptions of family members, dams selected, and especially work gone astray. Read this.

The notion that beavers make mistakes and LEARN from those mistakes is entirely supported by our observations in Martinez. We’ve seen badly executed dams become intelligent dams over time and over night. And it’s certainly true what they say, no one is born an expert.

I’m trying to give you enough of a feel for his observations that you’ll be tempted to go read them yourself, because its truly worth doing. I especially enjoyed his discussion of the opinions of lodge-building beaver vs bank-dwelling beaver. At the time, the native belief was that the bank dwelling beaver was lazy and driven out by his family for never doing any work. The white theory more charitably ascribed his oddities to the fact that he hadn’t yet found a mate, and was living like a bachelor. Mr. Long himself had a third theory, that bank burrowing beavers “lacked the normal instincts” of their kind and were examples of the exception proving the rule.

Of course we know they are all wrong. Because the Martinez Beavers DID twice build a lodge. And did three times raise a family without a lodge. And seemed to possess every other instinct a beaver might rightly claim. Dr. Duncan Haley of Norway believes beavers prefer to live in large rivers where dams and lodges can’t exist, and that only an increase in population drives them towards the smaller streams where they have to work for a living.

But I disagree. I think beavers make individual choices and as a rule do only as much work as they need to get by. If they can get by without a lodge, they will. And if they need to build one to keep their family safe, they can. What do you think? I think at the time he wrote this the fur trade had already altered the habits of the few remaining beavers. And he should have visited Martinez.

So with Robin’s valiant labor we have compiled complete records of beaver depredation between for 2013 and 2014. Seeing them in print doesn’t make me any happier. Let’s home 2015 records show some improvements.

Give us our dam rights already!

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers and Birds, Educational, Environmental January 14, 2016

Seems like some folks who lost their beavers want to keep their dam, and the city is raising a fuss about it. We read about this case back in 2012 when they were enjoying beavers and birds. Apparently back when the beavers were in residence they installed a flow device – as this is MA I’m assuming Mike Callahan did it. Now that the beavers are gone they removed the pipe and ripped out the fence, just like in Martinez.

Battle over beaver-built bog

The beavers are gone but their handiwork remains, remnants of a dam and the pond that formed behind it.

A lingering dispute remains, as well — opposition over the pond and changed state of the wetlands.

Jane Axelrod and Roy Dobbelaar, 8 Moreland, want the ponded wetlands to remain.

Over the past decade they have watched from their home and yard as nature has flourished with rising water levels, attracting waterfowl, wildlife and songbirds.

Others in the area of Great Heron Place, Orchard Street and Moreland Avenue, as well as the Conservation Commission want nature to run its course, without human hands hastening or slowing that course.

In December, the Conservation Commission director sent a letter to abutters in the neighborhood stating the pond had been dammed up recently, and not by beaver, and the Commission considers it an act of vandalism.

“A local beaver expert confirmed that the structure was not built by beavers, and is comprised of heavy boulders and gravel, not mud and sticks typical of beavers,” the letter states.

Yes, as we well know beavers NEVER build with rocks. And getting things ‘back to nature’ means hiring humans to rip out the dam, didn’t you realize? I’m not sure what will happen in this madness, but if they can drag this out a bit some new disperser might see the pond and settle in on his own. I’m sure starting with a dam is easier on the beaver!

Douglas said that typically, beaver will leave an area after their food source is depleted and, after they leave, the dam will disintegrate, water levels recede and the area reverts to its pre-beaver state until a new set of beaver move in and the cycle begins anew, he said.

Conservation Commission members were surprised that the beaver dam didn’t disintegrate naturally over number of years after the beaver departed since it typically takes six months to a year for a beaver dam to disintegrate.

It was the Commission’s opinion that the dam was artificially maintained by humans, the director said.

Meanwhile, Dobbelaar said he does not know about anyone damming up the waterway with boulders. He said the beavers built their dam along an existing stonewall on the land.

Reading this makes me realize Martinez should be grateful that no one is rebuilding the dam here. Where is my thankyou note from the mayor? I spent yesterday going over beaver footage for Middlechild Productions upcoming beaver documentary in the UK. Watching our beavers made me so jealous or my earlier self who got to see such things whenever I liked. I’m getting tired of not having any beavers lately, and dreamed the other night that there was an email in my mailbox with the header “Martinez beavers spotted in parking lot”. In the dream I doubted very much they were back OR in a parking lot, but I rushed downtown anyway to see for myself.

Sigh.

A Fountain of Good News

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and Birds, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Beavers or Social Ambasadors, Creative Solutions, Educational, History, Who's saving beavers now? January 6, 2016

Do you remember when I first referred to Napatopia? I shared a little fairytale about this celebrated land where beavers were honored guests. It was one of my more fanciful and favored posts, and everyone (including me) thought I was exaggerating I’m sure.

Not anymore. Look what Robin found on the fountain when she strolled in the other direction for a change.

*Beaver on fountain mural – photo by Robin Ellison*

It appears on a glorious huge fountain fashioned out of a 20th century grain silo for the Napa River Inn. Designed by artist and Napa resident Alan Shepp, famous for his large scale public art and multimedia sculpture, this was his first mosaic. The shapes are glass rather than tile – making for stunning lighting at night.The whole thing tells the glorious and sometimes dark history of Napa and was finalized in December 2005, two years before beavers came to Martinez. In addition to donating 2 years of his life to this project, Mr. Shepp is also an avid flyfisher who made sure to add the wildlife he wanted to see back in the river.

Something tells me he’s going to be particularly happy about the Tulocay Beavers.

City’s past — both good and bad — explored in downtown mural

Finally, downtown Napa has a significant piece of public art.

It’s not a statue or another clock tower, but a riotous mosaic mural that captures the history of the Napa Valley in brilliantly colored vignettes, with an equal tribute to the Napa River’s flora and fauna.

The mural is part of a tall fountain built around an early 20th century grain silo. At night, the cascading water amplifies thousands of points of reflected light, creating a dazzling panorama worth braving the winter cold to see.

Two years in the making, the large mosaic mural was unveiled three weeks ago at Napa Mill on Main Street, serving as the centerpiece to Riverbend Plaza behind the Napa River Inn.

Within a few years, the plaza will be a key stop on the Napa River trail from Trancas Street south to Kennedy Park. With the new art installation, hikers and cyclists will have more to look at than the tulles.

My my my. I’m enormously impressed with this artistic vision and execution. And the free reign the artist was given to dive into the darkness even if others would rather see it forgotten. Another stark contrast to Martinez I guess, where one particular artist was even forbidden from adding a beaver.

Now who will be the first to share a selfie in a Worth A Dam shirt posing in front of that fountain?

Natures first green is Gold Medals

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beaver Chewing, Beavers and Birds, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Dispersal, Educational, Environmental January 4, 2016

Maybe you remember the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. Stephen Colbert sponsored a skating team and Lindsey Vonn became the first American woman to ever win the downhill Gold for a ski run that broke every record. Of course there was the usual Olympic Village built in an old industrial park which had once been a parking lot- it boasted wonders named FALSE CREEK and FALSE SEAWALL.

Well guess who’s back in False creek now?

Beaver resurfaces in Vancouver’s Olympic Village

A beaver, perhaps even two, have been spotted in Vancouver’s Olympic Village.
The iconic rodents have built a large dam in the man-made wetlands of False Creek.

“There’s two,” said Jeremy Murphy who lives in the area. “They hang out in the middle of the pond usually, back-to-back or cuddling a little bit, gnawing on everything they can find.”

It’s not the first time a beaver has called the area home. Two years ago, residents came across another beaver — possibly the same animal as the one seen recently.

A beaver was also seen in the summer of 2015.

I’m not so surprised that beavers are there. They really don’t care whether they’re living in a false creek with planted trees or an actual creek with generated trees. They’ll make do. Aside from the very foolish people trying to feed them bread, this story makes me smile. And lead me to something that made me smile VERY wide indeed.

An entire instagram page dedicated to URBAN BEAVERS.

Photos of lodges on city trails, beavers walking over concrete, I’m a kid in a candy store. Here is the one that terrified me though. Look to the far right front.
Well, we can’t know the fate of that brave little beaver, but I’m grateful that this Olympic beaver pointed me in his direction. I will definitely try to keep an eye on this now.

Sometimes the last few lines of a poem write everything else for you. I was happy to put this together yesterday. It started with the ‘how the west was watered’ line. And of course there’s only one word that rhymes with ‘watered’.