Category: Educational

Does HSI stand for “Having silly ideas”?

heidi08 Beavers, Educational, Environmental November 13, 2013

Problematizing Beaver Habitat Identification Models for Reintroduction Application in the Western United States

Jeff Baldwin Sonoma State University

Dr. Jeff Baldwin is assistant professor at Sonoma State and heads the Waters Collaborative there. He has been a long-time friend of Worth A Dam and is a student of Suzanne Fouty’s from way back in Oregon. He recently published an excellent paper in the Association of Pacific Coast Geologists on the inadequate way would-be beaver relocators currently assess where beavers could be transferred or HSI (Habitat Suitability Index). And guess what? It turns out that just because you get all scientific-sounding and apply acronyms to your ideas, they still might not be worth the paper they’re printed on!

Seems one of the problems isn’t that beavers chew trees or block roads, but that folks go through all the expense and trouble of moving them, even buildling them a little lodge they have to chew their way out of and when they come back to see how they’re doing they’re dead or gone. (And I’m looking at you Methow Project with a success rate of 50%!) Jeff concludes that factors like gradient slope and browse material might not be the most important considerations in where beavers can thrive.

Humans are not the only species that kill beaver. Bear, wolves, coyotes, and cougar/mountain lion are all natural predators of beaver, and in the Western U.S. the populations of each have been rebounding over the past few decades. These predators are particularly relevant to relocation efforts because beaver are most vulnerable to predation at times and in places when they do not have pooled water in which they can cover reasonably safely. In small streams this requires a natural pool, or a pool created by a beaver dam. Thus, the presence of human and nonhuman predators may have as much or more to do with beaver absence than any of the environmental attributes identified in HSIs.

As importantly, because the HSIs used for beaver relocation fail to include causes (human and other) of mortality and extirpation, their results are likely to continue to disappoint.

Yes because lots of things can’t wait to kill beavers. We know that in Martinez. Hey, I’ve got a great idea for deciding where beavers can live. Let them colonize the area on their own and move wherever the hell they want to! Teach every beaver relocator how to install a successful flow device instead and let the beavers settle where they chose and teach the people to adapt.

Am I Crazy?

Busy as a you-know-what…

heidi08 Educational, Friends of Martinez Beavers November 11, 2013

badges

On Saturday the excellent doggie day care program in Martinez (Bring Rover Over) hosted a “Earn an animal badge” event at their facility in town. Girl Scouts from Concord, Clayton, Martinez and Walnut Creek came to learn what they needed to know to earn their badge. There were folks teaching about oil spills, bunny care, making bat boxes, and of course WORTH A DAM to teach about beavers being a keystone species. Each troop rotated through each table so we had to repeat ourselves 5 times and let kids earn a beaver charm necklace by learning how beaver dams made a neighborhood.

Jon, Ron and Lory came along to help, and we were all surprised how tired we were at the end of the two hour day! As always it was a delight to hear children reporting back to me that beaver dams trap leaves and dirt to make rich soil that gets broken down by tiny bugs – (One child even said “microbes!”) which become food for little fish which get eaten by big fish which get eaten in turn by birds and mammals! I especially appreciated seeing their faces look horrified when I talked about people not being sure if the beavers should be trapped originally.

A favorite part was the thoughtful girl who responded to a standard riff that “today was one of the only days children could say the word dam a lot and not get in trouble” by gravely explaining to me that they were actually different words. The swear word was spelled “D-A-M-B“, didn’t I realize?

(But the B was silent.)

This got us ready for Thursday where I will be giving a beaver talk at the Oakland Zoo to keepers and caretakers there. Then beaver friend, and zoo keep Cindy Margulis will be giving us a special zoo tour and showing us amazing zoo things. You probably recognize her from the beaver festival! Oakland has plenty of places where beavers might move in so we might as well get them thinking about solutions and benefits.

Class reunion: Stand-outs and Drop-outs

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers elsewhere, Educational, Environmental, Who's Killing Beavers Now? November 4, 2013

Mary Willson: Curiosity-driven life

Mary Willson sets up a mist net during her work involving American Dippers. They banded caught birds and, over the course of their study, found that contrary to the results of a study conducted outside Alaska, male American Dippers in this environment play a role in nest sanitation.

Though it’s hard to pinpoint when she first became interested in ecology, she was always curious about the world. It was when she was in graduate school that she discovered instead of going to the library to look something up, she could go outside and find out for herself.

“The answer was not in the literature. It was essentially an unknown, and you could go and find it out. That’s very cool,” she said. After her first grad school course, “there was really no turning back.

If the name sounds familiar, it should. She is the friend of Bob Armstrong in Juneau that worked on the Mendenhall glacier treasure, which I still love leafing through. The pair also invited Mike Callahan come out, survey the area and to do a beaver management plan for the site in 2009 and lead a volunteer group in the meantime to keep removing dams so that no one needed to trap them. Looks like she’s still a believer.

Willson goes for regular walks with friends including Armstrong and Hocker, on which they usually find at least three or four really interesting things to explore, she said. She volunteers as a member of the informally-dubbed “beaver patrol,” which helps monitor beaver habitat and ensure dams don’t negatively affect trails or other wildlife around the Mendenhall Lake and Dredge Lake.

“The idea is that you don’t have to kill the beavers. They’re actually useful. We like them, but they make ponds that are very good for juvenile coho,” Willson said. The ponds also create habitat for ducks, sandpipers, warblers, and other birds.

Yes they do, Mary. Nicely put. You are the voice of nature in Juneau, was just met some folks who lived in Alaska and sang your praises. Keep preaching the beaver gospel and let us know if you ever need help.

And because this is OLD HOME week at beaver central, we might as well visit an old classmate that didn’t do as well.

Beavers return to Park at Riverwalk

In 2007, a beaver which destroyed several trees along the bike path received an outpouring of support from the community after California Department of Fish & Game officials issued a kill order. The issue received national attention and the kill order was later rescinded.

According to Bakersfield City Clerk Roberta Gafford, beavers have been spotted recently at The Park at River Walk .In a release, Gafford said that “staff is in the process of wrapping trees with green nylon fencing, and will continue to monitor tree damage.”

That’s right, the city that famously learned the hard way that orange netting to protect trees doesn’t work and looks silly has turned over a new leaf. After years of letters of phone calls from me personally, as well as countless others, they finally understand that killing beavers brings national controversy their way and they have learned the error of their ways. They fully understand why that netting failed last time.

It was the wrong color.

Beaver Farmer – Derek Gow (Devon, England)

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, Educational, Environmental October 30, 2013

Earthrise Al-Jazeera

I like this snippet of beaver wisdom as much as any I’ve ever seen. Very clear understanding of permaculture and the importance of beavers to water storage. Clear language about keystone species. An obvious explanation about why we should do better. And beavers kissing at the end. It gives me a feeling of inevitability about beavers in the UK.

Of course, Derek is a little rough on those poor beavers, picking them up by the tail (which Sherri says you should never do) but remember he’s a Cornish Farmer in a land that has treated beavers much worse. And he bungles the native American quote – I think it was probably a groovy ecologist in the 70’s who coined the term ‘Earth’s Kidneys”, because I’m pretty sure the tribal nations didn’t have autopsies or pathologists. Heck, we didn’t even know what kidneys did until the late 1700’s, so I doubt natives named a beaver based on its similar function.

He meant to say “Native Americans called them the Sacred Center.”

Which they are. But we understand. And beavers are on Al-Jazeera. This means we’re past the “ignoring” stage an onto the fight! (First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight with you. Then you win.) Nice work Derek! You and your very-cornish neighbor did a perfectly cast job explaining how beavers shape the landscape. Since Jon went to school in Cornwall he practically recognized both of you, and the Perryman family hails from just to the west in St. Austel, so I can tell we are going to be great friends. You are the perfect man for the job of bringing beavers back to England.

Beaver Creek Fire

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers elsewhere, Educational, Environmental October 28, 2013

Beaver restoration would reduce wildfires

By Ralph Maughan

More effective and less expensive than logging, beaver also provide fish, wildlife and flood control benefits.

After almost every large wildfire or fires that do significant damage to structures, people ask for proactive measures. One idea that is rarely mentioned is to keep the stream bottoms green and raise the humidity. How could this be done? Let’s restore beaver to the creeks of the Western United States. This is much less expensive than cutting out or clearing potential fuels. It also has significant fish and wildlife benefits. We can often add flood control too, plus the recharge of aquifers.

A string of beaver ponds up a drainage is like a permanent fire break. The ponds not only enlarge the area covered with water, more importantly, they increase the portion of the creek or streamside area (the riparian zone) that stays green all summer. They raise the ground water level. Beaver ponds also increase the humidity of air in the drainage. The result is fewer hours in a day when wildfires can burn hot and hard.

Well said, professor Maughan. We reviewed a column of his not too long ago, and I approached our Idaho beaver friend to see if they were acquainted. Not yet – was the answer. Dr. Maughan seems to be a new voice on the beaver stage. Road to Damascus moment? Or movement from active to emeritus professor changed the list of topics he could address? I’m going to guess the latter and keep pestering him with invitations to come to the State of the Beaver conference next year. You know the raging fires in Idaho burned through the famous Sun Valley and BEAVER CREEK right?

Idaho’s general attitude towards beavers is a ‘shoot first ask questions later’ policy. Not unlike the one reflected in this comic strip: Mark Trail by Jack Elrod. His lovely wildlife drawings have captured attention of readers for many years and his plots unfold over days or weeks. I encountered in the Sacramento Bee and my father would call me to make sure I read when an issue featured you-know-whats. In one chapter it followed the adventure of a young dispersing beaver, through danger, past crocodiles, back out of a trap, and into the whiskers of a new mate where they started their homestead. They thought their future was bright until the land owner reacted predictably:

It’s a comic strip remember so there are no hats or perfume are made on the pages. As it happens, a raging fire breaks out near the remote land and several adjacent structures go up in flames. The crew on hand is working valiantly to put out the blaze but it’s hard work with no water lines and a limited supply of pumping stations. Alert readers could guess what followed next.

Beaver ponds save the day again! Maybe Dr. Maughan reads this comic strip too?

Additional fire related benefits of beaver are that their ponds offer remote, dispersed water storage reservoirs that could be used by firefighters during fires. Areas with beaver may serve as refuges for all animals during a fire.

Go read the whole article and tell Dr. Maughan that beavers are a good subject to write about! Idaho has a lot of homework to catch up on, but he’s making a great deal of headway. There are a whole bunch of people in Idaho that are scratching their heads this morning, and that’s definitely a start. (And thanks to B.K. in Georgia who gave me the heads up on this article in the first place or I might have missed it.)