NORTH CAROLINA: 1 WASHINGTON STATE: 0

heidi08 Beavers and salmon, Urban beavers December 7, 2022

So tomorrow I’m presenting to the Alameda Creek Fisheries Group and hoping that everything works according to plan and a squirrel doesn’t decide to chew my internet cable again. This dropped last night and it’s very good, especially considering it’s from North Carolina. But you just have to ignore the thumbnail image of a Nutria which is sooooo obviously not a beaver you can even see its tail!!!!

But I shouldn’t be too regionalist in my appraisal of beaver IQ because this letter to the editor was just published in WASHINGTON which should remind us all that it ain’t over til it’s over.

Wasted money on salmon runs unless beavers are addressed

The Dickerson Creek salmon run (usually last 2 weeks of October or first 2 weeks of November) did not happen this year. The salmon were blocked under the Taylor Road bridge by a beaver dam. The entire Dickerson Creek watershed, one of the most productive salmon runs in Kitsap County, is sterile due to this beaver dam. Chico Creek almost shared the same fate. Persons unknown removed the dam on the golf course, allowing a run to proceed. Otherwise, the Chico Creek watershed in its entirety would also be sterile.

Beavers are not threatened or endangered in this state. Salmon are. Beaver may be taken alive in an appropriate trap and relocated. Also, any licensed trapper may take this animal for fur and meat.

Tens of millions of dollars have been spent salvaging the Chico watershed. The work on Highway 3 is an ongoing example. A beaver dam on the golf course would stop all salmon migration, possibly into the “salmon park” also. I am told by the conservation district that the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife refused to do anything about the beaver problem.

So hey, don’t come crying to me about Wisconsin or Minnesota blowing up beaver dams. People in the smartest fricken state in the entire NATION about beavers and why they matter – with the likes of NOAA fisheries and the PSMFC can still be dirt stupid about beavers and salmon. Even though they should know better. Thanks Bernie for setting us straight.

So, instead of a salmon enhancement in the Chico watershed to help several thousand salmon, we seem to have a beaver enhancement saving maybe a half dozen beavers, costing taxpayers many tens of millions of dollars.

Go figure.

Bernie JMW Fleming, Bremerton

BEAVERS IN PLEASANT HILL

One of the by-products of being the unofficial champion of urban beavers is that folks contact me asking for helping saving their beavers. I especially like when it’s local because I imagine we’re seeing our beavers grandchildren or great grandchildren. I was contacted recently by Maggie in Pleasant Hill and look at the lovely vision she was treated to behind Dick’s sporting goods.

Not a bad way to start the day right? She’s been watching as the experiment with a little dam of mud in walnut creek. It is just 3 miles up from the beaver we were watching behind target. Walnut creek connects to Grayson creek down by imhoff which is a quick swim for beavers.

NORTH CAROLINA SPEAKS UP FOR BEAVERS

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers, Urban beavers, Who's defending beavers now? March 14, 2022

I knew it would happen. I just knew if I worked and worked and waited and waited and advertised for beavers over and over again someday we’d see a beaver-believing article from Charlotte North Carolina. I knew it would happen. I just didn’t know it would happen last night.

South Charlotte Residents Upset With How Beaver Colony Is Being Handled

CHARLOTTE, NC – A group of residents in the Thornhill neighborhood in South Charlotte say the home owners association trapped and killed a family of beavers without seeking humane solutions.

The pond through the neighborhood is a central point of the Thornhill community. It’s where kids can play and people can walk. For the last several months; it’s also been home to a family of beavers.

“They do things for us. They clear the water. They reduce sediment,” said Angela Hynum. Hynum is a Thornhill resident and wildlife advocate. (more…)

REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED WET

heidi08 Beaver ecological impact, Beavers, Creative Solutions, Urban beavers, Who's saving beavers now? February 17, 2022

Wednesday’s have always had a special place in my heart ever since Nov 7, 2007 when I tremulously attended the very first city council meeting on beavers I believe Martinez has ever held. It definitely changed the fate of this city and it certainly changed my life. It may have been the first meeting about beavers but it apparently will not be the last. Tonight the city moves to approve the plan for the Lower Alhambra Creek Watershed Management, which discusses guess WHAT?

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ILLINOIS IS OFF TO A GREAT START – MOSTLY

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers, Beavers, Flow Device Installed, Urban beavers February 1, 2022

Illinois is the newest beaver believer on the block but they’re catching up fast. Just check out this article from South Barrington just outside Chicago at the top of the state, There are only a few areas that need refining.

‘I don’t want to kill anything’: South Barrington looking for way to manage beavers

After a beaver dam caused Poplar Creek to overflow into nearby residents’ yards this past fall, South Barrington officials are considering hiring professional experts to prevent that from reoccurring. A company called Midwest Beaver Management has proposed nonlethal methods for managing beaver activity in the village.

Wrapping tree trunks with wire fencing to keep beavers from chewing on them is one option. Another would involve running pipes through dams so water can pass through and not disturb the animals in their lodges upstream.

Well that’s good. Isn’t that good? Although I kind of get the feeling that all this is VERY new territory for the state. They haven’t got it down just yet. Headlining the article with a photo of a muskrat and a running a quote like this one.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Obviously there isn’t water INSIDE the lodge. Beavers are mammals, not fish. The point of the lodge is being able to breathe safe from predators. Breathing being the operative word. For which the lack of water is required.

Obviously there’s a lot to learn about beavers. We’re just happy they’re starting the right way.

By clearing out invasive plant species that can clog creeks and filtering sediment from waterways with their dams, beavers increase biodiversity, improve water quality and restore the health of watersheds.

Their dams even increase habitats for fish, including endangered salmon and trout in some regions.

“Everybody should be happy” to see beaver activity on a waterway, said Midwest Beaver Management founder Jeff Boland-Prom, whose company is based is south suburban Beecher.

Good job Jeff. We like that a lot. Keep going in that direction will you?

Boland-Prom said Poplar Creek is an especially ideal beaver habitat. It has a low gradient that makes it easier to dam, he said, and the area has lots of young trees that provide plenty of food and building material.

Boland-Prom hopes to meet with village officials in February, and Palmer and others are interested. A meeting date hasn’t been announced.

Mayor Paula McCombie is eager to hear the company’s presentation. Taking steps to coexist with beavers while halting the ecological damage they can cause is preferable to killing them, she said.

Very Very good, Any city that starts here has a good chance of success. There’s just a little tweaking to do yet.

Boland-Prom takes pride in solving beaver-related problems humanely. Not only are such methods better for the animals, but they don’t require additional visits when different beavers subsequently form new dams in the same spots, Boland-Prom said.

That’ll happen over and over again, he said, because beavers look for unoccupied habitats to build their homes.

“It really saves communities money in the long term,” he said.

I’m not sure if this is an error in communication or a mistake in understanding. But obviously when you’re talking to reporters that are new at this you have to be very sure of your message. The point is that if you let your old beavers stay by installing a flow device so the water is a height you can both live with NEW BEAVERS won’t be allowed to move in. Beavers are territorial and they’ll keep out the competition.

It saves a city money because they aren’t paying to TRAP over and over again. Which they would have to because once a beaver has been killed there’s no one left to keep new ones from moving in. You got that, right?