Does good news come in threes? It does this morning! We’ll start with the successful unanimous passage of “THE BEAVER BILL” in Washington State. Thanks to the excellent work by our friends at the Lands Council beaver management is now part of state law and everyone will be reminded that their efforts mean water and it is smarter to move them than to kill them.
The Washington legislature has unanimously passed HB 2349, a bill concerning the sustainable management of beavers. The new law will help to improve the state’s water management infrastructure by relocating and maintaining healthy beaver populations. This proposed law is not only sensible, but also cost-effective. Instead of spending billions to construct concrete dams, this bill supports utilizing natural mechanisms to improve and restore Washington’s riparian ecosystems with families of beavers.
Congratulation Amanda & Joe! California is Green with envy – (green meaning the jealous shade, not the environmental friendly shade, because we’re idiots still when it comes to beavers!) I knew when I saw your ‘beaver solutions’ cartoon so many years ago that you were headed in the right direction. Lets hope some of your wisdom seeps down as far as Eureka or dare I Say San Bernadino!
More good news from our Kentucky Beaver friend Ian Timothy, who had worked all year to advocate for the beavers in Draught Park. He writes “The same city that once sternly said ‘This is not a beaver park!’ is now rolling out the welcome mat for the beavers. There is an article in the St. Mathews newsletter about the beavers being able to stay in the park, as long as they are being monitored by the local beaver enthusiast (me). The people in St. Mathews really seem to be embracing the beavers and they have gained a small fan club of people watching them most evenings.”
Before laying out the welcome mat, The City of St. Matthews Park Committee met June 4 with a wildlife scientist from the Humane Society of the United States and the City engineer. The group consensus was to monitor the beavers’ activity for six months to see how it might affect the park and Beargrass Creek. Ian Timothy, a local beaver enthusiast,will help document the family’s industry to track the beaver dam height.
Excellent work Ian! Very well done! We couldn’t be prouder of you and can’t wait for this success to inspire your next ‘Beaver Creek’ Episode!
Finally some SHOCKING good news out of Scotland, a country that had the foresight to assume that just because the ‘gravity thing’ works in every other country it doesn’t mean it works in argyle and spent hard-earned money putting there scientists to work analyzing and testing to make sure. Their shattering findings are reported today in the Scotsman.
Beleaguered beavers are fishermen’s friend, claim scientists
The research by scientists at the University of Southampton suggests that the overall impact on fish of reintroducing European beavers is more positive than negative. While the creatures’ dams do block fish from reaching local spawning grounds in the short term, experts say the same dams also increase habitat diversity, creating new areas that attract other wildlife which many fish feed on and providing refuge for them during periods when river levels fluctuate.
Are you telling me that the last decade of research out of NOAA and the Pacific North West was actually true? I mean NOAA is such a fly-by-night organization, no one EVER listen to their rambling assertions! Gosh, now that Scotland has shown that the theory of gravity holds true for the land of the thistle, what’s next? The sun rises over Ayr and sets over Edinburgh?
