Often Worth A Dam works to persuade other cities to be ‘smarter than a beaver’ and to implement flow devices as a way to control flooding fears instead of trapping (or in the case of KB – shooting). Well now we’ve been invited to do some persuading in person. Lory will be driving to Tahoe tomorrow and attending the above meeting to answer questions about the feasibility of beaver management in a low-lying area. Folk concerned about the beavers are working with Tahoe Wildlife Care to convince the powers that be that other solutions are available.
It’s a great opportunity to help out some neighbors and a key relationship to pursue in the “are beavers native” argument. Also plenty of out-of-towners travel to tahoe and would benefit from learning about better solutions. Skip Lisle reports that he has done some work for the US department of Forestry up there in the past, and we know that Tahoe Wildlife Care just bought Mike’s DVD and showed it to public works, so we’re hopeful a solution is in the offing.
It coincides with something I’ve been thinking about since the festival and that is a scholarship/grant “matching funds” program where Worth A Dam could contribute up to 1000 a year towards helping communities save their beavers. With the festival and local support we can actually afford it, (even IF we get around to installing interpretive signs this year and go to the Oregon conference). Obviously hiring Skip Lisle to come out from Vermont cost a great deal more than than 1000 dollars, but I think its a good way to ‘kick start’ a community response and the loosen purse strings of financially cautious areas. Our city certainly didn’t have funding to spare but the powerful public response motivated a better investment. Our grant could help raise the level of awareness and support in other communities. The idea would be based on locally matched funds and could go towards installing culvert fences or flow devices that allow cities to keep beavers and wetlands humanely.
All in all, Kings Beach seems an ideal location to try out our new ‘beaver saving system’. So Lory will travel with that in mind and hopefully it can motivate positive action at the meeting.
