So I received this story yesterday morning from Gary Bogue, Brock Dolman and the Humane Society in Connecticut. Let’s assume its going to get some important attention over the coming days. Of course I immediately thought of the Riverside case where ‘friends of Lake skinner’ successfully sued Fish & Game and the Metropolitan Water District and won the case at the appellate level. That cost a pretty penny when the court ruled that the decision to kill all the beavers in an area was ‘discretionary’ and not ‘ministerial’ and therefore required and Environmental Impact Report to meet the standards of CEQA.
Good times.
I contacted Los Angelos Water & Power and the media far and wee and made sure they had copies of the ruling in that case which I see no reason you shouldn’t have too. 
I sent them the research article that grew out of that case, and them checked in with the attorney who represented the matter and he assured me there were similarities.
There are definite parallels to Friends of Lake Skinner. If there is a group looking to contest this, Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), which has its western regional office in Petaluma, may help, perhaps even have one of its member attorneys take the case. In fact, ALDF provided me with briefs that I used in crafting my arguments in the Lake Skinner case.
I figured this should help get the ball rolling. Friends of LA beavers? Where are you?
Meanwhile I promised Raging Granny beaver friend Gail that I’d post something about the Cargill mudflats, so here’s what she wrote!
West Bay Beaver Believer Seeks Contacts to Weigh in on Concept of Establishing Beavers in Headwaters of Redwood Creek.
I have learned so much from Heidi’s blogs on the Martinezbeavers website about the habitat provided by beaver ponds and the birds they shelter. As a beaver believer. I often mention their benefits to friends and fellow activists, and persuaded my group of Raging Grannies to perform at the Beaver Festival. But as one person and not even a birder, all this is not having the desired impact, especially since the mere word “beaver” makes people giggle.
This has immediate practical implications as we West Bay folk work to put the brakes on the proposed Redwood City bayfill project known as the Cargill Salt Works project. The developers use the frequent flooding in the eastern part of Redwood City as a reason to allow them to fill in the Bay since they claim their project includes levees that will alleviate flooding.
West Bay allies would help a lot to introduce beaver-friendly concepts to all these discussions. I would so appreciate knowing contacts, especially in Sequoia Audubon who would help spread the word in groups of which I am already a part(Save the Bay, Tuolomne River Trust, Menlo Park Green Ribbon Citizens Committee} and beyond. I am thinking of BCDC and/or the county supervisors as possibilities.
Gail Sredanovic
AKA Granny Gail
certifiedhypnotist@yahoo.com
Thanks Gail! A final note, I did an interview last night with Kevin Hile whose saturday “Michigan Menagerie program’ will be about beavers. The segment will feature myself, Len Houston, Mike Callahan and Sharon Brown and will air saturday morning at 7 our time. You can listen here if you’re so inclined! If that’s a little early for you it should be a podcast downloadable later that week.
