Cheryl stopped by to take some pictures before the flyway festival so you could see the work in progress. Isn’t it a beauty? You can see it’s mostly made of reeds and mud, which is a great way to start a dam!

Our wikipedia friend has just posted this update on the Owen’s Beavers bruhaha in LA. As usual, its some nicely referenced writing. Hopefully it will get the attention of some one in the media!

Ecology

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) haOurs recently decided to trap beaver (Castor canadensis) out of the Owens Valley, claiming that beaver are damming flows into their diversions of water to Los Angeles.¹ This decision runs counter to an independent assessment commissioned by LADWP and the Inyo County Water Department in 1997, where it was recommended that beaver be maintained in reasonable populations and their dams left in place because “Although beaver activity has resulted in the removal of much willow and other shrub and woody vegetation and the dams create favorable tule conditions and reduce fish spawning habitat, they also provide important fish rearing habitat, mesic meadows, and promote the growth of other riparian species. It is most likely that the physical removal of beaver dams will result in more adverse environmental impacts than environmental benefits.”² Beaver were re-introduced to the Owens Valley by the California Department of Fish and Game in 1948 in Baker Creek, and have since spread throughout the Owens Valley.³ Although it is controversial whether beaver were once native to the Owens Valley, there is growing evidence that they were native to the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada. In particular, the northern Paiuteof Walker Lake, Honey Lake and Pyramid Lake have a word for beaver su-i’-tu-ti-kut’-teh ⁴. When Stephen Powers visited the northern Paiute to collect Indian materials for the Smithsonian Institution in preparation for the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, he reported that the northern Paiute wrapped their hair in strips of beaver fur, made medicine from parts of beaver and that their creation legend included beaver.⁵ In addition, fur trapper Stephen Hall Meek “set his traps on the Truckee River in 1833”, which strongly suggests that he saw beaver or beaver sign.6 Supporting this line of evidence, Tappe records in 1941 an eyewitness who said beaver were plentiful on the upper part of the Carson River and its tributaries in Alpine County until 1892 when they fell victim to heavy trapping.⁷

1. ^ “LA to hire beaver trappers for Owens Valley”. 2011-02-09. Retrieved 2011-02-12.
2. ^ (1997) Technical Memorandum #3 Distribution and Abundance of Beaver in the Lower Owens River. Ecosystem Sciences. (Report). Retrieved 2011-02-12.
3. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Baker Creek
4. ^ Richard E. Warner, Kathleen M. Hendrix (1984). California riparian systems: ecology, conservation, and productive management. University of California Press. p. 80.ISBN 9780520050358. Retrieved 2011-02-12.
5. ^ ^{a b} Don D. Fowler, Catherine S. Fowler, Stephen Powers (Summer-Autumn, 1970).“Stephen Powers’ “The Life and Culture of the Washo and Paiutes””. Ethnohistory, Vol. 17, No. 3/4: 117–149. Retrieved 2011-02-12.
6. ^ Jesse D. Mason (1881). History of Amador County. Oakland, California: Thompson & West. Retrieved 2011-02-12.
7. ^ Tappe, Donald T. (1942). “The Status of Beavers in California”. Game Bulletin No. 3(California Department of Fish & Game): 14. Retrieved 2011-02-12.

Gosh wikipedia beaver editor. You’re the BEST!

A final note, just got word from Stan (The president of SURCP) that he received the copy of my presentation and his VERY OWN KEYSTONE SPECIES charm bracelet! He says thank you very much!