Beaver Goes ‘Surfing’ in a Winter Wonderland

Wildlife photographer Nick Sulzer captured a picturesque winter scene with one an unexpected element—a surfing beaver. Sulzer is based in Jackson, Wyoming, and his footage of the “surfing beaver” has attracted over 1.5 million views on Instagram.

The past director of CDFW faced scandal when photos emerged of him shooting an IDAHO mountain lion. The conservation world was outraged, but  I remember being slightly  encouraged by the fish friendly rumors I heard when Chuck Bonham was appointed head of CDFW in 2011.

Surely if a man loved fish he would come to love beavers, right?

Well it took a little longer than we expected, but he did eventually come to see beavers as the good news we hoped for. Releasing beavers even famously brought a tear to his eyes in Maidu territory.

Well he’s out. The man who cancelled California’s salmon fishing season three years in a row only to have California salmon rejected from the endangered species list because Trump is evil has now moved on to greener pastures.

Literally.

California’s Top Wildlife Official Steps Down to Lead The Nature Conservancy

Chuck Bonham, the longest-serving Director in the 150-year history of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), is stepping down after 15 years to join The Nature Conservancy’s California unit. Effective January 26, 2026, Bonham will serve as TNC’s California Executive Director, overseeing the organization’s work protecting land, rivers, and coastal habitats statewide.

Governor Gavin Newsom praised Bonham’s tenure, highlighting his leadership on major conservation efforts such as Klamath River dam removal and salmon habitat restoration. “His belief that nature can rebound has shaped our state,” Newsom said.

But Bonham leaves behind a deeply mixed legacy — one sharply criticized by many in the fishing community.

Under his watch, the commercial salmon season was closed for three straight years, Delta smelt vanished from CDFW surveys, and multiple species in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta collapsed. Fishing groups argue these declines happened on Bonham’s watch and point to state water policies as a central cause.

I can’t help but wonder if the failure to list California salmon as endangered has something to do with his decision. What do you think?

“Bonham’s legacy lies with the commercial salmon industry shuttered for three years,” said Vance Staplin of the Golden State Salmon Association, noting the economic fallout for fishing-dependent communities. Some critics also called for new leadership that better represents the state’s fishing and hunting communities.

TNC leadership welcomed Bonham, praising his conservation expertise and ability to guide complex environmental efforts. Since 1959, TNC has helped protect more than one million acres across California.

Bonham departs amid the Delta’s worst ecological crisis on record, and as debates intensify over water exports, habitat loss, and the future of salmon in California.

Being the head of CDFW must be like  walking a constant tightrope between letting people do what they want in moderation and telling people not to do what they want so they can continue to do in the future.

It’s a hard job. I get it.

But what comes next? It’s kind of a weird time to resign since we’re getting a new governor next year anyway and they could appoint someone totally different?

I hope who ever it is remembers to like beavers. Have fun at CBD and Welcome to the resistance!

 

And I did nothing, because I was not a salmon…

Feds deny endangered species protection for 2 Chinook salmon species

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Two species of Chinook salmon will not be added to the federal endangered species list.

In a report published Dec. 8, the National Marine Fisheries Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that the Oregon Coast Chinook salmon, as well as the Southern Oregon and Northern California Coastal Chinook salmon, do not warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act.

You know the last time I spoke with Michael Pollock about this he said the Northern California salmon was basically already a lost cause. But that was a couple years ago when we were planning the Summit. I guess they must have got all better since then.

The decision follows a 2022 petition from the Native Fish Society, Center for Biological Diversity, and Umpqua Watersheds to identify both as threatened or endangered.

“By denying protected status to Chinook salmon on the West Coast, the Trump administration put political and private interests ahead of our dwindling wild spring Chinook salmon runs,” said Center for Biological Diversity Senior Conservation Advocate Jeff Miller. “Selling out salmon runs will benefit only the logging industry and dam operators, while fish, wildlife, orcas, healthy rivers, salmon fishers, Tribes and the public interest suffer. Without endangered species protections, we could lose these spring run ‘Kings’ of salmon forever.”

While some Chinook salmon species are listed as endangered, NOAA found that the Southern Oregon and Northern California Coastal Chinook populations were at low risk of extinction.

Show me the NOAA fisheries scientist that determined  Oregon  chinook were not endangered. I want to see his face. I bet he looks a whole lot like the man who said HIV doesn’t cause Aids Tylenol causes Autism.’

A spokesperson for NOAA said that the salmon are abundant and highly productive. He said that Southern Oregon Northern California Coastal Chinook commonly number more than 50,000 naturally spawning fish, and most are not from hatcheries.

“Their high productivity takes advantage of the healthy habitat in many coastal streams, allowing the fish to maintain their abundance even with relatively high exploitation rates from fishing or other factors,” he said.

The spokesperson added that while other threats were considered, such as habitat loss, the scientists concluded that none of those other factors contributed significantly to the extinction risk.

“In fact, a positive takeaway is that habitat in many coastal river basins in Southern Oregon and Northern California is improving through habitat restoration and more protective land-use regulations that have been ongoing over recent decades,” he said.

This just released photo of the NOAA spokesmen shows him delivering the statistics in court.

And if you believe that I have a bridge I’d like to sell you.

I’ve seen a lot of rotten things done by the Rump administration but this is the first time it hurt me personally. So far. Just think of all those lawsuits against USDA saying that killing beavers harms the habitat of endangered salmon.

Who needs beavers if salmon aren’t endangered?

I guess this is how Trump qualifies for the Nobel Peace prize. He goes to warn-torn countries where dead men are piled to the rafters and infants heads are spitted on pikes and says “They are not dead!” I have made peace. And because he says it its true.

And Chinook salmon aren’t endangered.