FIRST PUBLIC MEETING TONIGHT

heidi08 Who's Killing Beavers Now? October 13, 2020

They could have just described beavers and left it at that. Don’t you agree?

7 Keystone Species — and Why they Matter for Our Planet

“Keystone species have low functional redundancy,” explains biologist Raquel Filgueiras of the conservancy group Rewilding Europe. “This means that when populations of these species decline or disappear, there are very few or no other species that can fulfill their role. Ecosystems then degrade, and sometimes completely collapse.”

Wolves are one of many keystone species that humans have viewed as pests or, even worse, enemies to control or remove.

The wolves’ return also aided beavers. North America’s largest rodents are essential ecosystem engineers, and they now had a plentiful supply of leaves, roots, and bark to eat, and wood for building dams.

Yes, yes, wolves are the handmaidens of beavers in that they keep the elk away from the fresh green shoots so that they stick around to make beaver food. Then they can build their dams and restore stream function. Yeah beavers.

Beaver dams can be a nuisance for humans: They may divert waterways where we don’t want them and cause flooding; the trees beavers cut down can destroy our sense of the picturesque.

But beaver dams play a grander role in the ecosystem that we may not comprehend. They slow water flow in streams, which can help reduce erosion and provide water during drought. The flowage behind these dams creates wetlands, which can absorb seasonal flooding. And the wetlands filter water, replenishing aquifers and producing cleaner water for all.

So tell me, does this matter to any other animals besides the beavers themselves?

Other mammals, fish, amphibians, insects, and birds depend on the beaver’s dam-building. Some 85 percent of North American wild-animal species rely on wetlands — including many threatened and endangered species.

The beavers’ work is also becoming recognized as key to fighting wildfires. Not only do their dams retain water in the land-scape, but channels dug by beavers -appear to act like irrigation canals, keeping vegetation too wet to burn even during droughts. These wetlands become a beaver-generated safe space for frogs, salamanders, birds, and other animals to wait out a fire.

Come to think of it. Beavers are the ONLY keystone species that have been shown to impact stream health, biodiversity, fire resilience and reduction of pollution. That seems pretty dam important. The article goes on to discuss cactuses and prairie dogs but honestly, our interests are limited for obvious reasons.

Worth A Dam Comments.

Now then you might want to just remind yourself of these facts when you put together your comments for the USDA which is meeting tonight in on the first of their open forums for discussing the impact of their actions on wildlife species in California.

The meeting is zoom accessible from 5:30 to 8:30 tonight. They won’t be posting the link to the meeting until 5 pm but it will be posted here.
Give them lots to think about tonight. You can send your comments HERE and I hope you do. Beavers need you.

CDFA_Scoping_Meeting_Webinar_Agenda

IT’S DRAINING BEAVERS!

heidi08 Beavers October 12, 2020

That’s Canada for you. Even their storm dreams have beavers. Don’t believe me?

Police rescue beaver from Calgary storm drain

Calgary police responded to an unusual rescue call this Thanksgiving weekend.

Const. Chris Martin said he and his partner received a call around 11 a.m. Sunday that a beaver was stuck inside a storm drain near Harvie Passage. The beaver was behind a heavy gate that was secured with large bolts.

“We ended up calling City of Calgary waterworks and had them bring out some wrenches,” said Martin.

Something to be thankful for. Imagine celebrating the foundation of your country with some turkey and stuffing or whatever Canadians eat, and then taking a call where you’re needed to go rescue a founder of said country. Stranger things have happened. But not many.

“And then as luck would have it, there were some surfers and kayakers in the area who were wearing wetsuits and they were able to come help us get the lower parts that were pretty deep in the water and then to help us get the grate off safely.”

Sure. You know how it happens. Sometimes you just get a helping hand from a passing band fo surfers in a wetsuits and you enlist their help to rescue a beaver. Can I live in Canada too?

Martin said he’s rescued plenty of cats and dogs, and even a turkey and a moose in the line of duty, but this was the first beaver he’s had to save. He said the beaver swam away in the direction of a dam just north of the storm drain.

“He got out and disappeared happily into the river.”

Now tell the truth Martin, you can’t deny that this wasn’t your best day at work EVER. What a story for the kids. And the adults. And all the undecideds. City workers and police take some pretty rotten calls on holidays but this had to be one of their favorites.

I couldn’t find any video of this rescue, I guess you don’t bring a cellphone in your wetsuit. But this is close. From this March.

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MORE HANDICAPPED SALMON

heidi08 Beavers October 11, 2020

A few days ago this aired on CBC radio -. the middle segment is about installing fish passage boxes so that salmon could get over beaver dams in Nova Scotia . Victoria Neville does a pretty delicate job with the interview trying tp explain all the good beavers do. but it still dumbfounded me that the WWF would be using donations to fix a problem that doesn’t exist.

Of course I said as much at the time which prompted several very concerned and patient conversations about public perception being so abysmal in the region they are working hard to chip away at the edges. The design was Adrien’s based on Mike’s and they made things easier for fish at low flow conditions which climate change was making happen more often.

I listened and underestood some of it. But honestly if the problem is mostly PERCEPTION then wouldn’t it be a mistake to offer a solution that reinforces the idea that there us a problem in the first place?

I suggested at least changing the name to something that reminded people that under normal conditions it wasn’t needed.

Something like the “Drought Ladder.”

PEOPLE LIKE BEAVERS

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers, Beavers, What's killing beavers now? October 10, 2020

We’re just in time for your Geography lesson. Airdrie is a small town north of Calgary in Canada with about 61000 people, When you read this article you will begin to appreciate it very much.

Airdrie woman concerned by killing of beavers

An Airdrie resident is upset by the City’s plan to deal with problem beavers that call Nose Creek home.

Waterstone resident Doreen Schulz, whose property backs onto Nose Creek, said she recently learned from a neighbour the City of Airdrie will occasionally trap and kill beavers that are deemed a nuisance.

“I phoned the City because I was quite upset about hearing that,” Schulz said. “We like our beavers along here.”

Schulz, who has lived in Waterstone for 12 years, said there is a beaver den located on the banks of Nose Creek near her backyard. She said she used to see a family of beavers swimming in the area but has not seen them in many weeks, which makes her think they’ve been killed.i

Now that’s just about my favorite kind of response. Not “don’t kill beavers because its mean” or even “Don’t kill beavers because they’re a keystone species”, Just straight out “Don’t kill them because WE LIKE THEM!” Plain and simple.

According to the City’s Integrated Pest Management Plan, beavers will often make their way to Airdrie via Nose Creek, searching for new areas to start a colony. To deter the animals from damaging trees along creekbeds, City employees wrap wire mesh around tree trunks, but “this is not always successful.”

“In instances where beavers result in unacceptable damage to the natural environment and/or infrastructure, the City may lethally remove individuals by trapping,” the plan stated.

Yup, That sounds about right. But its modestly responsible that they try wrapping trees, I guess that comes from being is near to our friends at Cows and Fish all these years,

Archie Lang, the City’s manager of Parks and Public Works, confirmed the City will occasionally trap and kill beavers as part of the municipality’s wildlife population control.

“Wildlife control is something that all municipalities do, and Airdrie is no exception,” he said. “You have to control the populations because they are living in a little microcosm that doesn’t involve their natural predators, for the most part, so animals will tend to overpopulate.”

Lang said there have been a “handful” of instances where local beavers were killed this year. He noted the City is not trying to cull beavers, adding there are at least three or four families the municipality is aware of along Nose Creek.

We don’t kill them all, we just kill some. Think of us as a very picky angel of death. You know how it is,

“This isn’t a mission to eliminate them – absolutely not,” he said. “We control the populations so they don’t become a problem to themselves, actually, and for us as well.”

The main reasons a beaver would be killed, according to Lang, is if it caused significant damage to trees or if a dam causes overland flooding and property damage.

“Trees are expensive, and when they start to take trees down, they can do thousands of dollars of damage in just one evening,” he said.

Prior to 2017, Lang said the City would relocate any beavers that were deemed a nuisance. However, he said Alberta Environment and Parks no longer supports beaver relocation, as they have a low chance of survival in a new habitat.

Hmm, that’s interesting. I’m pretty sure beaver relocation is illegal in Canada. So are you saying you used to break the law but you stopped because they had a low chance of survival? You know what gives them an even lower chance of survival?

Killing them.

But Schulz remains adamant that local beavers should not be killed, given their benefit to the environment and the effect of the City’s wire meshing around tree trunks.

“They have their dens right on the sides and they don’t bother anything,” she said. “They’re certainly not hurting the environment and I think beavers are pretty intelligent. If they know, for example, that there’s no food in an area, they’ll move on of their own accord.”

“Like the eagle is the American symbol, the beaver is our symbol, and I wouldn’t consider them a pest,” she said. “You see people all summer long, they’re walking along the creek, and if they spot a beaver – usually they’re out really early in the morning or after 8 p.m. – people will be taking pictures. It’s quite nice to see a beaver.”

Nicely put Doreen, I could hardly of said it better myself,

BEAVERS ARE NUMBER TWO IN THE KILLING FIELDS

heidi08 Who's Killing Beavers Now? October 9, 2020

So the USDA dropped this from the mountain yesterday. It’s their data G list – a list of all the animals they killed in the United States in 2019. It includes starlings and badgers and coyotes and eagles and foxes and wolves and oh beavers across forty states in this great country. Coyotes were the most targeted animal, but beavers are number two.

Guess how many were killed? Go ahead guess.

24,543

Mind you that’s in 40 states and that’s only the numbers of beaver deaths we know about. If you hire a private trapper or kill some yourself on your ranch no one reports it. Here’s the numbers for California.

717– firearm

50 — neck snare

11– night vision

31– cage trap

82– body grip

22– suitcase trap

913– total

And it’s sobering and shocking, I know, but just remember this is only about a third of the beavers killed in the state. The others are killed by private trappers. Now that the CBD lawsuit means they won’t trap beaver in salmon or steelhead streams the demand for private trapping has gone UP. You can see also there is a decline in cage trapping and an increase in shooting. I guess because they are killing less in small streams and more in big bodies of water where salmon aren’t an issue. Here are the same numbers from 2009.

Of course there are already lawsuits announced by the usual suspects. I continue to think that USDA is merely the most visible player in this grand death game. At least in my state the ones we can’t see, the ones who aren’t even required to tell us what they do or how many they do it too, are a much bigger problem for beavers.

Trump’s USDA Sued Over Program Allowing ‘Horrific’ Mass Slaughter of Native Wildlife

The lawsuit (pdf) was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico by WildEarth Guardians and accuses Wildlife Services (WS) of running afoul of various federal regulations stipulated by the National Environmental Policy Act, Council on Environmental Quality regulations, and Administrative Procedure Act.

According to the court filing, the program has failed to provide an Environmental Impact Statement on the program’s impact on key ecosytems, nor has it provided timely supplemental analysis mandated by law. As such, the document states, WS is disregarding “new scientific publications on the ineffectiveness of lethal predator control and the negative cascading ecological consequences of removing keystone species from their native ecosystems,” according to the filing.

Oh so THAT”S what that big action about putting a EIR on every species killed in California was about. Keeping up with beaver news is sometimes like reading a murder mystery backwards. It all makes sense eventually, but not until you get to the beginning.

The lawsuit portrays the annual killing deaths as folly—especially in light of the climate and ecological catastrophes as well water shortages affecting the U.S. West. Regarding beavers, Smith said the agency is “removing the very animals that will save us from these crises.”

They “act as ecosystem engineers, increasing biodiversity and ecosystem function—including filtering drinking water and removing water-borne pollutants—where they are native,” the filing states, adding:

Beavers, due to their beneficial engineering of ecosystems provide outsized ecosystem services. One study, conducted in southern Utah, a landscape analogous to much of New Mexico, found that in terms of wetland habitat only, a mere 2,560 beavers in the lower Escalante River basin would provide $275.5 million dollars per year in wetland habitat services. If riparian and aquatic habitat services are added to that number, it becomes nearly $450 million dollars per year. […] Beavers particularly can have remarkable impacts on reforestation in areas affected by wildfires.

Well, they aren’t wrong. And since they’re based in New Mexico the fate of beavers and their ability to store water really matters.

Another conservation group, the Center for Biological Diversity, offered similar condemnation Wednesday, characterizing the program as both barbaric and needless.

“Year after year Wildlife Services continues to needlessly kill wildlife, even though effective tools exist to prevent most conflicts,” said Collette Adkins, carnivore conservation director at the Center.

I asked Collette about the differing methods yesterday and whether she thought it was because of their salmon action. She hadn’t considered it but she thought it was better they are mostly using rifles because the method is more humane and specific to the target.

Maybe. It’s also a lot less work. You don’t have to come back the next day and check the traps. I’m not sure their work should be any easier.

Click below to go read the entire lawsuit here: