The day of our tree planting, June 7th, was such an awesome day for me personally that I dismissed the one cloud that threatened to rain on my parade. That cloud came in the form of a man intercepting me as I walked to my car and attempted to diminish what we all had just accomplished by referring to our efforts as ‘encouraging a problem’.
There’s a quote from John Muir that I find fits: “Why should man value himself as more than a small part of the one great unit of creation?” Those of us at Worth A Dam couldn’t agree more, which is why we fight and will continue to inform the populace of what is going on behind the scenes.
The City of Martinez and the special interests that are pushing for relocation of our beaver colony aren’t and haven’t been upfront from the beginning. I know this isn’t a revelation to most. However, the volume of misinformation doled out to the citizenry astounds me.
Take this Pollyanna idea of relocation. I hear wistful would be do gooders at the bridge tell me how wonderful it would be to relocate the beavers to some clean, clear mountain stream. I even recall one subcommittee member using that same argument as he admonished those of us who claimed to want what was best for the beavers. What that individual and our city leaders have all failed to mention, which was confirmed by John Krause wildlife biologist for the Department of Fish and Game, is that relocation is a one time only good offer: “It is not the policy of the Department of Fish and Game to relocate problem wildlife”. In other words, when more beavers move in the only course of action provided for by the Department of Fish and Game will be to kill them.
So for all those who want to be viewed as humane because your only desire is to see the beavers relocated not killed, you are merely postponing an action you didn’t want to be associated with. Rest assured there are more beavers in the immediate vicinity that very well could move in once the area is abandoned. The creek has already proven to be habitable to beavers and the scent mounds that dot the mouth of the creek will no doubt act as a beacon.
The discoveries of two beaver carcasses close to the waterfront made by individual Martinez residents over the past three months prove my assertion. None of us wanted to believe these might have been our beavers so we kept a close watch on the count of our colony and once we had video or film confirming that count, we knew these creatures were unfortunate sojourners just passing through.
Not only is relocation no guarantee of a beautiful life for our blue collar beavers, but it will not absolve the folks who say they only want what’s best because now we all know this supposed easy way out wont be available next time around.
Linda Meza
