Tag: Beavers and Frogs

Unexpected friends benefit beavers

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers elsewhere, Who's saving beavers now? June 8, 2017

Vermont is leading the way again, look what they’re doing now:

‘Beaver Baffles’ Prevent Flooding and Resolve Beaver-Human Conflicts

BOLTON and RICHMOND, Vt. – To prevent flooding on nearby roads, the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department recently completed several water control devices on beaver dams in Bolton and Richmond. Known as ‘beaver baffles’ these devices confuse beavers by using a large plastic tube to create a hidden breech upstream away from the beavers’ dam.

The Fish & Wildlife Department expects to install more than a dozen additional beaver baffles throughout the state this year. The baffles are one of many techniques that department staff employ or recommend to landowners to minimize beaver damage to property or trees. Other techniques include using culvert fences or placing wire mesh or special paint around the base of trees.

“The wetlands that beavers create provide habitat for a variety of wildlife such as waterfowl, songbirds, frogs, turtles, and otters. These areas can also absorb extra water during rain events and clean pollutants from water, so we work hard to preserve these wetlands whenever possible,” said Chris Bernier, wildlife biologist for the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department.

You know what I wonder? What kind of leadership is necessary to make it so your state Fish and Game agency actually spends time and money installing flow devices. I mean is it a top down kind of excellent governor thing? Or is it a bottom up kind of informed biologist who teaches all the others? Of course I wonder how can we get that kind of response going here? I’m pretty sure our fish and games days are filled with paperwork and occasional license stops. But I could be wrong.

The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department has installed 291 beaver baffles in Vermont since the program started in 2000.

“We receive roughly 200 beaver complaints a year,” said Bernier. “Several staff members respond to these complaints, and one technician is dedicated solely to addressing beaver conflicts from spring through fall. Despite these efforts, other management techniques must be used. We also rely on regulated, in-season trapping to maintain a stable beaver population so Vermonters continue to view beavers as a valued member of the local ecosystem and not as a nuisance.”

Do you think it’s the influence of famous Vermonter Skip Lisle that eventually just rubbed off on them? What ever it is I like it. 291 sounds like a lot, but that’s like 17 flow devices a year. How do you think they decide which site gets an install and which one gets permission to trap?

Now we’re headed northwest to British Columbia where folks are interested in letting beavers help frogs.

Green Beat: Leave it to beaver

Monica Pearson is on a mission to bring back the frogs.

Our region was formerly a better place for frogs because wetlands were more abundant. Many wetlands have been lost to development and farmland like the 11,000 acre Sumas Lake that was drained in the 1920s.This project was proposed by the Vancouver Aquarium and Earth Rangers, who raised over $75,000 to help save the Oregon Spotted Frog. We identified a field where the historic wetland had been drained for agriculture but wasn’t in use any more because it was still too wet in Metro Vancouver’s Aldergrove Regional Park.

“Our goal was to learn about restoring a shallow marsh wetland specifically for Oregon Spotted Frogs, despite the presence of invasive Reed Canarygrass and American Bullfrogs. Research that I did a few years ago suggested that keeping a marsh shallower than 30 cm would be good for Spotties, and bad for Bullies, but it’s also great for invasive Reed Canary Grass, which we don’t want.

“When building a wetland, you need to be aware of your water budget. We weren’t certain that there would be enough to keep the wetland wet all year long, especially in a long summer drought. We expected that much of the wetland would dry up through the summer but less than two years after we had built the wetland in 2013, we discovered that the wetland was not only holding water year round, but actually getting deeper.

“Why? Beavers! Through some truly impressive engineering, some local beavers first plugged up drainage ditches, then re-routed water into those ditches from a nearby stream, and were filling it from the bottom. It was like filling a bathtub from the drain.

The result was stable water levels through the whole year — a much better outcome than we ever expected! There are over 100 bird species using the site, dragonflies, fish and many native frog species breeding in the wetland.

The surprise intervention of beavers in Monica’s project is encouraging in an age when so often our goals for rehabilitating nature seem out of reach, and we forget that creation itself might be able to lend a hand — or at least a paw.

Apparently Monica was surprised that beavers build such remarkable wetlands. They made the water deeper than her project needed and the article said they have to ‘manage’ it somehow. I hope not stupidly. But in the meantime I’m really glad that folks were reminded how much beavers help frogs.

There was a ton of beaver news yesterday, but I’m going to leave you without talking about the WETLAND WAR in Narvan just yet, because I’m headed to Marin tonight to sprinkle beaver gospel upon them and want to rush off to make some coffee before settling in to watch the Comey testimony. I’m pretty sure beavers won’t come up, but who knows?

“One stick at a time…”

heidi08 Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Environmental July 17, 2015

I guess USDA finally got the memo! Even though they chose to bury this story in their blog, I’m pretty excited. Just look:

Working with Beavers to Restore Watersheds

The Methow Beaver Project is a bit uncommon as far as forest health

restoration projects go, because it relies on one of nature’s greatest engineers – the beaver.

Beavers build dams on river

s and streams, and build homes (“lodges”) in the resulting bodies of still, deep water to protect against predators. Beavers play an important ecological role, because the reservoirs of water that beaver dams create also increase riparian habitat, reduce stream temperatures, restore stream complexity, capture sediment, and store millions of gallons of water underground in wetland ‘sponges’ that surround beaver colonies. This benefits the many fish, birds, amphibians, plants and people that make up the entire ecosystem.

Across the country today, there are fewer beavers than there used to be because their fur was very desirable to early American settlers and many landowners considered them to be a pest that damaged the landscape. As beavers were eradicated, the once complex wetlands that they helped to create disappeared as well.

Recently, low snowpack in the Cascade Mountains has resulted in less meltwater flowing through streams throughout the spring, summer and fall on the Methow Valley Ranger District of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest in north central Washington State. The low water levels have negatively affected habitat for salmon, trout, frogs, eagles and many other species. Over the next 20 to 30 years, dramatically less snowpack is predicted.

That’s why U.S. Forest Service biologists like Kent Woodruff are working to reintroduce beavers to forest streams where they used to be common. Beavers can help make such ecosystems more resilient to future changes in climate by restoring ecological function. Not only do beaver dams increase water storage on the landscape, they improve water quality by reducing stream temperatures, increasing nutrient availability in streams, and increasing stream function by reconnecting floodplains.

Recently, the Western Division of the American Fisheries Society recognized the Methow Beaver Project, awarding it the Riparian Challenge Award for 2015. This award recognizes and encourages excellence in riparian and watershed habitat management, and celebrates the accomplishments of the project’s many partners, including its beaver engineers!

“We’re solving important problems one stick at a time,” Woodruff said.

And on the weighty day when USDA pinched their nostrils closed and forced themselves to mention the positive truth about beavers, Kent was standing there in uniform to ease the pain. A USFS biologist himself, Kent’s project carries the respectability that not even USDA can ignore forever. With so many partners and supporters the Methow project is guaranteed to make a difference, and Kent has worked hard to see that it will thrive long after he retires. It is remarkable, that even though Methow has been doing this work a long, long, LONG time, USDA is just starting to get the message.

Better late than never, I always say.

Struggling amphibians get a beaver boost

New research by the U.S. Geological Survey suggests that the effect beavers have on the environment may stem the decline of amphibians in places such as Grand Teton National Park.

The decade-long study found startling declines of amphibians in Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park and more gradual declines in Grand Teton and Yellowstone parks. It determined that further north in Glacier National Park the metamorphosing critters are faring better. Headed by Blake Hossack of the USGS, the research also determined that beavers create wet habitats that act as a hedge against declines in amphibians, which depend on water in their early life stages.

“Although beaver were uncommon, their creation or modification of wetlands was associated with higher colonization rates for four of five amphibian species, producing a 34 percent increase in occupancy in beaver-influenced wetlands compared to wetlands without beaver influence,” the study said. It was published recently in the journal Biological Conservation.

“Also, colonization rates and occupancy of boreal toads and Columbia spotted frogs were greater than two times higher in beaver-influenced wetlands,” the study said. “These strong relationships suggest management for beaver that fosters amphibian recovery could counter declines in some areas.”

The USGS, New Mexico State University, Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative and the National Park Service all collaborated on the study.

The influence of beavers is on display along Moose-Wilson Road in Grand Teton park, upstream of where the beaver pond borders the road, Patla said. During the study, she said, the aquatic rodents colonized a new area to the north.

“The beavers started moving upstream from there and making dams and they flooded a huge area,” Patla said.

Previously the habitat in the area consisted of “ancient” beaver ponds that had dried out and wasn’t great amphibian habitat.

After the beavers recolonized, “all four species were present and toads suddenly appeared for the first time,” Patla said. “Adults laid their eggs and rapidly colonized that area.

Whoa! You’re kidding me! You mean the actions of the “water-savers” actually benefited multiple species of “water-users”? That must come as a real surprise, since I’m sure you were taught in school that beavers were icky. And in California we’ve killed them for destroying frog habitat by “ruining vernal ponds.” And if you doubt it you should reread my column about it from 2012, back when I used to write fairly clever things.

Honestly I thought the ship of “Beavers help frogs” had sailed and was already in the general lexicon. But I forgot the need to repeat research to prove that results apply regionally. No word yet on when they’ll be releasing the papers on “Gravity still applies in Wyoming” or “Researchers confirm water tends to flow down hill in Jackson Hole, too.”

Sheesh.

I shouldn’t complain. USDA, USFS, USGS all in one day proclaiming beaver benefits. That’s got to be some kind of acronym milestone. I sure wish their was a department of Beaver Benefits. Maybe USBB?

Here’s some eye candy to start the weekend right. First kit filmed in the Scottish Beaver Trials this year.

Video: rare footage of Scots beaver released

The beaver sun also rises

heidi08 Beavers and Frogs, Who's saving beavers now? August 29, 2014

Former Martinez resident LB moved away to Beaverton 5 years ago. Last night she wrote me that she still reads the website every day and sent this column. Thanks LB! Beaverton NEEDS beaver supporters.

This undated photo provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows an Oregon spotted frog, which was listed Thursday, Aug. 28, 2014 as a threatened species. Once common across Oregon and Washington, the frog is only found in scattered and isolated wetlands amounting to 10 percent of its former range. (AP Photo/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Oregon spotted frog to be protected as threatened

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — Twenty-three years after it was first proposed for protection by the Endangered Species Act, the Oregon spotted frog is being listed as a threatened species.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is expected to publish its decision on Friday in the Federal Register. It takes effect 30 days later.

Once common from the Puget Sound in Washington through the Willamette Valley in Oregon down and into Northern California, the frog survives in scattered locations in about 10 percent of its former range, mostly east of the Cascades, the service said.

That’s sad for frogs, but what does this have to do with beavers? Hmm can you guess?

Habitat for the frog has been lost to urban and agricultural development, livestock grazing, the removal of beavers and the encroachment of non-native grasses, the agency said. Non-native fish and bullfrogs have eaten them.

Restoration plans will focus on maintaining water levels in wetlands, putting beavers back into ecosystems, removing invasive grasses and removing non-native predators, Fish and Wildlife officials said.

And that’s just ONE reason why it’s smart to play for team beaver. There are many more. Take care of the beavers and lots of things will take care of themselves. Frogs and salmon and birds and water…

Oh and lest you despair, apparently the beaver spirit lives on in the shire. A prominent beaver defender wrote me yesterday after my gloomy column bemoaning DEFRAs unstoppable evil in Devon:

Hi Heidi – Its not over till the fat lady sings – no notes so far. We are fighting this as hard as we can with more people helping daily. The govt trappers have no idea how to capture them all and none of us are helping.

I don’t know, maybe you should help. Put on your best wellies and a field jumper tell them how much beavers like to roost in the lower tree branches or doorways.

Beavers: The cure for what ails you.

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers elsewhere, Who's saving beavers now? August 13, 2014

At-Risk Columbia Spotted Frogs: Factors Influencing Conservation

USGS researchers, including scientist Robert Arkle, examined existing data on spotted frog occurrence, abundance and habitat to understand factors influencing habitat quality, habitat connectivity and climate suitability in the Great Basin. Preliminary results suggest that the area of the Great Basin with suitable climates for spotted frogs has already decreased over the past 100 years and will continue to decrease substantially over the next 100 years. Genetic research suggests connectivity between adjacent occupied sites is currently low, while sub-populations are isolated from one another.

USGS research suggests that management tools, such as beaver reintroduction, grazing management and non-native trout control efforts may promote conservation of the Columbia spotted frog in the Great Basin.

So NOAA, USFS, and USGS think beaver reintroduction is a good idea to increase habitat for threatened aquatic species. While USDA and CDFG merrily continue to kill them, ignoring the trickle down effect that eliminating each beaver dam will have on a rapidly drying planet. How long does it take for such simple wisdom to pass through government bureaucracy?

Let’s just say I wouldn’t want to be a columbia spotted frog.

Word this morning is that Utah is truly having another beaver festival, and they’re paying for me to come talk about our beavers in Martinez. It’s in Cedar City and I’ll tell you more details when I know them. The event is organized, of course, by the Mary Obrien and the Grand Canyon Trust where practically all good news about beavers originate. Considering Mary was the inspiring voice in the wilderness a million years ago when this all started, and now she wants me to come speak, I’m pretty honored.

Frog and Beaver are friends

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, Educational, Environmental June 17, 2013

Back in that other millennium, when I worked at day care, one of my favorite things to read in the afternoon on a swim day when 30 children flopped onto the floor for quiet time was “Frog and Toad are friends”. The series used very nice illustrations to tell great stories of ‘Frog’, (who was free-spirited and easily social), and the more inaccessible ‘Toad’, who was kind of asperger’s-y and harder to love. They were “friends” and had lots of adventures together, but with this article from the Oregonian we may need to tell a new story.

Study finds a steady decline in territory occupied by amphibians in the United States

Herpetologist Michael Adams was the lead author on a groundbreaking study that found a steady decline in the territory occupied by amphibians in the United States. The decline stretched across all regions, and into relatively unspoiled national parks and wildlife refuges.

Instead of focusing on individual populations, Adams and his colleagues analyzed “occupancy” – whether a spot is occupied by a particular amphibian or not. That’s a blunter gauge than individual population counts, but less variable, simpler and a clear way to track how fast creatures are disappearing from places where they’re known to live.

The researchers also developed a statistical model to account for false negatives — the chances that field workers missed a stray amphibian when declaring a spot unoccupied.

Their estimates “quantify amphibian declines to an extent that really hasn’t been possible,” says Michael Lannoo, a professor at Indiana University School of Medicine and the United States’ representative on IUCN’s Amphibian Specialist Group. Lannoo was among the peer reviewers of the study.“We’ve known about amphibian population declines for a long time, but the problem may be worse than we thought,” Adams says. “We need to be careful.”

The article is a nice look at complex ecoscience, with stunning photos that make you feel like you’re outdoors on a early summer day in the sierras and just found a private creek of your very own. Go check it out. Apparently the ozone layer isn’t killing as many amphibians at the moment but there may be lots of other things that are, like fungus and predators and habitat.