A Tree Grows in Martinez

heidi08 Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Who's blaming beavers now?, Who's saving beavers now? March 28, 2015

Continuing with our charmed beaver news cycle…

Farmers should welcome nature’s architect

The wetlands that result when beavers build dams contribute to higher water tables, which boost crop and forage production

“People are actually recognizing that beavers have some real attributes,” said Fitch.

“For example, they are a climate change adaptation tool, allowing us to start to adapt to the rigours of both floods and droughts. I suspect one of the other reasons is that they’ve just dropped below the radar.”

Cows and Fish has found that in addition to supporting greater biodiversity, beavers dams and the wetlands they’re part of can contribute positively to agriculture through higher water tables that result in greater crop and forage production.

“This becomes pragmatic good business, managing those riparian areas, because of their inherent productivity,” said Fitch.

“These are the deepest, richest soils within a ranching or farming unit. They’re sub-irrigated, and so these produce the most forage.”

“Especially during drought conditions, because these are reservoirs, and if there’s enough beavers at a landscape scale to provide the storage volumes, they can help us work our way through the ravages of drought.”

Another great beaver article! Cows and Fish is doing amazing beaver work in Alberta. They are really changing the landscape of attitude toward beaver. But you can see it’s still a hard sell. The article takes a break from proclaiming their value to write about the BOGUS research that says beavers are contributing to climate change. Sheesh.

In a study published last year, University of Saskatchewan researcher Colin Whitfield found that the footprint of beavers is growing across the three continents they inhabit.

It also found that plant matter collected in these shallow ponds contributes 200 times more greenhouse gases and methane from beaver ponds than in 1900.”

ohhhhh puleezee…….

Yesterday’s tree planting was a grand success, Ann Riley decided to join the watershed interns and lend a hand as did our own Lory, Cheryl and Jon. Channel 7 news showed up to film the start of the day and some RCD members at lunch at the creek monkey decided to pitch in. The story was on at 6 last night, which was very and a pleasant change from the latest Martinez appearances. 50 stakes were planted in the block between Marina Vista and Escobar. Jon wrapped 12 of them and will do more soon.

Good work all! And special thanks to Riley for making it happen. Hopefully the odds will be in our favor. Willow is very powerful, but tell mother nature to rain soon, will you?

Good news and a goodbye

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers, Who's saving beavers now? June 8, 2014

Natural flood engineers

Some say beavers are a cheap alternative for mitigation

In the midst of frenzied flood prevention work throughout Alberta, some river ecology specialists are looking to the beaver to protect the province’s watersheds. A group of wildlife management organizations including the Alberta Habitat Management Society (known as Cows and Fish), the Miistakis Institute and the Ann and Sandy Cross Conservation Area are working together on a series of projects to demonstrate how beavers are integral to natural flood and drought prevention and riparian health.

I think I finally understand how Medicine Hat got so smart about beavers! I also realize I’ve been in the beaver biz for so long I re-discoved my comment about how they mistakenly used the muskrat photo from High Country News. (Let’s give credit where credit is due – it was a GREAT article. But lousy photo). I like everything else about this video except the part where it implies humans are needed to determine the appropriate beaver population. Sheesh.

Cows and Fish riparian specialist Kathryn Hull has been involved with beaver management for the City of Calgary since 2007. She says that although Calgary will still trap destructive beavers and break up dams, the city is still quite progressive in managing the animals.

“Sadly for beavers, many of our urban riparian landscapes are really no longer functional ecosystems that can sustain or be resilient to beaver impacts,” she says. “There’s a lot of rock, a lot of rip-rapping being put in along the banks to protect those banks from erosion…. That’s of course a choice and consequence of developing within the flood plain. We’re now having to do this to protect our infrastructure, but of course it doesn’t offer much habitat,” she adds.

Hmm. I know a particular city with sheetpile, rip-rap and concrete where beavers fit in just fine! We should talk.

Another kindly beaver read this morning comes from Charelston. It isn’t as positive as the one from Alberta, but remember, it’s from West Virginia and we’re grading on a curve.

Scott Shalaway: Beaver tales

Though large and common, beavers are seldom seen unless you know where to look. The best time to see beavers is at dusk on a summer evening. And the best place is on quiet water from a kayak or canoe.

Or a bridge in Martinez. This is basically a ‘beavers are fun to watch’ article, but I never discount the value of paying attention, with a very minor tweak interest can turn into caring, and caring can turn into advocacy.

Remember, that’s how I got started.

As the pond grows, the area’s soil chemistry changes and water tolerant trees such as willows and alders, invade. Not surprisingly, the bark and tender twigs of these trees are favorite beaver foods. The pond itself invites wood ducks, black ducks, muskrats, otters, mink, and trout. Fly fisherman value the locations of secluded beaver ponds.

See what I mean?

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Speaking of beaver advocates, I got word this week that friend of this website and general wildlife advocate Donna Richardson died after a riding incident near the iconic Hollywood sign. You may remember Donna was instrumental in pushing the Los Angelos Department of Water and Power in Owen’s Valley to respond to beavers in other ways than trapping. Donna discovered they had been ripping out dams with a helicopter and a grappling hook, inspiring one my favorite graphics of all times. As we strategized about various effective approaches, Donna would often jokingly refer to me as her Best Beaver-Friend Forever. Ultimately her dedication made a huge difference in the outcome. As a thank you for her heroic deeds I sent her a very small beaver chew from one of our many samples. Her partner Alan wrote me this week and said;

One of Donna’s proudest moments in her life came from her successful effort to persuade the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to end its practice of trapping and killing beavers in the Owens Valley. She was inspired by your earlier success in Martinez and she could not have accomplished her mission without the encouragement and support you gave to her. The card you sent to Donna with the wonderful beaver photo and the wooden icon you gave her still remain in the place where she put them, on a small table close to our dining area. They meant a lot to her and they mean a lot to me.

Sniff. Oh, Alan we are so sorry for your loss, and so grateful our beaver paths crossed. Thank you for your beautiful words, and I’m so glad those simple treasures can continue to mean a lot to you. Under other circumstances I might be surprised that I feel such sorrow about a woman I never met, but I have never forgotten this essential truth:

Beavers change things. It’s what they do.

Rest now, BFFF. In your honor I’m adding a new category to the post classifications. I call it “Who’s saving beavers now?”

Beavers: French Historical Edition

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, History March 16, 2013

Comte De Buffon

Georges-Louis Leclerc,

Buffon (1707-1788) was a Jesuit educated man who, in addition to his ‘Lord’ status and role in parliament, was a dedicated scientist,naturalist and author. He was so bright he was said to have ‘discovered’ Newton’s binomial theorem by himself when he was only 20 years old. His interest in math, became an interest in science, and he wrote about Man, Animals and the history of the earth – among other subjects! Encyclopedia.com describes his enormous contribution thusly

Buffon’s work is of exceptional importance because of its diversity, richness, originality, and influence. Buffon was among the first to create an autonomous science, free of any theological influence. He emphasized the importance of natural history and the great length of geological time. He envisioned the nature of science and understood the roles of paleontology, zoological geography, and animal psychology. He realized both the necessity of transformism and its difficulties. Although his cosmogony was inadequate and his theory of animal reproduction was weak, and although he did not understand the problem of classification, he did establish the intellectual framework within which most naturalists up to Darwin worked.

Ambitious no?

As it happened, he was particularly interested in the social/communal aspects of the beaver. And in addition to some laughingly incorrect things, wrote charmingly about how well they seemed to get along and work for the common good. In fact, it would be fair to say, that as much as beavers and their pelts may have ultimately fueled American capitalism, the beavers he wrote about were definitely French socialists.

“

“Happy within themselves”. What a nice description. Indeed, if you go read some more of his account, especially the part where their homes on the pond are described as having two entrances ‘one for land and one for water’ with a nice window facing the land that also serves as a balcony – you will be hard pressed to differentiate between beavers and hobbits. Which probably isn’t a bad thing either.

Now if this Saturday adventure hasn’t sated your appetite for all things beavers, watch this smart, eco savvy video from Cows and Fish in Alberta which will make their past, present and future importance clear.