Dougald Scott – Worth A Dam

Paths that cross

heidi08 Beavers July 11, 2017

Well the beaver gods were kind to me yesterday. The wonderful artist Amy Gallagher Hall wrote me back and said she was a great beaver fan and had seen the new kit THAT VERY NIGHT! She thought what we were doing was wonderful and wanted to help, but alas she was leaving for an extended back packing trip and would be gone for three weeks during the festival. She definitely would like to help next year though!

I also heard from Jake Chant of the Devon Wildlife Trust who was advised by Mark Elliot to reach out to me (ME!) specifically on the overlap between the river use between beavers and people along the River Otter. Issues included recreational swimming by people, dog walking, and fly-fishing. There had been a near beaver attack a few weeks ago on a dog that got too close for comfort. Did I have thoughts about what might help?

Okay, I confess, I was chuffed that folks 5361 miles away would as me for advice, but then I got serious and told them that the primary issue of dog attacks happened in June and July because the beavers were protecting offspring. If they could get folks to keep their dogs on a leash in the morning and evening during the summer months it wouldn’t be an issue. The rare cases where beavers attacked human swimmers were all beavers with rabies, which the UK has worked very hard not to have.

And as for the fly-fishers worried about beaver attacks because the scary beavers slap their tails at them in the water?

(What enormous sissies, I thought but didn’t say.) What I did say was that there are plenty of fly-fishermen in the US who love beavers and introduced him to Dougald Scott. Dougald is on the board of directors for the NCCFF and the salmon restoration federation and wrote a great article on the importance of beavers in the 2012 newsletter. I sent him a copy and said he should go looking until he found an un-phobic beaver friend that loved to fly-fish- because education requires allies. And if you can’t find one, make one!

And then I sat down and realized I should have had this thought years ago.

“The stream restoration is on us – don’t mention it!”

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Who's saving beavers now? November 11, 2015

Finally!

There’s been such a pack of good beaver news lately that I’ve been waiting to share this lovely guest-post forever! It’s from Dr. Dougald Scott whose on the board of the Salmonid Restoration Federation, and past editor of the River Mouth, the newsletter for the Northern California Council Federation of Fly Fishers. It shouldn’t surprise you to learn that he’s also a member of the California Working Beaver Group, and a believer in the cause of beaver streams everywhere.

This will delight you.

The attached a photo shows how beaver had rehabilitated the tiny creek on my property in Western Colorado. Rick Lanman admired the photo and asked if I had fenced out the cattle. It turns out this is an interesting story regarding cattle and beaver on our land.

Basically we lucked out. There was no way that we could afford to fence our 160 acres to keep cattle out; so up until 2001 we leased grazing rights to our neighbors whose cattle were already there and going to graze anyway. Living so far away and lacking in resources, there was little we could do to further manage the situation.Through the late 80’s and 90’s, all the land up and down the canyon was terribly overgrazed. The resident beaver were finally extirpated in the late 80’s due to the overgrazing.

In 2001 a wealthy hotelier from Florida purchased 23,000 acres immediately down canyon from us. He intended to make it into an upscale hunting and retreat lodge, and as part of his plan he ended cattle grazing in our valley. None of the other landowners seem interested in cattle, so we’ve been cattle free since 2001.

The small creek running through our property quickly responded to the absence of cattle by sprouting riparian vegetation, especially willows and cottonwoods. In the spring of 2008 I had arranged with the local game warden to introduce a pair of beaver into our creek. When I arrived in Grand Junction to be on hand and welcome the beaver, the game warden told me he was swamped and wouldn’t be able to bring the beaver up to our place for another month.

I was disappointed, but when I arrived at our camp, I was pleasantly surprised to find the beginnings of a dam… the little buggers had found their own way to our place! In the seven years since, the number of dams has fluctuated with the drought, but this summer there were more that 10 dams. The beaver have also moved downstream and made an impact there, although not always positive for the lodge people. However they are learning to appreciate the beaver for their ability to restore riparian habitat in semi-arid locations.

Needless to say, we now have a thriving wetland community and are thrilled – rehabilitation of our tiny creek over time thanks to beaver.

Thank you, Dougald, for sharing this important story first hand! What a fantastic illustration of a very crucial axiom!

Keep the cows out of the stream and the willow will come.

Let the willow grow and the beaver will come.

When the beavers come back, the stream is restored.

Here endeth the lesson.

Best Beaver Chew Ever

heidi08 Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental, Festival, Friends of Martinez Beavers July 11, 2012

Dougald Scott posted this breathtaking beaver-chew on the beaver management forum to ask what the heck was going on? I agree with him that this is a ‘starter kit’ sample where young beavers can show off their new skills. We’ve used a few as displays over the years but they always break eventually. This one’s so lovely I wish my home was filled with them.

Last night we saw two beavers, no baby, and a woman from EBRP that stopped off after leading a birding tour at the Marina. She was very happy to see the beavers and meet us in person, and some folks who had been out later last night said that an adult was kind of twirling in the water with the kit and then nosed him up onto the secondary dam. Wish I had been there for that!

Today’s festival preview is an Introduction to Camila Fox and Project Coyote from Marin. We were recently introduced by Thomas Knudson the reporter that did the excellent USDA series in the Sacramento Bee. Beavers and Coyotes are the two most killed routinely animals by Wildlife Services so we have lots in common! Camilla is a powerhouse and connected to all the right places. I’m thinking this could be the start of a beautiful friendship…

Friends in Wet Places

heidi08 Beavers, Creative Solutions, featured, Friends of Martinez Beavers June 12, 2012

http://www.nccfff.org/ — Federation of Flyfishers: Northern California Council

Flyfishermen tend to be a classy, patient, breed. Apparently they are also at the head of their class when it comes to learning about the way beavers and their dams benefit salmonids. Just check out Dougald Scott’s article in the June issue of “The River Mouth”. Dougald is on the board of directors for the Northern California/Nevada Council Federation of FlyFishers, and came to the first California Working Beaver Group meeting in January. Let’s just say he’s a friend in the right place! Oh, and check out those LOVELY beaver photos!

You’ll really want to read the whole thing, which isn’t online yet, so click here for a sneak preview pdf of the article and lets hope folks at CDFG really start to pay attention!