Ecosystemengineers – Worth A Dam

Yesterday I received notice that Richard Hesslein had installed a flow device in West Pownal, Maine. You might know Richard from his smart website Ecosystem Engineers.

I met him through Lega Medcalf who was trying to save some beavers in Maine. He got motivated by the effect of beavers near his home on the wildlife he saw every day. Check out his hard work this weekend and think about how many states have working flow devices now. I counted 24 because I just heard that Mike Settel is doing one in Idaho. Mike Callahan just wrote that he’s installed in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. Also he pointed out there are Clemson’s in South Carolina, so that makes 27. Who did I miss?

Our tally so far. Looks like we have lots of work to do on the middle.

Sometimes you sit quietly blogging about beavers, and you wonder ‘does it make any difference at all?’ Is the world any smarter about living with beavers than it was when I started lo these many years ago? Do folks know any more about flow devices? Or beaver benefits to birds? Or salmon? Or water storage? Do the problems of three little beavers mount up to a hill of beans in this crazy world?

And some days, you wake up to this.

Thanks for all your great work and caring! I would love to be able to link your site to my meager one; ecosystemengineers.wordpress.com Thanks again! Rick

Of course I had to check out the website right away. I found this.

That’s right! A year old blog called “Ecosystem Engineers” from an author in Maine. I just did a beaver background check and saw that he was the fellow who helped Lega last year on the beavers in Bridgeton Small world. Of course this was my favorite part: Apparently we’re founding fathers. Who knew? Off to add him to our blog roll. Beam.

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And then this from yesterday’s Great Blue Heron story:

Dear Dr. Heidi, President and Founder of Worth A Dam (terrific name),

Thank you for kind words about our recent beaver-heron article. Please send me your lodge address and I’ll send you a book with about 300 such essays written 2006 to 2011. There must be 30 that feature our beaver populations and their largely good works since the beavers returned here in 1996. Our Stream Team’s Water Closet column appears weekly in our Ipswich River Watershed Association site and once or twice monthly in the local weekly Tri-Town Transcript. Over the years people have urged us to put our essays on natural and social history with an environmental slant into a book. Last year, I, the author, and other Stream Team members, with professional help did. I’ll send you a copy of The Water Closet: Ipswich River Watershed and Beyond in hope that you will read and review. We would like a review by someone unknown and unconnected. Many people on our mailing lists receiving weekly or who have read the book have said they like the essays. Those that don’t are perhaps too polite. We’ve sold over 200 books and would like to sell more. Money above cost goes to the Middleton Stream Team, a small but long active environmental group.

In any event you are welcome to visit us. We’ll show you some our 40 dams in just small Middleton alone.

Peace, Pike Messenger

Gosh, what a nice email. Any Worth A Dam ambassadors that want to take up Pike’s field trip offer? Of course I said I’d be thrilled to review the book and promote their smart work! And sent their response on to Mike Callahan because all Massachusetts’ beaver friends should definitely meet.

How long do you think it will take the book to arrive?

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Final word, Ian’s last art project for the high school he has now left behind involved making ‘little busts’ of his favorite influences. There’s Nick Park, Walt Disney, Jane Goodall, but I thought I’d share this. It’s about two inches tall.