And Great News from our beaver friends in New Jersey
Beavers Program – March 6, 2010 Come learn how to enjoy and outwit the beavers of Franklin Lakes! A beavers program on “Understanding Beavers and Resolving Conflicts” will be held on Saturday March 6, 2010 from 1:00PM to 2:30PM at the Franklin Lakes Borough Hall. Laura Simon and Skip Hilliker of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) will give an informative and fascinating look at the ecology of beavers and how their unique engineering skills can sometimes create conflicts, as experienced recently in Franklin Lakes. You’ll learn how the “Beaver Baffler,” a simple device, can be used to stop the flooding caused by their dams. We’ll also show how to properly wrap trees to prevent them from being felled. Skip Hilliker has worked with beavers for 35 years and installed beaver baffling systems throughout the northeast, and also done projects in collaboration with various Land Trusts and the Army Corps of Engineers. This presentation should be of keen interest to anyone who is currently experiencing beaver-related problems or simply wants to learn more about them. If you have any questions please call Nancy Yarish at 201-891-0048 Ext. 1204 or E-mail: nyarish@franklinlakes.org.
We’ve been working on so many beaver stories lately around the nation that I thought I’d give you an little update on our out-of-state friends.
New Jersey: Franklin Lakes, Franklin Swamp
Remember beaver friend Gail wrote me that the home owners in Franklin Lakes were upset with the rising water and had asked the city to bring in the beaver killers? Well she was able to get HSUS to assign Heather Cammisa on the case and that resulted in Laura Simon having a long receptive conversation yesterday with the mayor yesterday. She wrote last night:
I spoke to Mayor Maura DeNicola for a long time and was surprised at how supportive she was. She thanked me for contacting her and expressed how she truly wants a humane solution for this issue. Sounds like a 40 inch culvert (in need of replacement) is the main source of the problem, along with some tree felling. Several irate homeowners are trying to hire a trapper on their own but she is willing to contact them to discuss trying a different kind of solution, if the Council approves.
I’m putting together info for her right now since there’s a Council meeting tonight, and she will be discussing this issue –and our recommended solution. I told her we’d be happy to do a site assessment, give an estimate, and also give a more formal presentation if desired.
Hmmm….that sounds promising, but Gail is worried about the homeowners hiring their own “gun”. Notes from the council meeting aren’t up yet. Apparently another friend sent this letter to the editor of the local paper:
In your November 25, 2009 issue of the “Villadom Times”, you feature an article about a Beaver Colony in Franklin Lakes, and the intention of the town to have them trapped and killed. As someone who lives on the water, I can understand the frustration of the surrounding neighbors, who live on the perimeter of the Town Swamp. However, killing is rarely the answer, and there is afar more humane and educationally positive way to deal with this lovely little family.
Franklin Lakes has prided itself on it’s abundance of fresh water areas; including swamps, lakes, ponds and fens. With these natural areas, come responsibilities and challenges, as they need to be preserved and cherished for the next generation. According to various Beaver experts, there is only one way in which the water table should be dealt with, and that’s with a Beaver Flow device. These devices have been in place in some states for as long as 20 years, and have been successful. According to the Humane Society, positive results were achieved and 94% of the people said that they would recommend it to other towns. Flow device success rates were observed at 97% for culvert devices. Trapping and killing had a failure rate of 84%; due to the fact that the sites were re-colonized, some within one year of intervention.
Beavers are considered to be “keystone species”, because they create a habitat that is beneficial to many other areas in the affected ecosystem. Their dams actually act as a filter as it slows the water flow, which allows for sediments and toxic material to filter through the pond bed. This is not only beneficial to the aquatic environment, but one is looking at a tremendous educational tool for the local school children. Very few students have the ability to come and study these industrious families, and learn from them in their own backyards. This is an opportunity for the entire town, to experience nature at it’s finest. These animals should be valued and protected; not killed.
Dave Mallet wrote some great lyrics about the environment. One which comes to mind is: “Some will still weep, when the gifts we are given are gone”. This family is a gift, and Franklin Lakes needs to protect them for the future of Franklin Lakes.
Respectfully, Elizabeth Butler
Tomorrow I’ll update you on Illinois and Connecticut beavers.
Things are looking up for beavers in New Jersey! After a few concentrated advocacy efforts for the beavers out-flooding their welcome in Franklin Lakes, things are looking a bit brighter. HSUS has assigned representative Heather Cammisa to work on the project. (Turns out Heather and Gail are old friends anyway. Something about a piglet and an animal shelter?) I heard from Audubon NJ that they will respond and are decidedly pro-beaver, and Gail found out that the local zoo vet actually lives in the housing development in question and is helping her communicate alternatives to the mayor using information I sent them. We were still looking for a good media contact when I came across this article by Robert Linnehan in the Haddonfield Sun discussing beavers in another area of NJ.
What can be done of a beaver that is encroaching onto land where humans typically tread? Brees quickly contacted his good friend Sarah Summerville, director of the Unexpected Wildlife Refuge Inc., who had several suggestions.
Recognize the name? Sarah is the one who told Gail to write me in the first place! Big beaver friend. I told Gail to track down that reporter and see if she can get him interested in Franklin Lakes. Fingers crossed. Check out this lovely article.
It would appear from the air photo that the waterway in question is an unnamed stream flowing from a large pond at Tavistock Country Club’s property into Cooper River. Cooper River appears to be the northeast boundary of Crow’s Woods,” Summerville wrote to Brees. “I am happy that we share the opinion that the beaver should, if at all possible, stay in the environment. I concur, based on my knowledge of beavers and the benefits they can bring. Beavers are considered a ‘Keystone Species’ because their engineering activities create habitat that is beneficial to many other areas in the affected ecosystem.” The dams beavers create can also act as “nature’s kidney,” Summerville said, slowing water flow which allows for sediments and toxic material to filter out through the pond bed. Having a beaver in the park would also provide for an interesting educational opportunity for students and residents alike in the borough, she said.
Well, since you already learned a lot about beavers Mr. Linnehan, maybe you’d like to write something about Franklin Lakes? Gail will fill you in, and I’d be thrilled to connect you with other great sources of information if there are any questions she can’t answer. For now though, we can wait hopeful that the beavers in your swamp will meet a kinder fate than there were slated for.
