Backdrafts and Beavers

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers October 29, 2013

You’ll be happy to know there was lots of follow-up to yesterday’s post about Dr. Maughan’s article proposing beaver re-introduction as a partial solution to reduce wildfires. He wrote me himself and thanked me for the comments on his article, and I’m hoping to get him invited to the next beaver conference. Meanwhile I got these comments from Amy Chadwick who was less than rosy about the idea. Remember she’s the one who is working with Skip Lisle installing flow devices in Montana. She did eventually agree that we need an intermountain area beaver conference soon where everyone can talk over these ideas.

I’m not sure there’s a lot of merit to what he’s saying, at least for western landscapes, especially in mountainous terrain. I could see in some wide valleys where beaver have been removed, conifers are encroaching, and the area hasn’t already been cleared for development, that beavers could make a difference, but any effects from more beaver would probably be pretty localized, and in large fires that isn’t enough. A burning ember can travel up to a mile, they say. One could even make the case that increased humidity may increase growth of trees near the stream corridor, increasing fuels.

My point is, it’s probably over-simplified and definitely optimistic.
In my work this summer I have been looking at the other end of this issue, and seeing where fire suppression has been allowing too dense tree growth, conifer encroachment, and eventual drying up of headwaters, as well as shading out willows and aspen, so beaver don’t have the food they need to move back in even if there still were adequate flow. I have seen lots of areas with signs of historic beaver activity where there’s no longer any water, and some struggling or dead aspen or willows left under a conifer canopy. A lot of our headwaters are drying up. I have also seen a case where aspen re-sprouted everywhere and the stream started flowing again within 3 years of a big burn. We need more fire on our forests, in a big way. Most of the forest management budget goes toward fighting fire in the urban interface where people build homes. According to one model we need to thin and burn 20% of the forest for the next 10 years to restore balance. So stopping fires is the wrong goal.

Massive fires are the new norm due to a century of fire suppression and poor forest management. What beaver ponds CAN do is improve habitat and critter population resiliency under fire, and trap the increased sediment and mitigate flood flows after forest fires. The huge floods in Boulder after the fires the previous year probably would not have been nearly as severe if the wetlands in the headwaters had been intact. They probably still would have flooded where they built within the greater floodplain, but you know… that’s another issue.

Well, that’s certainly another perspective on the issue. More fires not less? I daresay that’s an opinion that would get even less public approval than beavers! Especially right now after the recent Yosemite and Idaho fires. Thanks Amy for your thought-provoking remarks, and don’t ever say we’re a monotheistic society here at beaver central.

Now onto a nice, (if somewhat invasive) look at the free beavers of the river Tay. I bet these beavers keep telling themselves it’s [slightly] better than being dead.

Highland Heroes

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers, History January 27, 2013

The ‘science’ at a beaver conference can get a little heavy. Lots of figures and graphs, from folks who are mostly interested in justifying beavers as a ‘means to an end‘. That’s very useful for creating persuasive arguments, but not great for telling stories. Even though the science is essential, to my mind what a conference also needs is ‘heart’.

Meet team heart.

Louise and Paul Ramsay were an epiphenomena at the conference. They flew in from Scotland specifically for the event, and dazzled us all with their tales of the highlands. In her presentation Louise showed an image of their house, and pointed out that when the left section was built in the 16th century, there had probably been beavers in the surrounding waterways, but by the time the larger right portion had been added in the 1700’s, beavers were long gone. Whether it was Paul’s forlorn admission that he had actually been arrested for ‘introducing an inappropriate animal’ (charges were eventually dropped), or Louise’s fearless and deftly delivered Scots brogue reading of Robert Burns at the awards dinner, they dazzled everyone.

Cock up your beaver, and cock it fu’ sprush,

We’ll over the border, and gie them a brush;

There’s somebody there we’ll teach better behaviour,

Hey, brave Johnie lad, cock up your beaver!

Only a truly brave woman could read that aloud to a roomful of 150 people, and then soberly explain that at the time this was written beaver had been extinct in Scotland for so long that the poem is referring to ‘fixing one’s hat’ and not the animal (or the anatomy). Honestly, they were both amazing, but Louise as ‘keystone’ speaker at the awards dinner was breath-taking.

What I never realized was that the original ‘escape’ of the free Tay beavers had happened years before the bruhaha, before the knapdale trial, and with no interest by the BBC. Beavers had been spotted around the Tay since the early 2000’s and certainly before the Ramsay’s ever got their own. Beavers that had made their own way in the world long before Knapdale ever got permission and funding to try an official go.

How proud was I to see that the graphics I had made for their facebook page had made it into Louise’s striking presentation! From Eric behind bars to Rob Roy and the ‘tomb of the unknown beaver’. It’s always nice to contribute.

Louise and Paul have spent years talking endlessly to the media, public figures, the community, organizing meetings, children’s groups, an official charity, a website, reviewing international law, knowing when to push and when to demur, I can honestly say that their job was much, much harder than ours. (And I don’t say that very often.) It made it all the more moving to see how cordial and sanguine they both still are.

Louise ended her wonderful presentation with a passage from the 19th century poet Gerald Manly Hopkins from his work ‘Inversnaid‘. It could not have been better chosen or better delivered.

What would the world be, once bereft

Of wet and of wildness? Let them be left,

O let them be left, wildness and wet;

Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.

Friends & Foes

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Environmental, Video May 4, 2012

Do you remember the condominium group in New Hampshire that worked to solve their culvert problems without killing beavers? They had at least one retired engineer on board who was fascinated by the puzzle. He worked with Mike Callahan to chisel out solutions, and recently brought him a donation of Beaver Beer as compensation. Well, encouraged by his success he has now started a beaver blog! It’s called “Sherwood Beavers“. Here’s the story and the first blog entry.

It’s May, so I can’t think of a better time to start a beaver blog. The story is about to get very, very interesting! Art’s profile says he recently retired from teaching schools how to better teach technology. Lets hope he is inspired to keep teaching how to live with beavers! Welcome aboard Art. Great first act! Here’s a sample of what you’ll see soon.

Now for the ‘foe’ part of the title there’s this headline from the BBC:

‘Secret Tay beaver cull plan’ claim denied

Wildlife campaigners have said they fear landowners may be planning a secret cull of beavers living in the wild on the Tay, with the approval of the authorities. The Scottish government insisted the claims are untrue, but said the animals do not have full legal protection.

Ugh. So our hard working champions in Scotland are worried that even though the government has said ‘lets not kill them and study them for now’ they’ve had secret contact with worried farmers and given consent to kill them anyway. Let the farmers take the heat and get the government outta the crosshairs to put the beaver firmly back in the crosshairs where it belongs.

Louise Ramsay of the Scottish Wild Beaver Group said: “The Scottish government’s official position is that it doesn’t consider the beavers to be protected, although it wants landowners and farmers only to use lethal control as a last resort.

“But we have had two separate reports that the Scottish government wants the beavers dead and would like landowners’ support in conducting a cull, but keeping it quiet.”

First horror and then praise! GO LOUISE!!! She is doing such a remarkable job! They’ve been worrying about the protection issue for a while. See native wildlife is protected in Scotland, but evil criminally released beavers are NOT. That’s why I’ve been worried about the meme that the they know the beavers were deliberately released (not escaped) which suspiciously appeared at the very same time the ‘beavers have been spared’ announcement came.

So the original beavers were the result of a criminal act and all the subsequent generations of beavers are therefore not subject to the same protections as innocent wildlife. The sins of the father shall be visited on the sons.

To say this article has created a stir is an understatement. But the Ramsays are being so clever here I honestly can’t tell if they’re terrified or getting ready to say ‘check mate’. I know I’d feel very threatened if I were in their situation, but I’m not from a 1000+ year old prominent family descended from the physician to the king. With the recent panic in Devon when they learned that the discovered beaver wasn’t the LOST beaver, I would expect this to get more complicated before it gets less. We’d better all stay tuned!

Victory in Scotland!

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, Friends of Martinez Beavers March 16, 2012

Good news for all our friends at Save the Free Beavers of the River Tay!

A decision to trap escaped beavers living on the River Tay has been reversed by government ministers. Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) ordered 16 months ago that any beavers on the Tay should be captured and “rehomed” at Edinburgh Zoo. But the Scottish government said a decision on their future would now be postponed until 2015.

That’s right! No zoos or culls for the scrappy D-I-Y beavers who scoffed at the fancy knapdale reintroduction and made a plucky go of it on their own! The minister just announced this morning that they’re safe until 2015. Gentle-gentry heroes Paul and Louise Ramsay rallied an awesome multi-disciplinary and internationally-voiced team of supporters, and in the end the ministry decided it was harder work to convince all those people that they needed to track and remove all the unintended beavers than it was to simply keep an eye on them. Now he’s recommended they use science to keep thinking about their impact!

The entire story is told properly on Radio Scotland here starting at 2:20. But the broadcast was recently put forth by Peter Smith using photos from the group’s facebook page. There’s a couple you should particularly enjoy!

Because we are the most timely beaver broadcast network on the planet (what makes me so sure? Well chiefly because we’re the ONLY beaver broadcast network….at the moment…I expect grand new developments will follow!) this sunday’s interview will be with beaver hero Paul Ramsay! How timely is THAT? Don’t miss the rousing tale of castor fiber activism in the Highlands!

Congratulations Paul and Louise and all our friends at Save the Free Beavers of the River Tay. Your best problem ever comes next: choosing a new name!