Guadalupe River Conservancy

Do you remember being a kid and running home so excited to tell a story that you could barely find the breath to carry your announcement? Maybe you wanted to get home before your brother so that you could tell it FIRST! This is how I feel this morning, but I will exercise a modicum of self control and tell you the most exciting news LAST because that’s the kind of girl I am.

Yesterday I received my April-June copy of Bay Nature and guess what I found on page 11? Very nice colors and eye-catching location. The undeniably first of its kind advertisement for a beaver festival they have ever had. Indeed, probably the first ad for a wildlife festival of any kind. Nice.

I know what you’re thinking. How can you possibly top that? Well, how about a positive beaver article from Texas? Yes, Texas.

Walls: Beavers have value in conservation

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, beavers were hunted extensively for the value of their pelts. By 1910, their populations became dramatically low in many parts of the United States. So low that strict regulation of their harvest was implemented. Their value as soil and water conservationists is well known by many educated land owners and sportsmen.

Mind you, its no High Country News or Canadian National Geographic, but its definitely note worthy from a state that is generally known for beaver badness. All good things have to start somewhere, and I hope we see more and more beaver ecology coming from the Lone Star State.

Which leads me to our third good news of the day, and the most exciting piece yet. First some context. Back in 2010 I was invited to speak about our beavers at the Santa Clara Creeks Coalition Conference, which was a delightful day that introduced me to some fantastic advocates. One of the folks who attended my talk and got excited about beavers was the executive director of the Guadalupe River Conservancy in San Jose. She introduced me to some folks who introduced me to some folks who got me invited to the California State Parks conference that year. She donated handsomely to us in 2011 and also really, really wanted to build a network of support for beavers in the Guadalupe, just in case she could get permission to introduce some down the road.

Um.

Guess what was just spotted beside the river near a certain aquatic-predator named team’s silicon valley stadium?

Oh and it looks like the world might be changing today.

The Guadelupe River takes its short jaunt from the headwaters in Santa Cruz to its outlet in the San Francisco Bay, winding its way through the heart of San Jose. It is surrounded by many parks, and trails, including Almaden winery. It was once important to the gold mining trade and like all such rivers is now burdened with more than its fair share of mercury from those days. The entire 3 mile downtown stretch, from Interstate 280 to Interstate 880, is part of the Guadalupe River Park and Gardens, one of the largest urban parks currently in development in the United States. Also, the Guadalupe River Trail runs along 11 miles (18 km) of the river bank.

What does this have to do with beavers you ask? Nothing yet.

Leslee Hamilton is the executive director of the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy. She attended Saturday’s creek conference and was very excited by the talks about beavers. She immediately wondered whether beavers could play a role in the Guadalupe system, augmenting water flows, restoring wildlife and serving as a teaching focus for children’s watershed education and stewardship.

Yesterday we scheduled a ‘chat’ about beavers, which turned into a conference call with Rangers and interested biologists. There are no beavers currently in the Guadalupe, they assured me. And relocation is illegal in California. Could they go about getting a scientific permit to do a specific project locally? What kind of habitat would support them best? What tools are useful for beaver management? How do beaver populations grow? How have we involved children’s education with our beavers? What have we noticed in our watershed since the beavers came?

Quite the conversation. Silicon Valley Beavers? It’s possibleReader JR points out that the Dell graphic must be a mistake since beavers are so fond of ‘apples’.