Check out Robin Grosinger’s lovely new piece on the history of the Napa River in this issue of Bay Nature and online here. Its an except from the recently published book Napa Valley Historical Ecology Atlas: Exploring a Hidden Landscape of Transformation and Resilience. The magazine describes it thusly:
The following is adapted from the Napa River Historical Ecology Atlas, a new book by Robin Grossinger, director of the Historical Ecology Program at the San Francisco Estuary Institute. The book is the result of 10 years of study of the Napa Valley, combining exhaustive research into historical documents and exploration of the landscape today. It is perhaps the most in-depth look at the historical character and transformation of any river in our region.
High praise indeed and well deserved. Love the part where it mentions the skimpy riparian tree borders and how wide they SHOULD be. Our historian friend Rick Lanman swapped some collaborative emails with Robin as we worked towards our historic beaver prevalence article. A dramatic graft that produced some very nice fruit! Go read the full article and think about buying Robin’s excellent book.
Beavers have recently been found in the Napa River for the first time in years–in the vicinity of Rutherford and downstream of Oak Knoll. But were they there historically? Early naturalists speculated not. And John Work, one of the earliest trappers to come through the North Bay, wrote of the Napa River in 1833: “The little river where we are encamped at appears very well adapted for beaver yet there appears to be none in it.” But six weeks later, the expedition sent a side party to the river, where they had earlier “found a few beaver.” Work also reported beavers a few miles away in the Sonoma Creek watershed; other sources also support the historical presence of beaver on the river. Trapping likely removed most beavers from the watershed by the 1840s. Before then, beaver dams would have increased the extent and persistence of wetlands along the river even beyond the amount documented in the 1850s and 1860s. In other regions, the importance of beaver ponds to salmon populations and overall stream function has been increasingly recognized, and their return can potentially help speed river recovery.
Nice! The article also reprints this excellent painting from Joseph Grinnell’s seminal “there are no beaver above 1000 feet AND California beavers don’t leave footprints or build lodges” chapter. It doesn’t say who painted it, and I don’t think it was him or Hilda, but I’d like to know because it’s lovely.
Speaking of lovely, there was a generous mudding show this morning at the secondary dam.Here’s a sampling of it. It’s so convenient when your building materials are so located so close to your project and even better when they’re so affordable! But if they also happen to be delicious, well, that’s just a bonus!
Moses had footage today of two young River Otters that visited the dams yesterday around 6:30. They chowed down some very glorious fish meals and then were chased off by a big beaver coming from above the primary to hasten their exit. Keep your eyes peeled because they may show up again.
