Well. just because our Martinez beavers have left the stage, doesn’t mean there isn’t fine urban beaver work afoot. Check out this FANTASTIC story from Fairfield about the Laurel creek beavers, and their champion, Virgina Holsworth.
Scouts clean stretch of Laurel Creek, learn about beaver habitat
FAIRFIELD — Dusk had settled onto Laurel Creek when the excitement level rose among the nine members of Scouts BSA Troop 482 who on Wednesday had walked and cleaned up a mile or so of the stream’s banks.
Popping a head out of the dark, breeze-rippled water, not far from its lodge, a beaver could be seen.
Moments earlier, a pair of whiskered river otters were spotted in the creek as well.
The appearance of the two aquatic mammals was the climax to the tour the scouts were guided on by Virginia Holsworth, who has made protecting the beavers and their self-constructed habitat on the creek one of her life’s missions.
Her Facebook page has more than 200 followers, and she maintains a website to provide information about Laurel Creek and other waterways in which beavers make their homes in the Fairfield area.
“It’s amazing. I really like beavers and otters,” said Taran Flowers, 11, the newest member of the troop, which is trying to rebuild after the Covid-19 pandemic prevented them from meeting in person and participating in their usual group activities.
Flowers sketched many of the dam sites along the creek. Art is just one of his many interests. Ultimately, he would like to be a baker.
I love every single thing about this story. Every photo, every adjective. As a woman who spent a decade wishing our story would replicate itself like an unfurling strand of bDNA this makes me as happy as I can remember being vicariously.
“My mom was looking through stuff on the internet and she thought it might be a good thing to do,” the younger deRosier said.
He said he enjoys the outdoor activities that have been lost to scouting during the pandemic, and particularly camping, his favorite activity.
“And we are absolutely worried about the beavers,” he said.
While Holsworth spent most of the tour teaching about the beavers and the creek environment, she also told the troop members about how the city comes in each year and tears down the largest of the dams.
The city contends that the dams contribute to flooding issues, and materials from the structures, when they break up, have contributed to millions of dollars in damages to city infrastructure.
Holsworth said the Covid-19 pandemic has slowed her campaign for the city to use other alternatives than simply tearing down the dams, but she said she has stayed in touch with city officials, and specifically Councilman Chuck Timm.
Go Virginia GO. Tell those children AND THAT REPORTER all about how the city cuts down the dam year. And one of the kids was sketching the dams? Jesus get that drawing, scan it, send it to the mayor and make sure it airs on the evening news. This is all falling into place. Well done!
“I’ll just say I haven’t received a response in my favor; I’ll just say that,” Holsworth said.
But that has not stopped her from trying to keep the public educated, including conducting tours to anyone who wants to come out and learn about the beavers.
“We did a creek cleanup; that was in June. And I have adopted the area of Laurel Creek where they (razed) the dam,” she said.
The creek adoption actually took place through the city’s road adoption program, and includes a signed two-year commitment to keep the creek clean and to “represent the creek well.”
Prior to the tour beginning, Holsworth had “salted” the area with four stuffed beaver toys for the scouts to find, which they did with little difficulty, once they realized what they were looking for among the natural sites.
So so smart. So so smart. Sniff, they grow up so young.
Holsworth has gone so far as to name each of the dams along that stretch of creek, such as the skunk dam due to the unexpected visitor arriving while they were there. In some cases, a cluster of dams fall under a single moniker, such as the Dickson Hill Complex – named for the nearby street.
“They build so many dams close together to slow the water down,” Holsworth said.
But she also told them that she knew very little about beavers and their environment until she took up the cause to try to preserve their habitat on Laurel Creek.
Some dams, as she pointed out, are made of tree material and mud, but in areas where trees are not abundant, they are built with cattails and fennels. She was able to show the scouts where the beavers had gnawed on trees, and an area referred to as an “otter latrine,” on one of the banks.
She also told the scouts that some beavers live in burrows built into the creek banks, while others live in open water lodges. The news that the city tears down the dams each fall did not sit all that well with the scouts.
Siddharth Kishan, 12, also described the tour as “amazing.”
Ohhhh you clever girl. Nicely done Ms. Virginia. Get them to care and them tell them why the dams are in danger. Now it’s up to the troop leader to hand them some paper and ask them to write the mayor.
As others walking along the creek came across the scouts, several noted they, too, had been in scouts in their younger days, recalling their exciting adventures.
“This is really fun,” said Logan Brooks, 13. “You can really see all of nature.”
Yes it is. And yes you do. Now go track down Taran Flowers and send him this. picture of the famous Jack laws sketching at the Martinez beaver dam. for Bay Nature in 2010.
