Gazette Goes Global

Things to come?

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental February 19, 2013

Glynnis Hood’s excellent research on geese and beavers has been making the rounds, but a substantial piece appeared on Science: The Last Word yesterday. In addition to studying how beavers impact waterfowl, the article mentions several ongoing projects with students.

MSC student Nils Anderson is currently completing his thesis, under Professor Hood’s guidance, on how the modification of aquatic habitats by beavers influences amphibians. It will detail interesting findings about the way that digging of channels by beavers aids in the dispersal of metamorphosed wood frogs. There is also some indication that breeding adults returning to the pond might use these channels in a preferential nature.

How cool is that? How’d you like to get your dissertation by counting frogs in a beaver pond? Our own friend Jeff Alvarez of the Wildlife project. He has apparently had an article accepted for publication in Herpetological Review this summer. Apparently beaver lodges are very important to the endangered red-legged frogs, which should surprise no one! Check out some of the other research Glynnis is involved with.

“Dr Larson and I currently have a paper in review that presents results relating to aquatic macro-invertebrates,” Professor Hood told me. “Again the channels dug by beavers in their ponds seem to be hotspots for various taxa of aquatic macro-invertebrates, the predators in particular. We also have a paper in preparation that will reveal the dramatic physical alterations beavers make to these ponds and how those alterations influence landscape connectivity.”

I recently asked Glynnis how she managed to get such awesome press coverage from a million sources all on the same day her article was released. She said that the campus has a media specialist that writes and handles all their releases, and that she was wonderful. I obviously agree!

Maybe all these rumors of research don’t mean much to the average reader so here’s something that is truly inspiring. It’s an community climate change awareness art project that just happened in Oregon. Look at this video and imagine that instead of reminding people about climate change and salmon, it was reminding people about all the wildlife that depends on beavers.

Worth A Dam Weekend

heidi08 Beavers or Social Ambasadors, Creative Solutions, Environmental November 6, 2009

So tomorrow will be the ceremony for the John Muir Association Conservation Award. It will take place downtown, at the Campbell Theatre and be hosted by Lee Stetson, the actor who played the affirming voice of John Muir in the Ken Burns documentary series. Awards will be presented for best organizational contribution (East Bay Regional Parks) best education contribution (David Loeb, publisher of Bay Nature), best business contribution (T. Marzetti Co in Ohio) and best individual contribution (Jeff Alvarez of the Wildlife Project).

Regular readers of this blog will recognize Jeff’s name as the biologist who had volunteered to help us with our interpretive signs grant way back when. Jeff has been an enthusiastic supporter for beavers and Worth A Dam, and will be joining our meeting this weekend to talk about upcoming projects. We couldn’t be happier for him or more excited about our work together. Here’s the press release regarding his much-deserved win:

Named Conservationist of the Year, Jeff Alvarez will be recognized for his lifelong advocacy for wildlife and habitat conservation. Alvarez is the owner and Chief Biologist for The Wildlife Project. His prodigious volunteer work on behalf of wildlife and the environment goes well beyond his business interests. As a volunteer, he has trained professional peers in federal permitting issues for special-status species in order to increase the number of qualified biologists able to work towards the conservation of threatened and endangered species in California . He has lent his expertise, as a volunteer, to assist the Agricultural and Natural Resource Land Trust of Contra Costa County, the Biological Field Studies Association, the Mt. View Sanitation District, and many others. He has created and published techniques for surveying wildlife that minimize impacts on the wildlife. His articles on special-status species have been published in scientific journals, and he shares his expertise by providing gratis presentations on natural history and wildlife management to public agencies and nonprofit organizations. Alvarez is currently fulfilling a ten-year volunteer commitment to assist CASA Avian Support Alliance in Belize with the assessment of reforestation and avian populations. He also assists with wildlife rehabilitation and environmental education, including The Resources of Belize Coloring and Activity Book to be distributed to children in Belize . Alvarez is one of those individuals whose wide-ranging enthusiasm on behalf of wildlife and the environment influences others to care about the natural world around them.

Alright, an award ceremony, a Worth A Dam meeting with brilliant new minds, aren’t you doing anything else this weekend, you lazy beaver advocates? How about a display at the Trail Adventure to benefit Save Mt. Diablo at Castle Rock park in Walnut Creek? Well, okay. We’ll be at the expo from 9-12 where you can learn all about the various advocacy groups in the Bay Area.

The Save Mount Diablo Trail Adventure presented by Chevron offers a Half-Marathon, 10K Run, and Family Hike beginning at Castle Rock Park in Walnut Creek, climbing the fire roads up the slopes of Mount Diablo and finishing at Castle Rock. The event includes post race entertainment by a live band, expo and lunch for all participants.

Save Mt. Diablo is the big leagues in non-profit baseball. It takes big money to save a mountain, especially when you are saving it from being sold for even bigger money. They invited us after seeing how enormously popular our site was at the Flyway Fiesta event. We will be there to talk beavers, make friends and find out some excellent ideas for next years beaver festival! Stop by and say hi!

Friday snippets

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental April 3, 2009

During the week I usually get a few beaver-related blurbs that aren’t juicy enough for a full post but are still are worth sharing. This week was no exception, and I’m thinking that Friday is the perfect day to run some little stories to get us ready for the weekend.

First up is the exciting back story to LK’s butterfly observation. She wrote that she was seeing clouds migrating over highway 4. Apparently she wasn’t the only one. Gary Bogue wrote a column for this week’s Contra Costa Times on the enchanting migration of “painted ladies”, from the desert of their birth in Southern California. In case you missed them, here’s one to identify for next time.

How about another reason to reintroduce beavers in Scotland? This news from the BBC talks about an alarming decline in the Cranefly population, leading to a staggering loss in the bird population. The problem is climate-change related, cause by the loss of pools where flies can reproduce. The article suggests creating a series of (wait for it) little dams. “For example, by blocking drainage ditches on our Forsinard reserve in the North of Scotland we hope to raise water levels and reduce the likelihood of the cranefly larvae drying out in hot summers.” Now we know what can make and maintain those little “ditches” for you.

Remember the beaver problem that appeared every morning for conflict resolution to a South Carolina Farmer? Kristin was wondering how to adapt a beaver deceiver to a spillway, so I wrote Skip Lisle and he got in touch with her. Soon those beavers will be roundly deceived.

If you have an even longer memory you might recall the beavers at the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau Alaska. They had the good fortune to attract some hardworking volunteers (and an award winning photographer) who gathered together to regularly help undo the beavers most troublesome handiwork.The beavers were slated for extermination but temporarily saved from the executioner. We admired their effort and got in touch with them. The primary concern was allowing passage for large Coho Salmon and making sure that beavers, (or beaver-devices), didn’t interfere with this lucrative fishy business. Word is that they are working hard to secure a comprehensive beaver management plan for the area; one that doesn’t include trapping. More on this later.

There will be another class at Mt. View Sanitation next weekend, specifically on planting for pollinators. It will be taught by Jeff Alvarez, founder of The Wildlife Project who it turns out is a big fan of our beavers and has agreed to help his friend Kelly help us with our interpretive sign design. Let’s get some beaver friends to increase the turnout.

Go Native – Planting for Pollinators
Saturday, April 11, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm
Attract birds, butterflies and beneficial insects. Learn to diversify
your garden by including California native plants that provide food, shelter and nesting places for wildlife.

Nothing to do the weekend after that? Wrong. The John Muir Birthday-Earthday Celebration will be an rollicking good eco time. Plan to be there on Saturday April 18th between 10 and 4. In addition to the bagpipes, remarkable displays, performances, and the ever popular recycled trash fashion show, Worth A Dam will be in prominent display, our first since fall. We will be raffling two hard to get tickets to the Creek Seekers Express eco tour ride from Jack London to Martinez. It will feature a guided lecture from the marine curator of the Oakland Museum and never before seen footage of the Martinez Beavers. Don’t miss your chance at getting to participate in this historic opportunity.