One of the beavers is seen recently at Griff Creek munching on a branch.

North Tahoe officials: Human beings, beavers can peacefully co-exist

Matt Renda Sierra Sun

KINGS BEACH, Calif. — Human beings and beavers can peacefully co-exist, Tahoe wildlife advocates said during a recent community forum, and Placer County officials agreed, vowing to explore alternatives to hunting and killing the animals. Co-existence is especially practical since the recent advent of many Tahoe-based water flow control devices and techniques which successfully manage flooding hazards and damage to property associated with beavers and their dam building.

Now isn’t that a great beginning to an article? The news out of Kings Beach affirms the report of our own Lory Bruno who attended the meeting in person. Apparently there is broad support for humanely maintaining the beavers the ‘next time’ they come to town. Honestly if we keep having success stories like this I pledge to start a new section on the website called “Who’s saving beavers now?”.

The primary solution for the specific problem at Griff Creek consists of installing a Flexible Pond Leveler, Millham said, a water flow control device designed to ensure the water of the beaver-created pond will not reach flood levels that could potentially create a driving hazard on a nearby section of Highway 28.

The Flexible Pond Leveler — invented by Mike Callahan, owner of the Southampton, Mass.-based company Beaver Solutions — makes use of a pipe, with the outflow portion installed in the middle of a beaver dam allowing water to flow through the dam instead of over it. The intake portion of the pipe is protected by wire fence, to prevent beavers from clogging the pipe.

Okay now THAT’s some good press. Good for beavers, good for beaver friends, good for Kings Beach. A very interesting conversation is brewing in the community about how to respond to the new plan to deal with the situation humanely next time. There are some who are so upset about the shooting of those four beavers that they want to ask for the director of public works’ head on a plate. And then there are the more conciliatory ‘lets wait and see’ voices. My favorite was from a smart childcare worker who said ‘lets hope for the best and not burn bridges’ and ‘btw I’m having every child in the day care personally make a card for the director and the supervisor thanking them for keeping their promise’.

Ahhh now that’s a woman after my own heart! Miss Manners meets Machiavelli!

Representatives from Wylie Animal Rescue Foundation and Worth A Dam — a beaver advocacy organization — pledged $500 each to the project during the forum.

Oooh good press for us too! There are lots of great things in the article, go read for yourself, and only a few head scratchers (protect trees with cayenne pepper?) But the very best and smartest part from the reporter, (who we already know does his research), comes from the price comparison for the cost of shooting the beavers. Check it out:

By the numbers

Costs of Placer County beaver removal operation at Griff Creek

• Direct cost to Placer County for California Conservation Corps crew: $5,700

• Indirect cost to state of California to maintain that crew: $2,800

• Cost to Placer County Department of Public Works to plan and administer project: $500

• Cost of Placer County Wildlife Agents (which carried out the hunting and killing of the beavers): $500

• Costs of refuse disposal, erosion control materials: $500

• Total: $10,000

Costs of installing water flow control device:

• Materials: $1,500

• Permitting: $500

• Annual maintenance: $150

• Total (over a 10-year period): $3,500

-Source: Tahoe Truckee Wildlife Coalition

Now that’s what I like to see! Good luck Kings Beach. You have funds, friends and a promise from the powers that be. That’s all any city with beavers can hope for.

“We need to do all the preparation work so that once the device is built — it stays,” Placer county Supervisor Jennifer Montgomery said. “We can truly be an example to the rest of the lake, and I know Peter and I are committed to making sure what happened to the Griff Creek beavers doesn’t happen again.”

This lovely image is from the independent newspaper “Moonshine Ink”, covering Truckee and North Lake Tahoe. A letter to the editor caught my attention, outraged that a family of beavers had been killed near Kings Beach. Apparently the decision was defended with the timeless argument “Beavers aren’t native” to Lake Tahoe.

After the fit of apoplexy that resulted in my nearly swallowing my own keyboard, I coughed out a letter in response and then ran straight to our local historian to implore him to the wikipedia rescue. He kindly stopped what he was doing and dispatched a salient and heavily researched “ecology” piece pitched to all those SUV bumper stickers that read “Keep Tahoe Blue”. Check it out.

Beaver (Castor canadensis) were re-introduced to the Tahoe Basin by the California Department of Fish and Game and the U. S. Forest Service between 1934 and 1949. Descended from no more than nine individuals, 1987 beaver populations on the upper and lower Truckee River had reached a density of 0.72 colonies (3.5 beavers) per kilometer.^[21] Despite controversy that beaver are not native to the area, the historic range of beaver included all areas of the United States, excepting southern Florida, and even reached the deserts bordering Mexico on the Rio Grande and Colorado Rivers.^[22] Until recently, beaver were considered pests who caused flooding and impaired the passage of spawning trout and salmon. However, water levels in beaver dams can be easily controlled with flow devices;^[23] and it has been shown that trout and salmon move freely across beaver dams.^[24] In spite of the published literature, all of the beaver dams in Taylor Creek, which flows from Fallen Leaf Lake to Lake Tahoe, are destroyed annually each fall by the U. S. Forest Service in order for Kokanee salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) to spawn. A recent study of Taylor Creek showed that the beaver dam removal decreased wetland habitat, increased stream flow, and increased total phosphorus pollutants entering Lake Tahoe – all factors which negatively impact the clarity of the lake’s water.^[25] In addition, beaver dams located in Ward Creek, located on the west shore of Lake Tahoe, were also shown to decrease nutrients and sediments traveling downstream (United States Geologic Survey 2002). Beavers increase wetland areas which trap sediments and improve water quality. The presence of beaver dams has also been shown to either increase the number of fish, their size, or both, including a study of brook, rainbow and brown trout in Sagehen Creek, which flows into the Little Truckee River at an altitude of 5,800 feet and is a stream typical of the eastern slope of the northern Sierra Nevada Mountains.^[26] Unfortunately, in November, 2009 a beaver family was caught in snares underwater and drowned in a King’s Beach, California stream when Placer County Fish and Game ordered their removal for fear that the beaver would cause flooding.^[27]

Ahh it’s great when friends come to the rescue. Does anyone from the area have a photo of these beavers? He’s looking for a family portrait to add to the text. I know we have a beaver supporter in truckee, just can’t remember their name. If you’re reading this, write and remind me? In the meantime, my meager skills can only offer this: