Because the beaver isn't just an animal; it's an ecosystem!

Tag: Mary Willson


Mary Willson: Curiosity-driven life

Mary Willson sets up a mist net during her work involving American Dippers. They banded caught birds and, over the course of their study, found that contrary to the results of a study conducted outside Alaska, male American Dippers in this environment play a role in nest sanitation.

Though it’s hard to pinpoint when she first became interested in ecology, she was always curious about the world. It was when she was in graduate school that she discovered instead of going to the library to look something up, she could go outside and find out for herself.

 “The answer was not in the literature. It was essentially an unknown, and you could go and find it out. That’s very cool,” she said. After her first grad school course, “there was really no turning back.

If the name sounds familiar, it should. She is the friend of Bob Armstrong in Juneau that worked on the Mendenhall glacier treasure, which I still love leafing through. The pair also invited Mike Callahan come out, survey the area and to do a beaver management plan for the site in 2009 and lead a volunteer group in the meantime to keep removing dams so that no one needed to trap them. Looks like she’s still a believer.

Willson goes for regular walks with friends including Armstrong and Hocker, on which they usually find at least three or four really interesting things to explore, she said. She volunteers as a member of the informally-dubbed “beaver patrol,” which helps monitor beaver habitat and ensure dams don’t negatively affect trails or other wildlife around the Mendenhall Lake and Dredge Lake.

“The idea is that you don’t have to kill the beavers. They’re actually useful. We like them, but they make ponds that are very good for juvenile coho,” Willson said. The ponds also create habitat for ducks, sandpipers, warblers, and other birds.

Yes they do, Mary. Nicely put. You are the voice of nature in Juneau, was just met some folks who lived in Alaska and sang your praises. Keep preaching the beaver gospel and let us know if you ever need help.

And because this is OLD HOME week at beaver central, we might as well visit an old classmate that didn’t do as well.

bakersBeavers return to Park at Riverwalk

In 2007, a beaver which destroyed several trees along the bike path received an outpouring of support from the community after California Department of Fish & Game officials issued a kill order. The issue received national attention and the kill order was later rescinded.

According to Bakersfield City Clerk Roberta Gafford, beavers have been spotted recently at The Park at River Walk .In a release, Gafford said that “staff is in the process of wrapping trees with green nylon fencing, and will continue to monitor tree damage.”

That’s right, the city that famously learned the hard way that orange netting to protect trees doesn’t work and looks silly has turned over a new leaf. After years of letters of phone calls from me personally, as well as countless others, they finally understand that killing beavers brings national controversy their way and they have learned the error of their ways. They fully understand why that netting failed last time.

It was the wrong color.

Banging Head on Computer Keyboard, Street sign style gif



Beaver dam at Mendenhall Glacier: Photo Bob Armstrong


Remember our old friends Bob Armstrong and Mary Willson from Juneau? The were the ones that documented the activity of the beavers at the Mendenhall glacier park and published this lovely book. They also organized volunteers to rip out the dams so that the beavers wouldn’t need to be killed until the rangers could pay for Mike Callahan to come out and do a beaver management plan. It seems like a million years ago now, but its nice to see this morning that Bob and Mary are still going strong!

As we climbed back up the hill to the main West Glacier Trail, we noted old beaver works high on the slope. Several trees had, long ago, been chewed or cut down. At first thought, it seemed odd for beavers to clamber so far up a hill, when trees seemed to be available closer to shore. Then we recalled that a couple of years ago, a beaver lived for a time above the Eaglecrest lodge, building small dams and a house. So beavers do what they need to do, in order to survive.

Go read the whole thing for a gentle friday stroll with two remarkable naturalists. Bob has a nice photo of a water strider, but sadly no beaver dams in this article.  Here at home there was snow on Mt. Diablo this morning and in the world of ironic just desserts my internet is down this morning so I’m posting this on the cities dime. I bet they’re happy they installed free WIFI downtown. I can just barely reach it if I face north in the coldest bay window of the house!

Also happy anniversary to a certain Englishman who has traveled with me on life’s journey for 26 years today. You know who you are.


THE IBIS TOM RUSERT was trying to release in Yolo County realized it had a good thing going with the avid birder and did not want to leave his side - make that head.

Rusert Earns Bird Award

Our good friend, Tom Rusert, of Sonoma Birding was in the paper Friday for some pretty amazing news. Seems he’s this years winner of the American Birding Association’s Ludlow Griscom Award for outstanding contribution in Regional Ornithology.

Given to individuals who have dramatically advanced the state of ornithological knowledge for a particular region. This may be through their long-time contributions in monitoring avian status and distribution, facilitating the publication of state bird books, breeding bird atlases and significant papers on the regional natural history of birds. This may also be through the force of their personality, teaching and inspiration.

Emily’s article is a great read and really gives you a sense of how remarkable this recognition is for someone who’s ‘spare time’ has created an exciting, national movement. Regular readers will remember that Tom is the director of the Valley of the Moon Lecture Series where I spoke about the Martinez Beavers this year. He has visions of beavers returning soon to Sonoma, bringing waves of birds and salmon with them. He’s already invited Michael Pollock to dovetail a lecture when he’s presenting at the State of the Estuary Conference in September. Not small world enough for you? Tom will be maintaining a booth and leading a children’s bird walk at this years Beaver Festival!

Congratulations, Tom with recognition much deserved! We couldn’t be happier for you!

Beaver dam at Mendenhall Glacier: Photo Bob Armstrong

Want more good news? Read this article about the long-haul beaver advocates in Juneau. Remember Bob Armstrong and Mary Willson whose lovely book on the Mendenhall Glacier Beavers you’ve probably seen lying around? Well they convinced US Forestry to come with funds to have Mike Callahan of Beaver Solutions out to teach them how to safely manage beavers. Now they’ve installed their first flow device and are excited to implement more.

Willson, who is a retired professor of ecology and co-leader of the Beaver Patrol, had been one of eight who worked last week to install the culvert. The group, who has worked since 2007 to preserve the resources, trails and animal residents of the Dredge Lakes area, spent a full day installing two of these apparatuses. Willson said they are called levelers and their installation will help lower and manage water levels in flooded areas and restore currently un-useable trails.

Great work, Bob, Mary, Mike & helpers! the beavers of Juneau thank you!

And finally, a rumor from a ranger at JMA lead me to check out this article from Patch and the Gazette and contact Mr. Chandler about adding possible beaver footage to the new City Channel 28. He wrote back Friday and suggested that they would be willing to air 10 minutes of promotion for the Beaver Festival, and possibly a review afterwards. Assuming the council gives it’s approval, look for this on your TV screen soon!


Lory came back from her Alaska trek this weekend, and brought lovely photos of her adventures. She had a nice meeting with Bob Armstrong and Mary Willson who worked together to produce the beavers of Mendenhall Glacier book. She was a little sad for the hardworking beavers, since volunteers have been avidly removing dams every time they’re built for the past three years. Wow. What a battle of wills! I bet I know whose would last longer.

The good news is that Mike Callahan trekked out this summer and do an assessment of 19 problem sights. So once they work out the financial details, he’ll come back and the beavers will get to enjoy actual fruits to their labors. Check out the gnawed trees in her photos. That’s some serious chewing.

The other great thing about her trip was hiking out to Horseshoe Lake at Denali National Park to see if she could some some actual beavers. What a great treat to see them in this massive lake at the foot of lovely mountains. Check out the photos here and plan your trip soon.

We wanted to share with you the amazing experience we had with the beavers at Horseshoe Lake. Martinez should be very proud that our beavers have come to live here.  When you see beavers out on a beautiful pond surrounded by beautiful mountains in a clear lake, it does make you wonder why our beavers have chosen our little creek with all its garbage!

Ahhh, some people spend all their money to move into nice houses with glorious views, and some move into fixeruppers and take a transformational journey while they work on developing them into landmarks.

Our beavers have vision!

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=WTNegWBCxLI]

DONATE

TREE PROTECTION

BAY AREA PODCAST

Our story told around the county

Beaver Interactive: Click to view

LASSIE INVENTS BDA

URBAN BEAVERS

LASSIE AND BEAVERS

Ten Years

The Beaver Cheat Sheet

Restoration

RANGER RICK

Ranger rick

The meeting that started it all

Past Reports

November 2024
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
252627282930  

Story By Year

close

Share the beaver gospel!