This came late last night from our beaver-friends in Tahoe. Remember they went to the city council meeting in truckee where a plan to restore Trout creek (that incidentally mentioned removing lots of beavers) was being reviewed. Reading Mary’s excited email I defy you not to remember our important council meetings!
WE WON! THE BEAVERS WON! THEY LISTENED! They are adding language to the MND to not harm beavers and work with us to use flow control devices and protect trees. Mike, they have your letter on file and there were copies for all in attendance. We will be making an appointment with the engineers and staff to review your video and go over specifics. On top of the world! Mary & Sherry
Congratulations ladies! Your group is doing a fantastic job of maintaining wildlife and wetlands by advocating for beavers! I am so excited for you and your accomplishments, and so affirmed in our decision to have offered you our first-ever beaver management scholarship. I’m sure we’ll have lots to talk about over a draft or nice chardonnay in Oregon when we all meet for the State of the Beaver conference! I’ll be the one with the beaver hat.
Here’s a copy of the letter Mike sent, just for reference;
I am writing to offer my expertise with any beaver management questions you may have regarding Trout Creek. The initial Trout Creek Restoration Plan was forwarded to me from some concerned citizens for my review. I would like to go on record as saying that since “a more stable and natural creek corridor with improved biological function and quality” is a stated goal of the plan, then maintaining an active local beaver population (which are a native species) should be an integral aspect of the plan.
Since 1998 in one of the most densely populated states in the country I have resolved over 700 beaver – human flooding conflicts with innovative, cost-effective water control devices. See the Beaver Management studies on our website at: www.beaversolutions.com. These studies have proven that installation of these simple water control devices provide better results than beaver trapping on the basis of flood damage protection, cost, environmental effects, long term success and humane parameters.
The vast majority of beaver-related flooding threats to human infrastructure can be resolved without removing the beavers. In fact, keeping the beavers in place provides many benefits to people and the environment, including creating the opportunity for the most cost-effective stream restoration possible. Beavers are North America’s “Keystone species”. This means that they are critically valuable for biodiversity. Stream restoration studies have proven that beavers are a key component to restoring biological diversity and natural stream flows. They do their stream restoration work naturally, and for free.
In addition, when we are forced to remove beavers from an area it is almost always a short term solution. New beavers often recolonize the trapped areas within 1 year, recreating the same flooding issues. There is a better way.
Please revisit the decision to remove the beavers from Trout Creek. The environment and the citizens of Truckee will benefit most if the Best Beaver Management Practices are followed and the Restoration Project incorporates beavers in the wetland habitat.
Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns regarding beaver management.
Sincerely,
Michael Callahan, President Beaver Solutions LLC Southampton, MA Office: (413) 527-6472 Web: www.beaversolutions.com E-mail: mike@beaversolutions.com Congratulations again ladies! It couldn’t happen to a nicer creek!
