Tag: Mike Settell

BEAVER DAM JAM: IDAHO’S WEALTHY WATERSHED

heidi08 Beavers August 6, 2024

I get a selfish and affirming pleasure every summer when I read about this. Of course it is much much much harder to have a beaver festival in Idaho. Martinez is a mere pittance by comparison. But this still makes me annually grin from ear to ear.

Annual Beaver Dam Jam Idaho set Aug. 24 to benefit Watershed Guardians

POCATELLO — The annual Watershed Guardians Beaver Dam Jam Idaho will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. Aug. 24 at Lookout Point, 426 W Lewis St., in Old Town Pocatello. This event helps support beaver conservation.

Billed as “a music event to help keep your watershed vibrant by protecting beaver,” the jam will feature four bands, food, raffles, kids’ activities, demonstrations, vendors and organizations. This year’s theme is “Imagine the Possibilities.”

Just Imagine what Idaho would look like if every ranch and watershed was working to let beavers back. It makes me dizzy just thinking about it. Good theme, Mike.

There is no charge for the event, however, guests have the opportunity to donate and be entered into a raffle for an e-bike, and other items will be raffled.

Major event sponsors include Lookout Credit Union, Sportsman’s Warehouse, The Yellowstone Restaurant (providing food and donating a portion of proceeds to Watershed Guardians) and Elmer’s. A variety of other sponsors have also contributed.

Wonderful. I just love imagining that there is another human being who’s year is similar to mike: viewing every favorite business or new friend as a possible potential source for a new donation to the festival. Solidarity, Mike.

Watershed Guardians benefits the Portneuf Watershed by helping beaver. Proceeds from the events will support BeaverCount, a free winter event to census beaver colonies in the Portneuf watershed.

“Funds raised help us pay for snowshoe and ski rental for our annual BeaverCount,” said Mike Settell, Watershed Guardians director. “ We don’t have a city, agency or corporate entity covering operating expenses. We are a 100% volunteer organization. Your support helps fund projects such as BeaverDeceivers, Pond Levelers and ISU scholarships. Please join us Aug. 24, 5 to 9 p.m. for some good music, fun and raffles.”

More information on the event is also available by contacting Mike Settell at mike@watershedguardians.org.

Good for you Mike, and good for pocatello! I first met Mike when I read about him getting a grant from audubon for his beaver count way back in 2014. He’s been doing this as long as I have and I have to imagine the trickle down effect is glowing strong.

It only takes a spark.

CHECKING IN ON ALL OUR BEAVER FRIENDS

heidi08 Beavers and Ranchers, Beavers and trout, Friends of Martinez Beavers, pictures January 17, 2020

Lots of beaver news today. Lets focus on or friends, first! Mike Settell in Pocatello Idaho is doing another beaver count! How can it be that his volunteers look frozen but he looks young and cheerful after all these years!

Watershed Guardians to hold their 9th annual BeaverCount

On Feb. 1 and Feb. 8 Watershed Guardians will hold its 9th annual BeaverCount, a free snowshoe event to raise awareness of the important role beaver play keeping the Portneuf River watershed healthy.

On Feb. 1, volunteers will meet at the Mink Creek Nordic Center at 10 a.m. where a training will be held for anyone interested in counting beaver activity. The training will include winter outdoor preparedness and censusing techniques for beaver. Participants will also learn about their watershed. This training is for newcomers and BeaverCount veterans, known as “Flattailers.” Flattailers are encouraged to attend the training to update their skills.

Man that’s smart! I wanna be a flat-tailer! Don’t you?

Snowshoes and food will be provided by Watershed Guardians for both weekends. Participants must pre-register, which they can do on the Watershed Guardians Facebook page or at the website, www.watershedguardians.org. Should conditions warrant on Feb. 7, the count will be rescheduled for Feb. 15. Please check Facebook and/or the website for updates on weather conditions during the week prior to Feb. 8.

Watershed Guardians is a 501c (3) non-profit whose mission is to, ” Protect, maintain and restore the Portneuf River Watershed, one beaver at a time.” Data collected from BeaverCount is used to influence management decisions with regard to trapping regulations.

Brave beaver-loving Mike has been at this work nearly as long as us. On a tougher landscape where fur-trapping abounds. Thank goodness he’s willing to snowshoe every year and share what he knows!

Let’s stop by our local Sonoma beavers next and see what they’re up to, shall we?

Bill Lynch: Frankly, my beaver, we don’t give a dam

The Sonoma Index-Tribune recently published a couple of articles about beavers and otters in Sonoma Creek (“Otters Join Beavers in Sonoma Creek,” Dec. 27).

It’s a good sign, not just because it’s nice to know that Sonoma Valley’s main waterway is actually clean enough to support wildlife, but also because beavers can actually improve life for other critters, including my favorite, rainbow trout.

Our Sonoma Valley creeks used to be home to a healthy population of steelhead/rainbow trout and spawning areas for king and Coho salmon. In my boyhood here we could fish for trout in most of our streams through the spring and early summer.

Since those days, our creeks have lost more than half of their water and many completely dry up by June and stay that way until the fall rains return.

This kills any chance for salmon fry and steelhead trout fry to survive.

I don’t understand the headline. Shouldn’t it be “We should all give a dam?” But the column is excellent! That’s what we need. A few more beaver friends argue that saving salmon and trout depends on them. Thanks Bill! Have we met?

About a year and a half ago, I visited the Scott River valley were local residents formed the Scott River Watershed Council (SRWC) and are working with Dr. Michael Pollock, eco-system analyst for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In this little community people are doing something about bringing back their creeks.

The river, no bigger than our own Sonoma Creek, was once a prolific salmon and steelhead spawning resource, before it was ruined by past gold mining. Then climate change and other factors caused it and its tributaries to dry up during most summers.

But in 2014 SRWC began constructing “beaver dam analogues,” which are human made structures that mimic natural beaver dams, store water and create habitat for all kinds of local species, including steelhead trout and Coho salmon. Over time, these naturally appearing dams create pools where fish can survive.

Dottie and I met with Betsy Stapleton, chairman of the SRWC, who showed us some of the work her group has done on the creek. The results are impressive. They were able to preserve large areas of fresh, clean water in which Coho and trout fry are surviving. Every season, the fish count goes up.

Real beavers are helpful, but when there are not enough of them, small grassroots projects like those in the Scott River Valley can really help. Perhaps something like that would work here.

Oh yeah. Now that’s what I like to see. A beaver friend we don’t know yet talking about a beaver friend we already know! The stage is filling up. Soon you won’t be able to swing a dead salmon without hitting someone who knows why beavers matter!

Even in Silicon Valley there are friends looking out for beavers. Take this excellent photo taken by Erica Fleniken of the Southbay Creeks Coalition yesterday morning on the Guadelupe. She says she was watching two beavers swim and snapped this beautiful photo.

Two beavers in January mean kits in June. Big smile.

BEAVERS BUSTING THEIR BUTTONS

heidi08 Beaver Behavior August 19, 2019

If you were very lucky growing up, somewhere in your busy life you’ve had a grandma. great aunt. or former scout leader that was so supportive of you she or he just glowed when you lit up the room. They bragged to everyone they knew about you. They might not have been too sharp with the details of your accomplishment, whether it was graduating eighth grade or coming in second at the science fair, but they were just so gosh darn proud of you for doing it.

This article feels a little like that. Good for Mike.

Watershed Guardians annual Beaver Dam Jam at Mink Creek

Kay Merriam of Pocatello has a Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut. She was the president of the state League of Women Voters for two years and president of the Pocatello chapter for two years as well. She was the president of the Bannock County Planning and Zoning Committee for 11 years and on the Pocatello-Chubbuck District 25 School Board for six years.

The Beavers Dam Jam at the Mink Creek Pavilion on Aug. 24 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. will be terrific, especially when you get into the particulars of this yearly event: live music by Better Than Nothing, food from El Caporal, a silent auction, a raffle for a boat and boating gear plus games and demonstrations, plus lots of people who, along with you, appreciate the beauty of living in the Pocatello area. Even better, this event will take place in the forest up in Mink Creek with the sound of water flowing by, the fragrance of trees and time away from the hum-drum of everyday life in town.

Mike Settell, founder of Watershed Guardians, has sponsored this event since he started it six years ago. Each year, there are different items to raffle and more fun to have. Besides, it is entertaining and held in a beautiful area. Tickets are $30 per car and the food is free (if you get there early enough to take advantage of the wonderful spread prepared). To obtain a ticket, all you need to do is call Mike Settell at 208 220 3336. It will help if you share your transportation with others to avoid a surplus of cars in the parking area at the pavilion. So, drive beyond the turn off to Scout Mountain and then watch for the pavilion on the right side of Mink Creek.

What a great job he’s doing! Remember, this is the Idaho State Journal not the Pocatello gazette. Honestly, could she be any prouder?

Wait a minute! What is the purpose of this event? Well, it’s all about beavers and the fun you can have while acquiring more information about them. To begin, long ago, over 60 million of these rodents met explorers as they crossed this country. Now, there are fewer than 20 million. Why? Well, there was a time when explorers and or trappers saw beautiful beaver fur as ways to make elegant hats. Later, beavers were also prized as having odors to be used for making terrific perfume. Now, people are beginning to understand the true value of these animals as they change an area by cutting down trees and building ponds which are vastly helpful for diminishing storm overflow. At one time, Native Americans appreciated beavers because they provided a rich watery habitat including other mammals and birds.

In this area, there are spots along Mink creek where trapping is allowed. However, several years ago, Mr. Settell pointed out to Forest Service employees that it would be wise to change the site of these trapping spots. His suggestion was heard. But, why should beavers be appreciated? If you have noticed storm water diminishing or destroying communities, roads, agricultural lands and more as a component of climate change, beavers can be seen as natural helpers in diminishing unbridled rivers and streams in geographically suitable areas.

Yeah Mike! Yeah beavers! Yeah Kay Merriam!

It has been said on TV that “if you do nothing, you can’t be blamed.” However, when a powerful response to a large problem is presented by a citizen such as Mike Settell when he started Watershed Guardians, it is clear that doing something is far more important than doing nothing. Watershed Guardians is the only beaver conservation organization in Idaho and it is having a positive effect. While some people perhaps think of beavers at all as being cute but malicious tree choppers and or hard workers, the most credit these rodents have been given in the U.S. (beavers are the official emblem of Canada) is in quotes such as “leave it to beaver” or “busy as a beaver”. Enough is enough. Come to the Mink Creek pavilion to have fun, learn more and meet others for whom learning about and seeing the value of beavers is important.

Oh goodness. Reading Kay’s bio I’m thinking maybe the two knew each other from their years in the classroom? I think Mike used to teach science. I’m so glad that this vote of confidence came from such a visible source. I hope a thousand people carpool to your event and learn about beavers!

(I’m still marveling that apparently having a Ph.D. in Idaho goes such a long way. Because I can’t remember the last time a reporter wrote that something had “Been said on television”. (!) Aren’t quotes usually more specifically sourced?)

Yesterday I stumbled across this moment using my own Ph.D. Yet another example of beaver nativity in california. And yes, that Yount became the founder of Yountville you’ve all visited in the wine country.

Boy I bet he was surprised to find out CDFW once said there were no beaver in California!

Finally, here’s some wonderful underwater footage taken by Jak Wonderly (The gentleman friend of Suzi Eszterhas and an amazing photographer) of the rescued beaver in Sonoma. Look at how easy life is underwater for these swimmers.

MONEY FOR BEAVERS AND YOUR FISH FOR FREE

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers, BDA's, beaver myths, Beavers and Birds August 11, 2019

Well it looks like someone’s getting a nice fat grant from NOAA to help fish by helping beavers. Ain’t it funny how life works? I mean in Wisconsin you could probably get a grant for destroying beaver dams because you said it would help fish.

Location. Location. Location.

National Marine Fisheries Service grants $15 million for salmon habitat

SALEM — Oregon’s salmon and steelhead bearing streams will benefit from $15 million recently allocated by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The Pacific Coast Salmon Recovery Fund money, along with Oregon Lottery proceeds, are granted to the state’s soil and water conservation districts and watershed councils by the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board to improve habitat for species listed on the federal Endangered Species List.

In Wheeler County, Chase Schultz, the soil and water conservation district manager, said the grants he’s received through the Watershed Enhancement Board are used to cool stream temperatures and improve water quality with streamside planting and fake beaver dams.

“Beaver dam analogs are a hot button topic,” Schultz said.

Built from untreated wooden posts driven perpendicularly into the stream and woven with willow whips, the analogs simulate a beaver dam by spreading a stream’s water out into the floodplain, benefiting adjacent wetlands, Schultz said. The analogs also increase stream flow later in the summer, slowing water down that is released longer into the summer and early fall.

The hope, Schultz said, is to create the habitat to attract beavers to move in and maintain the dams.

The best part, he said, is the dams quickly create desired results. Immediately following the 2017 installation of a dam on Bear Creek, a tributary to the lower stem of the John Day River, Schultz said water started backing up and extended a wetted reach almost 2 miles.

You know how it is. Everyone wants the popular kids to sit at their table. Sometimes you get lucky and a family of beavers moves right in and starts doing your work for free. It’s a pretty fine day when that happens, I can tell you.

<span style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" data-mce-type="bookmark" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span><span style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" data-mce-type="bookmark" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span>There’s more good news on the beaver bandwagon because our Idaho friends will be hosting their SIXTH beaver dam jam. Wonderful!

6th annual Beaver Dam Jam to raise Money for watershed guardians

POCATELLO — The 6th annual Watershed Guardians Beaver Dam Jam to support beaver conservation will present music and other activities from 4 to 8 p.m. Aug. 24 at the Mink Creek Pavilion.

The pavilion is located in the Caribou National Forest at the Mink Creek Group Camp Site on South Mink Creek Road outside of Pocatello.

Besides live music, the event features food, a silent auction and a super raffle featuring a boat and boating gear among other items. There will be games and demonstrations.

All of Idaho should thank the heavens for sending Mike Settell to Pocatello and getting this started. He had the vision to find friends and make this happen. It seems a very long time ago indeed that I first read about Mike getting a grant from Audubon to help in his beaver count. Now he does it with a team of volunteers in snowshoes every winter. And rocks out at the beaver dam jam every summer.

That’s a busy man!

“The event is in (a) great setting with great music and food,” said Mike Settell, founder of Watershed Guardians, the organization sponsoring this event. “We are doing this because beaver do more to help preserve healthy native fisheries than perhaps any other factor, and Watershed Guardians is the only beaver conservation organization in Idaho working to ensure they remain.”

See what I mean? Beavers seem to get the best champions.

Oh and lets throw out one more beaver shout to Jennalee Larson Naturalist Intern at Good Earth State Park in South Dakota. For some reason the Dakotas have always been smarter about beavers than lots of their neighbors. Well, mostly.

Just for Kids: SD Children in Nature

Beavers are known as ecosystem engineers. Ecosystem engineers are animals that create, change, and maintain a habitat. These animals strongly affect the other animals living there.

Beavers make small changes that can really impact their ecosystems. They create dams by removing living trees and using them as a part of the structure. Once they create their dam, a pond often forms which brings an abundant amount of new biodiversity (variety of life). Some birds are unaffected by the destruction of trees while other decline or increase in number. Because the dams create ponds, there is a wading area for birds to thrive in as well as a place to lay their eggs if a dam happened to be abandoned. Reptiles benefit as the beavers create a basking area for them on logs. They also benefit from the loss of trees because the forest then grows new early vegetation and the dam creates a slow moving water which some animals prefer. Invertebrates that prefer slow-moving water start to increase in number

Create a yummy dam out of pretzels for a snack: Use peanut butter spread, marshmallow, or chocolate spread depending on preference. Add stick pretzels to the spread of your choice. Once it is all mixed, give each kid a scoop and have them shape it into their own dam.

First let me praise your very fine attention to beavers and their impact on the environment. Good job, Jennalee. And sure, have the kids make a their own frosted dam or whatever. Mmmm disgusting. And now that we have established our support. um, can you maybe tell me more about your idea that birds can nest in abandoned beaver dams?

I assume this means you are thinking beavers live INSIDE the dam? And if they move out birds can move in? Or are you thinking that birds can lay their eggs directly on top of the sticks in a beaver dam? I’m not sure that would work out too well, even if they didn’t get predated or roll off into the water….

BEAVERS ON STAGE

heidi08 Who's saving beavers now? August 5, 2018

Mike Settell and the Watershed guardians are doing the hero’s work of trying to teach about beaver benefits in Idaho. There are easier places to change hearts and minds, believe me.
Our friends in Idaho have been pulling this off long enough to be very impressed. But this year the event has been pushed back to September. I assume for all the usual reasons that might require a change of plans.

Watershed Guardians fifth annual Beaver Dam Jam rescheduled to Sept. 15

POCATELLO — The date of the fifth annual Beaver Dam Jam, a music event to support beaver conservation that will host an open jam competition, raffles and demonstrations, has been moved to Sept. 15.

The event was originally scheduled for July 28. It will now run from 4 to 10:30 p.m. Sept. 15 at the Mink Creek Pavilion.

The event includes food, a silent auction, raffles, a singer-songwriter contest and more. Headliners will be the Eclectics and Shawn and the Marauders. Watershed Guardians provides shuttle transportation to and from the event. On-site camping is available.

Think for a moment about the coordination needed to put this together every year. Shuttle? Campground? Ticket Sales? Publicity? Silent Auction? That’s some serious logistics involved in making this all happen.

Our beaver festival lasts exactly 5 hours once a year and I cannot imagine making it a millisecond longer. It’s a lot to take on.

I’m grateful every time I see that Mike and his merry men are up to the task!

Meanwhile I’ve been working to restore the ‘sightings page’ of the website. Even though our beavers aren’t visible at the moment, it’s a wealth of data that I wanted back. When you think about it, its a documentary of wildlife sightings, beaver behavior and observations over a decade. So I thought that was worth keeping. You can always access it through the ‘About us’ drop down menu, or go here.

There’s lots to love and hate about the new computer. My beaver decade saw three different cameras taking footage in three different formats, so it was a bit of a scramble to find everything. But I did find some very special footage I thought was lost early on. I had transferred it to my new mac at the time because I thought it would be safer, which turned out not to be true. I thought it was gone. But apparently it was just lurking.

Listen to our voices while I’m filming and you can see how early in our beaver career this happened. July 28, 2007. We practically know nothing. I even comment that some of the kits are ‘older’ than the others.

And Jon agrees with me! I’m not putting it on youtube because I don’t want to compress it. But click on the ‘four” to see it on this site. And turn your sound up to enjoy our beaver innocence!