Well Oregon isn’t done teaching us all not to let the moment pass next time. This appeared yesterday in Oregon Coast.

Fish do grow on trees

By Paul Haeder

You’ve got to start thinking about this as an ecosystem. All these plantations might as well be growing corn. But if you want clean water, salmon, wildlife, and high-quality lumber, you’ve got to have a forest.” — Mike Fay, a Wildlife Conservation Society biologist and National Geographic Society explorer-in-residence

I met Evan Hayduk, 35, with Mid-Coast Watershed Council when I first moved to the coast from Portland. That was Jan 2019 at Oregon Coast Community College for a dual presentation as part of the Williams Lecture series.

“Shedding a Scientific and Humanitarian Light on Climate Change” was a one-two punch featuring Hayduk alongside Bill Kucha, well-known artist and founder the 350 Oregon Central Coast.

Ooh I have a feeling we read something by Mr. Haeder before. Now that I search I see I did an interview with him after the first beaver conference I attended years ago. Sadly it’s no longer online. But at least I know where I heard his name before! I think we’re going to like this,

“Tidal wetlands are important habitats for salmon and a diversity of other fish and wildlife species,” said Hayduk. “They also trap sediment, buffer coastal communities from flooding and erosion and perform other valued ecosystem services.”

The connection between healthy rivers, functioning floodplains, and healthy fish, Evan emphasizes while putting planting riverbank lupine (Lupinus rivularis) in clusters of four, is trees. I learned much of these interlinked processes while teaching and living in Spokane, working on issues around the Spokane River, a highly urbanized and suburbanized river. Those forested watersheds have much higher water quality. Trees also provide a wide variety of ecological services.

Hmm. I can believe that. I mean it’s. not the answer that springs first to the tongue,t that but were surely going to need the trees if we want that OTHER special angel to come fourth and do his healing works.

Paul: What are the three things you suggest citizens can do to help folks like you and nonprofits like MCWC do what you have to do to protect salmon habitat/refugia?

Evan: A. Help and protect beaver on the landscape. This is #1. Beavers do a better job to create and maintain salmon habitat than we could ever hope to. Tolerate beavers if you live on a property that has a stream. There are beaver solutions that make it easier to “live with beaver.” Inform your neighbors about the importance of beaver and join efforts to stop trapping and killing of this ecosystem engineer.

And SCENE! That’s what we were all waiting for. You know it was coming. Tolerate beavers in the landscape. Stop killing them and let them tend your streams. You will have better salmon, better fish, better wildlife, better water storage, cleaner systems and more life-giving wetlands if you do.

Tolerate beavers

Tolerance. Does that really sound so hard?

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Well, that was the easiest no-discussion approval Worth A Dam has ever received! It was a no-brainer, everyone smiled and was excited to get our event brochure from last year and then we were out the door. No persuasion necessary. Mind you, it is generally agreed that the Parks, Recreation,Marina & Cultural Commission is the very kindest and least horrible governing body in all of Martinez, and we have always had the best reception from them generally, but sitting there with their automatic approval displayed before the city’s engineer, I almost felt like the Worth A Dam tradition was a beloved part of familiar Martinez.

Almost.

Yesterday two things happened that were surprising. Regular readers might remember the lovely article about Amanda Parish and Joe Cannon in Spokane magazine. It prompted an attaboy letter to the author, Paul Haeder, from me, combined with a doubtful query about one of the facts in it. Paul wrote me back appreciatively and said something like, you know, I have this radio program maybe sometime you’d agree to be interviewed? I benignly said ‘of course’ (which is what I always say when people ask me to talk about beavers) and thought no more of it.

Yesterday I got an email from Paul saying that his guest had dropped out at the last minute and would I be willing to do a late earthday ‘restoring watersheds with beavers’ interview? We are recording it today, but it will air on Friday at 6:00 if you’re up for coffee and beavers. It will be live streamed at www.kyrs.org. I’m thinking the call letters stand for “Keep Your Rodents Safe” but I could be wrong.

Joe warned me that Paul can be a little bit quirky at times, at which I of course feigned shock and said “Eccentricity amongst beaver supporters? When does THAT ever happen?” In response Joe pointed me to this lovely picture of him from the Earthday review by the Spovangelist Blog, which he apparently spent most of in a beaver suit. Need I say more?