I just made this mock-up for fun. Sadly, we won’t be on the cover. (We would have if tragedy hadn’t struck and our kits hadn’t died so Suzi had been able to get more photos like she planned.) I’m just happy its finally happening.
I have already asked if they might share extras with children at the beaver festival. Maybe I’ll bring a copy to the mayor?
Give it up for kbia in Missouri who kindly dedicated their nature minute yesterday to the importance of be
avers! I did a quick through past reports and I don’t think we’ve EVER had good beaver news from the state, so this is the first. Enjoy!
We also appreciate the hard work of reader Rob Rich who recently attended the Water Supply Symposium in Washington state to do a poster session on beavers and teach attendees about why they can help. Check out his hard work. Click on the PDF for a larger view.
Beaver Poster PDFMore hard work from State of the Beaver conference organizer, Leonard Houston who got together with Jakob Shockley of beaver state wildlife solutions to install a flow device last week in Oregon. I thought you’d want to see these photos and enjoy their hard work, too. I snagged the photos off his FB page where Leonard wrote:
Saturday fun in frigid waters with dear friends Jakob Shockey and Pieter Theron installing a flow control device to stop those dang beavers from plugging a culvert and allowing them to enjoy their new home will we enjoy the benefits of an active beaver colony 
And lets not forget about the hard work of your best friends Worth A Dam, who received word last week that the Martinez Beavers photographed by Suzi Eszterhas will be a feature story in Ranger Rick magazine in the May 2018 issue! That’s a national children’s magazine that will show how we lived with beavers and you have time now to order your children or grandchildren’s subscription before Christmas! On sale now for just 13.95 for a year of issues, how can you resist?
There are a few things to catch up on before they get away from me. First is that I was contacted by Enviormental writer Ben Goldfarb a few weeks ago who said he was writing a book about beavers for Chelsea Green Publishing and wanted to talk about the Martinez beaver story. If his name seems vaguely familiar it’s because he was the author of several important beaver articles in High Country News recently – the major one being “The Beaver Whisperer” about Kent Woodruff and the Methow project. Kent told him he should talk to me next, and we had a great chat about our story and the response we saw in the creek when the beavers moved in. He’s in the early stages of the book so we won’t get to enjoy it for ages, but I left him with a long list of people to talk to next and he was happy.
Meanwhile our eager Ranger Rick readers, waiting for their beaver story, saw an interesting clue at the end of their September issue. It started with a riddle about a beaver dam that they said would be answered next month and ended with this:
So does that mean we’ll see our beavers in the next issue? I don’t know. The last thing I heard from Suzi is that the issue would come next summer. But who knows? Maybe we’ll get a surprise or maybe we’ll get beavers TWICE in Ranger Rick!
And speaking of beavers fixing drought in California, here’s a result of not letting them that’s been on my mind lately. My parents lost 18 trees to the bark beetle but looking at this film I realize they are getting off lucky so far. The words Forest Succession echoing. I knew it was bad but I didn’t know it was this bad.
Here’s some of our damage:
Last Saturday was an awesome day to plant trees for beavers. Don’t believe me? Just check out the exccellent photos wildlife photographer Suzi Eszterhas sent me yesterday.
Isn’t that gorgeous? Apparently her editor at Ranger Rick loved them. And theoretically the beaver article will run either June or July of 2017. Obviously Martinez children don’t just know how to plant trees. They know how to tend them too.
Our heroes were Ethan, Brittney, Alana and April. Didn’t they do a fantastic job? Et
han’s dad is a biologist and was very excited about how comfortable he looked with a shovel. Brittney’s mom said she had just helped all day in the garden so she was not afraid to get dirty. And Alana
just sent her application to be a junior docent at Lindsey Wildlife which I was honor
ed to write a recommendation for. And you probably recognize April from her spirited career as a documentary critic.
They are truly the face of tomorrow’s watersheds.
If you have a grandchild or nephew that lives in the vicinity, get them to the beaver dam Saturday for a epic photo shoot. Amazing wildlife photographer Suzi Eszterhas will be taking some urban shots of the dam and footbridge and wants as many children as possible to be there showing how Martinez watches out for its beavers.
The photo is destined for the acclaimed Ranger Rick Magazine which means it will be seen by children all over the country from California to Colorado to Maine.
Don’t you want your granddaughter or nephew to be a star? Bring them or your neighbors kids to the footbridge this Saturday at 7 pm. Oh and if they have a beaver t shirt or charm bracelet, they should wear it for luck!
This is what the Suzi looks like filming beavers, so you’ll recognize her. Look for the big, big camera and the pony tail. and you’ll know you’re in the right place. This will be Suzi’s last chance to see beavers because she’s off soon for a trip to Brazil to photograph jaguars on the Amazon. (Such a step down). It’s a lot of fun to see her work, so you should really plan to be there.
Not sure you should come? Here’s a taste of what it’s like standing near Suzi’s camera.
Suzi filming new kit and yearling from Heidi Perryman on Vimeo.
