Martinez is boarding itself up in preparation for the riotous hordes that will be protesting downtown on Sunday. Apparently the racist vandalizing couple was on Tucker Carlson this week and now they are full on right wing heroes. Martinez is expecting more heroism this weekend. I can’t wait.

Our neighbor thinks the entire town will be looted and burned to the ground. We’ll see. Since when do looters hit antique stores?

But still there are good things in the world. Take this article from Alabama of all places. I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised.

Leave It to Beaver

By Rick Claybrook, Wildlife Biologist

Beavers have special talents and a never-ending will to dam flowing water. This insatiable desire has tormented the human race for centuries. For the most part, beavers have only done what comes natural to them. It’s man’s desire and actions that has resulted in the ongoing struggle and conflicts between man and beaver.

Granted, beaver activities can interfere with man’s efforts to manage land. For instance, a planted forest or agriculture crop flooded by a newly constructed beaver dam; a manmade pond damaged by beavers undermining the earthen dam; a flooded road resulting from a culvert plugged by beavers, or trees girdled and cut down by beavers for food or materials to repair dam site and home. However, these actions simply result from what a beaver must do to survive.

At this point I was paying attention. Really? From the department of natural resources? Talking about beavers as if they were an actual resource?

In the beaver’s defense, its actions are generally beneficial to the environment. Actually, the beaver can be termed a keystone species. Impoundments created by beavers damming a stream evolve into valuable wetlands that provide habitats that support a complex biodiversity of plant and animal life. In addition, the dam site and created wetland trap sediments, excess nutrients, and pollutants (toxic pesticides and other toxins). These are broken down and decomposed through metabolic processes, resulting in much cleaner water flowing downstream. Beaver ponds also minimize runoff from heavy rainfall easing downstream flooding and soil erosion. Not only does the dam site complex slow the forces of water during periods of heavy rainfall, it also retains a reservoir of water that helps maintain a constant downstream flow during periods of drought.

Beaver ponds increase wildlife carrying capacity by providing a valuable water source during long periods of drought. Rich, moist soils associated with these sites produce an abundance of lush nutritious plant species, which are consumed as food or used for cover by many different wildlife species. There is certainly no dispute the wetlands created by beavers result into a valuable life sustaining ecosystem complex from which our environment greatly benefits.

Get the hell out! I can’t stop blinking in surprise. I guess you really can NOT judge a beaver book by its cover. He starts out fairly cautious describing beavers as ‘generally beneficial’ but then he goes ALL-IN and says the save animals and plants. Is he the loneliest man in the state? Ostracized by all the other biologists at CNR?

Learning to live with beavers is usually the best way to retain peace of mind and reconcile human and beaver conflicts. Removing beavers entirely from an area is very difficult and, if accomplished, it is a good bet that the unoccupied wetland will be inhabited by other beavers living up or down stream from the site. The total removal of beavers can result in the loss of very beneficial wildlife habitat.

Flooded property or roads may be easily corrected by the installation of a cost effective beaver flooding control device. If it is impossible for you to “leave it to beaver,” call your nearest Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries district office for help.

I need to sit down. I’m feeling faint. Can someone get me a glass of water? Rick is obviously a southern visionary who gets a Worth A Dam tee shirt. By way of explanation I will say two things. That Alabama is the site of the most famous lawsuit for removing a beaver dam with the notorious case of the watercress darter AND that when I researched Mr. Claybrook’s history on the google I found ANOTHER incident of his speaking up for beavers in 2009. Guess where that article was? Hmm the Worth A Dam beaver hotline of course.

Alabama Joins the Beaver Bandwagon

March 4, 2009

The latest edition of Outdoor Alabama, a magazine published by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, contained an exceptionally well-written and informative article about beavers. The author, Rick Claybrook, is a wildlife biologist with the department.

Claybrook recognizes and elaborates on the positive influences beavers have on our environment. The impoundments their dams create allow for settlement of silt and sediment that would otherwise contaminate the downstream segments of the streams. I am reasonably certain that the quality of the water downstream from a beaver pond is substantially higher than that flowing into the pond.

First of all WOW Rick, you are a beaver believer from way back! Practically a founding father! And second of all MY GOD I”VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR A LONG TIME.

Columnist and Zoologist Bob Mount Greets Auburn and Opelika this morning with the advice “Beavers Are Good Neighbors to Have“. He directs readers’ attention to the most recent issue of “Outdoor Alabama” with an article about beaver benefit to the habitat. It’s not yet available online, and since I am not a subscriber I can only guess at its beavery goodness. Here is part of Bob’s summary:

Claybrook also realizes other benefits of beaver impoundments. They reduce the severity of droughts by conserving rainwater and helping to maintain ground water levels. He also mentions the contributions beavers make to a wide variety of wildlife species. He did not mention ducks as beneficiaries, but my observations indicate that beaver ponds provide ideal brood-rearing habitats for wood ducks and hooded mergansers.

Bob goes onto to reminisce about some orphan beaver kits that he and his neighbor raised back in the day, right down to swimming with them in the pond. Apparently his dog even allowed them to nurse for a while. My favorite part was the kit responding to being locked outside by chewing through the front door, which reminds us why beavers don’t make good pets, and why I should count my blessings and remember that even though the new puppy has chewed the walls, she’s not chewed through them, and that’s something. The article doesn’t exactly explain how the beavers became orphans who were stolen away by his doberman and forced to live without their parents, but still, its a nice read.

If the outdoorsmen of Alabama are hearing a bit of the beaver gospel, it can only be a good thing.