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Is it the TRUTH?

Is it FAIR to all concerned?

Does it promote GOOD WILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIP?

Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

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I hadn’t known about this 4-truth philosophy of the Rotary Club until they repeated them at the meeting I spoke at this morning. There had been a scheduling mix-up and I got a last minute phone call to ask if I would pinch-hit by talking about beavers. Remembering the not uncontroversial reception beavers got at the Kiwanis club I approached with cautious optimism and figured it was probably best for attendance if beavers weren’t on the “official schedule.”

Like the Kiwanis club, the meeting was a “who’s who” of Martinez, with a member of the school board, our past and present superintendents, city manager and council member Janet Kennedy all in attendance. I was aware I’d be preaching the beaver gospel to mostly non-believers, and the response was generally positive, although there were flooding, mosquito and burrowing questions all in attendance.

I thought I was pretty much home free when I was surprised during the question period by councilwoman Kennedy expressing her disappointment that my “Happy Anniversary” letter in the Gazette this weekend hadn’t thanked the council and city staff for their hard work on this issue. Either my sarcasm was too veiled, or hers was, and she wished I had been more appreciative of all the city’s hard work. I was a little startled by the public reprimand, but more by the almost determined misunderstanding with which it was offered.

I suggested she write her own letter in response so she could give credit where she thought it was due. What I should have answered, in retrospect, was obviously that Janet was right. We hadn’t thanked the city enough, and Janet in particular.

This is a woman who has said publicly on more than one occasion that if she had been at the November 7th city council meeting she would have voted to get rid of the beavers and end the issue once and for all. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you, Janet, for going to China.

Appropriate thanks will no doubt take time to carefully offer for each member’s role in this, so I will work on that gratitude over time, but for now lets learn from the Rotary club and apply the 4-way test to the city’s concerns about the beavers so far.

Is it the truth?

No. The original hydrology report by Phillip Williams and Associates discussed a 7 foot dam as if it were a concrete weir, meaning a fixed permanent threat. The dam was never seven feet and was always made of mud and sticks. Any time we have a rainfall of more than a half inch in 24 hours there is a washout. An accurate report would have reflected the effect of high flow on the dam itself.

Is it fair to all concerned?

No. It was not fair to invest nearly half a million in sheetpile installation for the benefit of one property owner when there are so many properties upstream that have eroding creekbanks that need help too. Moreover, any hydrologist could have named a half dozen places on Alhambra Creek where that money could have been better spent to benefit the broader good.

Does it Promote good will and better friendship?

Sort of. The city’s attempt to exterminate and/or relocate the beavers did not make friends, but keeping the beavers has. You might thank the beaver supporters for that. Still, if the council woman were my guest I don’t think I would ever hijack her speech to publicly ask why she hasn’t thanked us for the “second hand” overflow of our good will. It’s true I don’t know very much about service clubs in general, so maybe that’s typical of how they work.

Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

That’s a hard one, and I’m honestly not sure it ever gets met without some telescoping perspective and “big picture” or “in the long run” reasoning. It is mostly better for Martinez if the beavers stay and do their mascot-ambassador-environmental engineer work. It is better for the heron and the fish and the mink and the otter, but it probably isn’t better for the councilwoman’s blood pressure or my popularity with the council in general. There are a few trees that would not describe it as beneficial, and the other beavers waiting to move in are probably not happy about it either.

A very interesting ethical test, thank you Rotary for hosting me. All in all, a day full of lessons and morning well spent.

I’m still trying to recover from Saturday’s earthday extravaganza. I haven’t really had time to sift through the experiences and see what polishes up bright enough to post. I know my conversation with the enchanting girl who told me with quickened breath how they had actually seen an otter once while camping stands out big. Child encounters with wildlife are powerful and create a huge relationship to the natural world. Remember this photo?

The close encounter with wildlife opens something inside you, like a door to a world where we all used to be free to wander. It’s a door that all of us have, but I think it gets cluttered with hardships and conveniences without regular use. Getting it working right in childhood is the surest way to keep it working up through adulthood, and I see it as a primary benefit of the Beavers in Martinez. Worth a Dam was asked this week to do a presentation for the two sessions of John Muir Mountain Day Camp over the summer. How could we refuse?

On a related note, I got a panicked call last night to do a presentation wednesday morning at the Rotary club for an emergency replacement of their regular schedule. It’s “take your office administrator to the club day” and our own city manager is a member. I’m not as hopeful about opening those low rusty doors, but of course I said yes. Wouldn’t you?