Tag: Sam Richards

COLORADO SPRINGS INTO ACTION

Serendipity can be sad or awesome it’s true.

Yesterday I got two unexpected emails. Both just finished reading Eager and wanted to be more involved in helping beavers.One beaver artists in San Jose whose been watching the silicon beavers and wanted to be part of the festival, The other from a man in Denver who wondered if I knew others near him who were trying to help.

Bad news in the first case, good news in the second. Check out this column from Sam Richards of Colorado Springs.

Beavers: Why give a dam | Ranger Ramblings

At first glance, the sight of a large cottonwood standing precariously on a dwindling stump is a cause for concern, but before we lament over the loss of this quiet giant, we should take a closer look at the culprit behind such seemingly mindless destruction: the North American Beaver.

As a biological science technician for the City of Colorado Springs, receiving calls and emails from concerned citizens regarding beaver activity on city property is a regular occurrence at my office. While removing the beaver and moving on with our lives seems like the easiest solution, I believe we should take this opportunity to educate ourselves, to take a closer look at the ecological consequences of having beavers in our parks, and to reevaluate our idea of what a “healthy” environment looks like.

Beavers are considered a keystone species – one that has a disproportionately large effect on the environment in which they exist. In this case, the large impact is a result of their characteristic dam-building behavior. Flooding from beaver dams creates new wetlands upstream, and while they may not be the most visually stunning environments, there is more to these wet spots than meets the eye. Benefits of wetlands include providing critical habitat to an abundance of plants and animals, water storage, carbon fixation, stream bank reinforcement, enhanced nutrient cycling and flood protection.

You got my attention, Sam. What a way to start a column! And give your title I’m betting that you’re they guy that does the trapping when its necessary. Have you ever installed a flow device? Maybe so.

Benefits of damming may suggest that beavers adhere to a utilitarian philosophy by which their very purpose is to create the greatest amount of good possible, but, in reality, this behavior stems from a place of self-interest. Beavers build dams to create deep pools of water in which they can construct their lodge and are safe from predators.

While the ecological benefits of beaver activity in natural environments are evident, the question remains: is there a place for them alongside humans in urban environments?

Historically, the prescription for unwanted beavers was trapping and killing, but people have since accepted more humane practices such as relocation, protecting at-risk trees with wire or paint, and the installation of water-control structures and other devices that allow us to protect culverts and drain water without disturbing the beavers. Trapping and relocating is not without its challenges, including stress put on the animal and the high risk of a new beaver moving into the abandoned territory.

Wow are you friends with Sherri Tippie? She lives just an hour away. You two could have a lot to talk about. I tried all yesterday to find how to contact Sam and offer friendship, but alas, I had zero luck.

Naturalist John Muir once wrote, “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.” Whenever we introduce or remove a species from an environment, we usually observe a cascade of unforeseen consequences that follow. I am concerned that if we collectively agree to remove beavers from their homes across our public lands, the result will be an unintended loss of life, impacting each organism that benefits from beaver-constructed wetlands — from mayfly to moose.

If you are facing difficulties with beavers on your property, I implore you to explore options of mitigation, including contacting your local wildlife agency, before resorting to relocation or extermination.

Accused of cutting down trees, clogging drains, and flooding private property, the beaver awaits our verdict, but before we convict them over such “damming” evidence, let us consider the real cost of removal. The beaver’s impact is far-reaching. What does it say about us if we are so quick to remove any species that poses a mild inconvenience? And what consequences of our actions remain unfound?

OH MY GOD. PINCH ME I”M DREAMING. Could I agree more? No, no I could not. We are kindred spirits, Sam. And there are more of us than you think. I can’t wait until we’re just another face in the crowd saying the same dam thing over and over.

By protecting beaver populations across the continent, we are employing a workforce of ecological engineers that will continuously work to repair degraded environments, creating a ripple that will benefit all wildlife and promote a heritage of environmental stewardship to be passed on to future generations.

Light me a cigarette will you. That was the incredible. I feel so fulfilled and satisfied. This has never happened to me before with a biological science technician. You’ll excuse me if I gush. But it’s called for. I mean it.

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A SPLASH FOR THE UNFORTUNATE BEAVER

heidi08 Beavers May 13, 2020

Can’t a beaver die in peace anymore?

I guess not. Yesterday morning my inbox was cluttered with alerts that folks had seen a dead beaver in the creek. One of the emails came from old friend at the contra costa times who had bought himself out of its demise and wound up at Bay City News. He and his wife had been saddened to see the beaver on their walk that morning so he wanted to write a story which appeared later in the day on SFGate.

Beaver Found Dead In Downtown Creek

A beaver found dead Monday in Alhambra Creek in downtown Martinez is prompting efforts by a local preservation and tracking group to see whether that beaver was part of a resident family, or an individual in the area short-term, a local preservationist said Tuesday.

A beaver had been photographed swimming several days earlier, said Heidi Perryman, president and founder of Worth a Dam, a Martinez-based advocacy group.

“So the question is, is it the beaver that was photographed? Or his partner? Or a stranger?” Perryman said. “We will look for a live beaver and try to see if we have an answer.”

Of course Jon went and checked the beaver which was a yearling on the bank of Escobar street area which we always called the ‘annex’. No obvious signs of injury that he could see. I called animal control to retrieve it but they weren’t enthusiastic about the job and didn’t come for a long time.

By then I had already had several more emails, a long question and answer with Patch and an interview for Channel 7. I guess it was a slow news day and every one was eager to think about something without a virus in its name. The patch article was really well done and I like the new reporter a lot.

Beaver Found Dead In Martinez Just Days After Sighting

MARTINEZ, CA — In any other city , the sighting and subsequent death of a beaver would not make the news. In Martinez, home of the annual Martinez Beaver Festival, it is a different story.

“The beaver is a very high-profile animal in Martinez; it is part of our history,” said Heidi Perryman, who founded the volunteer group “Worth A Dam” in 2007 when a family of beavers moved into Alhambra Creek and built a lodge that some feared would cause flooding. The effort to protect the beavers grew into a yearly festival.

It’s always nice to remind reporters about the history. They like the story too and people enjoy remembering the bright time in their lives. Well, maybe not the mayor. But other people.

The beaver family was living happily ever after — and the festivals were growing larger and larger — until 2016 when the flow device was removed. The beavers scrambled upstream and soon, they were out of sight.

The festivals continued, and in the years since, Perryman said there have been many “drive-bys” of beavers from the Carquinez Strait, which she described as a freeway for beavers.

But none have stuck around.

That is why she was so thrilled when she saw the photo of a beaver posted to Martinez Patch. The photo was taken April 27 by Douglas Pierce, an employee of the Conta Costa County Public Works Department. The beaver was munching on a branch in Alhambra Creek near Main Street.

So by the afternoon I was told that Dunivan called about the ‘sick or dead beaver’ which was a kind of relief because it made it even more unlikely that one of his people had been asked to kill it. Of course, the thought of foul always crosses ones mind in a case like this, but I remind myself that if the city of Martinez had the skill set needed to quietly kill beavers ours would have been dead years ago.

She believes the live beaver in the photo and the one found dead were likely one and the same. The beaver appeared to be a 40-pound male yearling — or teenager — who may have been looking for food, a place to live and maybe even a female beaver to start a family with, she said.

There were no outer signs of trauma to the beaver, she said, so she does not think it was hurt or attacked. Animal Control was notified, Perryman said, in the hopes they will come and retrieve the deceased beaver.

That doesn’t mean Perryman is slowing down. She is slated to give an online lecture at 7 p.m. Tuesday for Napa County Resource Conservation District’s “Wild Napa: A Free Lecture Series,” during which she will talk about “Beavers in our Ecosystems.” To view the lecture on Zoom, sign up here. Napa RCD is also streaming the lecture on Facebook Live.

Well, sure. I figured if folks were sad about the beaver they might want to tune into the story tonight and hear about the family. That’s what I’ll be doing. And it always helps to remember the story of a thriving family.

So the last interview of the day was on camera for ABC7 and supposed to be that night on the news. We did it outside and he used a mask and a stand mic from 6 feet away. Kind of strange to be televised during a pandemic but when he went down to see the beaver he called and said it had been picked up. So I’m not sure if it ever made the news.

Maybe hearing the story will help you, too. Register for the zoom talk or watch live on facebook. And let’s have a beaver memorial. Come wish me luck.

Oh and if you need more hope than that, watch this amazing video from Moses early footage of the family in happier days.

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Legacy

heidi08 Beaver Art, Beaver Behavior, Beaver-themed merchandise, Beavers, Beavers and Birds, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and Ice, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Who's saving beavers now? March 26, 2017

Finally! The article about our beaver tenure came out! Of course it arrived the moment after I posted yesterday, but it’s perfect for our only-good-news-Sunday. It’s also a well written article by Martinez resident Sam Richards. (Turns out he lives next-door to the house where I grew up – because Martinez!) It is accompanied by Susan Pollard’s wonderful photos and I don’t sound as horrible as I was worried might happen, but I’m never happy when Luigi talks about feeding beavers with a stick. If you want to see the video where I look positively slagged you are going to have to click on the link to find it yourself. I manage one good line at the end, anyway.

A decade of beavers (mostly) in Martinez

MARTINEZ — It started in 2007, when downtown Martinez citizens noticed Alhambra Creek was flowing slow, and that trees along the banks had been gnawed down to little points. The furry, buoyant culprits were elusive at first, but their first dam of sticks, leaves and mud near Marina Vista Avenue told the, er, tail.

After winning an early fight over their very lives, given concerns about downtown flooding, the beavers went from cause celebre to cause for adoration. There were (and are) “Martinez Beavers” T-shirts and bumper stickers, and the 10th annual Beaver Festival will take place in August.

“Who had even heard of beavers in town before?” said Heidi Perryman, president of the nonprofit Worth a Dam group. Someone she met literally walking down the street told her that beavers lived a few blocks from her Martinez home.

“It’s actually pretty common, it turns out, but I didn’t know it then,” said Perryman, whose preservation efforts have helped give the local beavers a dash of national notoriety, and even some international interest, given the recently rejuvenated efforts to reintroduce Eurasian beavers in England, where they had been extinct since the 1500s, killed for their pelts (and as an acceptable edible substitute for fish during Lent).

“It’s been both a feel-good and a do-good story for Martinez,” said City Councilman Mark Ross, an early champion of the beavers. The rodents themselves have, by and large, done well in the creek; the creek’s ecology has indeed improved, say environmentalists who credit the beavers; and Martinez has become known for something beyond Joe DiMaggio, John Muir and the Shell oil refinery.

A feel good story for Martinez! Thank you for that quote Mr. Ross, I think I’ll put it in my city grant application. It’s nice to see the story remembered in such detail. I sent the reporter a copy of our newsletter which prompted him to think about it. Like pretty much everyone, he had no idea ten years had passed already.

At Luigi’s Deli, about a block from Alhambra Creek, a wall is packed with photos of people owner Luigi Daberdaku has met over the years. Most of them, he said, came downtown to find the beavers.

It didn’t take long for the beavers to win his and others’ hearts. Daberdaku fed them apple pieces — on a long stick. “I saw what the teeth did to the trees; what could they do to my hand?”

At a November 2007 meeting at Alhambra High School, David Frey of Pleasant Hill, a maritme consultant, suggested Martinez city engineers build a diversion around the beaver dam so the beavers don’t have to be relocated. The “beaver deceiver” built the next year accomplished just that. Dan Rosenstrauch/Staff archives

Daberdaku didn’t support downtown property owners who initially wanted the beavers gone. Neither did most who spoke at a rowdy November 2007 City Council meeting at Alhambra High School, where everything from moving the beavers to embracing their tourism potential to renaming the high school sports teams from the Bulldogs to the Beavers was discussed. Many invoked the name of a famous environmentalist son: “What would John Muir do?” One woman said, “We don’t want to be known as a refinery town that kills beavers, right?”

Former Martinez mayor Harriett Burt said learning the science of the beavers changed her mind. “It raised awareness about the creek environment in general,” she said recently, “and it’s been a good thing.”

Good Harriet! And Bad Luigi! I remember the night we caught him feeding apples with a stick and told him to stop. I hoped that was the only time. But that’s what happens when an entire city raises beavers. Not everyone is a good parent. The reporter even talked to Skip, which I’m sure amused him.

But the beavers’ real stay of execution may have been the “beaver deceiver,” a water bypass pipe under a dam, installed by Vermonter Skip Lisle in 2008. Designed to fool beavers into thinking they’re successfully damming a waterway, the pipe “secretly” carries water under the dam to prevent flooding.

Lisle still marvels at his Martinez assignment. “I was building a beaver deceiver, and there were throngs of people there, media, and helicopters overhead. It was unique.”

Perryman and the Worth a Dam group have kept beavers in the public eye, even when they were absent from Alhambra Creek. Beavers’ images adorn downtown murals at one creek crossing, and on a “tile bridge” downstream with children’s depictions of the beavers. The Martinez Beaver Festival, an intimate gathering at its 2008 beginning, now draws hundreds to the small patch near the Amtrak station that some call “Beaver Park.” For two years, a group from Oakland led by a city environmental stewardship analyst took the train to Martinez for lessons on how beavers renew urban streams.

Worth a Dam has also inspired other beaver champions. Caitlin McCombs found that group’s work while looking for help saving beavers near her home in Mountain House, near Tracy. McCombs then started the MH Beavers preservation group.

“I never knew before that beavers serve as a vital keystone, and that they promote an overall healthier environment,” said McCombs.

Caitlin! What a wonderful quote! We are so proud to have been part of your V.I.B.E. (Very Important Beaver Education). She won’t be joining us for earth day this year because she has a conference to attend for college, and we will miss her. But I feel that we helped her raise the awareness in Mountain House and she will think differently about beavers for her entire life. That makes me entirely happy.

By October 2015, the beavers were no longer deceived by the black pipe and built new dams downstream before leaving altogether soon after that. Some of the 24 Martinez kits had died, and others moved on. The original mother beaver, with a new younger mate, left, too.

But Perryman and others were overjoyed when, on March 5, a beaver was seen in the creek near downtown. It’s been seen at least twice since, and photographed at least once.

Does this mean they’re back? With three verified sightings, Perryman says yes.

Then again, were they ever really “gone?” While registering for a marathon recently, Councilman Ross said he was from Martinez. “The guy … said to me, ‘How are those beavers?’ Everywhere you go, the legacy of the beavers remains.”

Beaver legacy! That’s what we have. Of course., I’d rather have the actual beavers, but hey, it’s way more than most cities ever get. Thank you Sam for another fine reminder the beavers promote a city’s good nature. And thank the beavers for being such great sports for a decade even though the city installed a wall of metal through their lodge. What a crazy, beautiful way to spend a decade of your life!

Time for some lovely donations to the silent auction. This week’s treasures come from Litographs in Cambridge Massachusetts. They are a remarkable business I happen to love because they turn favorite literature into wearable art. Literally. The entire text of a beloved book becomes a shirt, card, poster, tote or scarf. Catcher in the Rye, Scarlet Letter, Jane Eyre, Hamlet, The Princess Bride, classic or contemporary.

“We founded Litographs because we had a vision of bringing our favorite literature off the page, onto your walls, and into your wardrobe. We believe in sharing the power of books with more people.“

This is the entire text of Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick” which they generously gave beautifully matted and ready for framing.

Long ago I had a conversation with owner Danny Fein about possibly working with the now-public-domain text “In Beaver World” by Enos Mills. While he wasn’t sure this was a project they would tackle any time soon, he personally made this for our event. Look closely because that is the entire book. Thank you Danny and friends at Litographs! For this beautiful addition to our silent auction.