Tag: Sarah Koenisberg

Transformative

heidi08 Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Who's blaming beavers now?, Who's saving beavers now? September 15, 2015

One of the nice things about my unofficial unpaid beaver publicist job is that things drop sometimes into my mailbox that I wasn’t expecting. Like yesterday when a preview copy of Sarah Koenisberg’s documentary short on beaver reintroduction in three states arrived. It was sent with a note from a student of Mary Obrien who said Mary wanted me to have it because of all the “Transformative work” I do and to let them know if we wanted more copies.

Transformative? Me? You mean like a beaver?

It was gripping and informative, under 15 minutes long, starting with a segment on Mary and beaver reintroduction in Escalante, then a conversation with Michael Pollock about beaver reintroduction in Bridge Creek Oregon, and then Kent Woodruff and the Methow in Washington. There were lots of other voices I didn’t know before, basically saying the similar wonderful things. These animals can be our allies. Let them do their jobs and work as partners in the important job of saving water and restoring streams.

I wish I could share it but they won’t be releasing the online version for another 2 weeks. I promise to put it up just as soon as I can. For now I’ll just tell you the Very Best Part:

I watched the credits all the way to the end of course and guess who paid for it? The Grand Canyon Land Trust (of course) AND Trout Unlimited.

Now will someone please tell Georgia?

TALKING TROUT: Beavers – the good and bad

Sometimes beaver dams can be detrimental to fish habitat. Low elevation trout streams such as all the trout streams in Floyd County warm quickly in summer. When the water temperature gets too warm in a trout stream the Georgia Department of Natural Resources will discontinue stocking trout until the water cools, which is usually late in the fall. The DNR rarely stocks streams in the fall or winter so it is usually the following spring before the creek will get a fresh batch of trout for the anglers to catch.

One such creek that has a beaver dam that warms the trout stream is Johns Creek. The Coosa Valley Chapter has spent thousnds of man hours making improvements at Johns Creek. We have improved camping areas, protected stream banks and in addition to installing trout stocking tubes we have worked regularly to improve trout habitat in the stream. Just this weekend we worked with the U.S. Forest Service placing “large woody debris” in the stream to improve trout shelter and increase the macro-invertebrate (insect food that trout eat) habitat. We also did temperature monitoring at several locations at the stream. This temperature monitoring has been on-going for several years now and will continue for several more.

A major portion of Johns Creek originates from a series of springs at the Pocket Campground. There are several beaver ponds downstream of the campground. I have checked the temperature above and below the beaver ponds twice this year and the water upstream from the ponds the temperature has been 58 degrees both times. In August the afternoon air temperature was 85 degrees and the water below the dams was 69. Just yesterday, a cool day, the water below the beaver dams was 68.

Any temperature above 70 or so becomes closer to the critical level of trout tolerance. We need to keep a record of stream temperature levels if we want to keep a healthy population in the creek.

Beavers, water, & the learning curve.

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Who's saving beavers now? March 29, 2015

Another red-letter day for beavers. They’ve been happening so often I’m going to start calling them red beaver days! The first from NBC.

Beavers Are Great for the Environment. As Neighbors, Not So Much

The dam-building rodents are getting a boost across the West, thanks to their signature water-blocking homes that, it turns out, can have a positive effect on the local environment, and have gained the critters support from local tribes and wildlife biologists. Their dams hold back water flow in elevated regions, propping up groundwater supplies in areas hit by drought and reduced snowpack. They provide habitats for salmon. And while there are other, less natural ways to achieve the same effects, there’s one big advantage to beavers: They work for free.

A team led by Kent Woodruff, a U.S. Forest Service wildlife biologist, has spent eight years refining beaver relocation in Washington’s Methow Valley. The goal: Make sure that the beavers being brought together are compatible. Think of it as a Match.com for beavers.

The target areas are mostly public lands at higher elevations — exactly the areas that supply much of the water for humans across the West. “We’re desperate for water storage,” said Woodruff, and “that’s easily enhanced by beavers.”

Okay, first the good Heidi. I absolutely LOVE when beaver benefits get highlighted in a major NBC story. Kent has done great work in the Methow and I’m thrilled to see that project get the flagship recognition it deserves. Now the not so good Heidi. More beaver stories saying we care about water so we’re moving beavers into the mountains instead of killing them? Really? Hmm. Mighty white of you.

Will someone please tell Miguel the reporter that ‘good neighbors’ are like good marriages. They don’t just happen but are made every day by people who care. Like the people in Martinez for example. And maybe next time you should make a report about that.

Hrmph!

Onto more good press for the Beaver Believer documentary. This time Sarah’s on PRI.

Beavers are being looked at as little climate change fighting machines

Sarah Konigsberg is documenting the efforts of six people across the US who are working to bring the big-tailed and bucktoothed beavers back to lakes and rivers across the country.

Like beavers themselves, the human subjects of Kongisberg’s documentary, The Beaver Believers, are climate change activists.

“The Beaver Believers” features the stories of people who share the common passion of restoring the beaver in the West by trapping and relocating the animals to habitats that could use a beaver’s touch.

Beaver dams change the landscape of the waterbed. Whole ecosystems with rich, biodiverse habitats and species build up in the area around a beaver dam, Kongisberg explains.

Streams are slowed and deepened, which allows the water bodies to grow and widen. The dams hold back sediment, raising the water levels for vegetation growth. The slowed water seeps into the ground and recharges aquifers.

“It basically creates a much more varied habitat for many, many more animals to live on,” she says.

The grand filmmaker actually made a stop last night to refilm some urban beavers and their guardians in Martinez. She was staying nearby in Pt. Reyes and thought the earlier footage she got when her crew came to the festival two years ago just wasn’t good enough. She’s been excited by the response and thinking the film would be ready for music and final touches this summer. I, for one, can’t wait.

Click on the headline above to hear the interview.

What news stories will there be about beavers tomorrow? I wonder. It’s a little harrowing trying to keep up. That’s the very best kind of harrowed, I admit. But we need a treat this morning, and Cheryl just posted this to my timeline on facebook, so I thought I’d share. Brace yourselves, this is alarmingly cute.

11054798_847425898637241_3186376133301981584_n — Western Arkansas Wild Rescue Alliance

When it rains it pours!

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and Birds, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Beavers or Social Ambasadors, City Reports, Who's saving beavers now? March 24, 2015

And then there were three. How’s this for keeping the story in the public eye?

How Beavers Help Save Water

In the drought-ridden West, some people are partnering with beavers to restore watersheds, where, before trappers arrived, the large rodents once numbered in the millions. Film-maker Sarah Koenigsberg captures various efforts to reintroduce beavers to their former habitat in her documentary The Beaver Believers and tells host Steve Curwood why beavers are essential for a healthy ecosystem.

Congratulations to Sarah Koenisberg who’s Beaver Believer film made it all the way to living on earth of NPR this week. Sarah and her crew were the documentary that filmed at the beaver festival 2 years ago, you might remember them hanging around at the time. Her film is sure to be thirstily received in the west, and I’m thrilled the Martinez Beavers were a part of it.

The Beaver Believers Kickstarter Trailer from Tensegrity Productions on Vimeo.

It’s pretty exciting when there are so many good news stories to keep up with it’s hard to update the website fast enough! This weekend I was hard at work for beavers Friday with the grant application for Kiwanis, Saturday with the grant application for the city and yesterday putting together a presentation for Derek Gow of Devon so he can build momentum for a beaver festival in England. I tried to do it in under 15 minutes so I had to leave tons out, but it’s a fun way to share with folks who’ve never seen my talk in person. And I saw almost nothing snarky about the city, so that’s refreshing. Feel free to pass it on to friends or enemies who need to hear the story.

Beaver Independence

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Environmental, Who's Killing Beavers Now?, Who's saving beavers now? July 5, 2014

Beaver Believers has hit the final 12 hours of their Kickstarter, and producer Sarah Koenisberg says she’s proud, humbled, and excited by how it’s gone! Someone has stepped forward and will match all funds raised above $15k – pretty awesome! So we have until 3pm today to make one final press to support this important film – the only film to feature our own Martinez Beavers and their festival! Please check your penny jar and see if you have anything left to spare.

Jon and I were on the bridge last night watching out for beavers with the massive foot traffic that was making its way down to the fireworks. Many surprised passers-by saw 4 beavers, including the little peanut who was taking advantage of the very high tide to get out of his playpen, over the secondary and swimming through the secondary to look for treats! This is the most horrible footage in the history of the world with all the bouncing foot traffic on the secondary, but at least he had the good sense to go back inside after this. Fun to hear so many visitors saying they saw the documentary on PBS about beavers and they couldn’t wait to come back to this years festival! Even a family from Walnut Creek who were all members of the SF Scottish Fiddlers and wanted to play this year but there wasn’t room!

It looks like Derek Gow in Scotland is thinking about a legal battle over the Devon beavers and that’s music to my ears. The sinister part of DEFRA’s decision is that the conclusion of the Scottish Beaver Trial means the final decision will be made in 2015, which means beavers will be formally back in the UK and protected. So they want to get rid of these refugees NOW while they’re still unsafe. Isn’t that rotten?

Expert may mount legal challenge to Defra’s beaver removal plan

Mr Gow said: “The Eurasian beaver is a former native species. There is significant national and local support for the restoration of this species and a wider appreciation within society of the ecological benefits that would accrue from its presence. Britain is now the last large western European nation state where the species has not been reintroduced.”

In conclusion, he said the beavers on the Otter should be captured and tested and – if clear of the EM disease – be tagged and re-released following a survey to ensure the river was a suitable home for them.

Mr Gow added that he and his colleagues would consider a legal challenge if Defra went ahead with the capture and re-homing programme.

Go Derek Go! He has been lone voice for beaver in the region for so long, but the tide is changing and he’s not alone anymore. And this is just the kind of negative ad campaign Martinez learned was so effective in raise public support for beavers! Nice work DEFRA!

I was a little more surprised to see the Austrian version of this story running Cheryl’s photo! But it’s on wikipedia so that means everyone in the world can use it. Your welcome!

And even if you had your share of fireworks last night, you HAVE to watch this because it’s a historic first that was never possible before and may never be legal again. This was filmed by drone last night from INSIDE the explosion of fireworks in West Palm Beach Florida in May. It had a couple thousand hits when I first saw it last night, now it is cresting 2 million. Aside from being the single best use of a drone ever, watch all the way through, because it will blow every part of your mind.

Apparent this amazing use of the drone caught the attention of authorties and is illegal. Check out the disapproving article on Forbes. But if Jos Stiglingh does ever get in trouble for this his attorney only needs to show the video to the jury. Because it’s awesome.

Beavers busting out all over!

heidi08 Beaver Art, Beavers and Birds, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers June 30, 2014

Our ad in Bay Nature’s August issue just came out. We’re nicely placed in the upper right hand corner of page 17. Thanks Bay Nature for promoting our beavers! And Amelia for the awesome artwork.

And just in case the nature crowd misses the ad in BN, check out the article in this month’s newsletter for the Mt. Diablo Audubon. The editor kindly allotted me 300 word to convince bird lovers to come to a beaver festival. I am very proud of this particular work. In addition to being one of the most carefully crafted and pithy things I think I ever wrote, it is also exactly 300 words.

Except for the last sentence about MDAS having a booth. Ellis added that.There’s a new chapter of meet the characters for the Beaver Believers film, and it’s not me, but it should be someone you know. In case you don’t recognize her right away, this is the beaver magician Mary O’brien who attended our festival in 2010. She has, along the way inspired me, delighted me, encouraged me, exasperated me and terrified me. Not necessarily in that order.