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Another fun day for wildlife spent in the beautiful wine country at Cornerstone. Tom and Darren were constantly on their toes running back and forth to keep things smooth.There were birds and badgers and bats and of course BEAVERS. Cheryl, Lory and Ron were unbelievably helpful getting things together there. We made new friends, plugged beaver benefits and positive solutions, and generally talked about what Martinez had done to solve challenges. I love this picture from the morning, not because we’re still bright eyed and bushy tailed, but because it shows off the AMAZING new restoration poster at the back which we never got to show off correctly at the festival because it was improperly hung and ripped down in a nanosecond. Isn’t it beautiful?

A few folk there had seen the Napa beavers, and many wanted to come visit to see ours. Tom and I had several like-minded conversations throughout the day emphasizing how important it is to connect wildlife groups together so they can learn from what everyone else is doing.The photographer Suzy Esterhaus was there, still excited about her upcoming photo shoot of the Martinez Beavers for Ranger Rick, and Susan Kirks of PLAN stopped by to give us our badger spirit award. They are signed by their state representatives, with a big gold official looking seal.

Thank you Susan for making us feel like what we do matters! I personally love that two politicians had to sit down and personally sign something that said WORTH A DAM in the title.

This was a comment from JoEllen after Saturday, looks like we get Sulpher Creek at the beaver festival!

Just want to thank you again for the outstanding presentation, and for coming “all the way” to Hayward! (You not only educated us about beavers, but about where Martinez is! How provincial we are!!) I will be working on getting Sulphur Creek to the next Beaver Festival.
Thanks, JoEllen

Sulpher Creek is a secret jewel hidden away in the crowded residential hills of Hayward. It’s entered by a curling driveway between homes that wraps into a loop around a thickly concreted creek arched by a myriad of trees. A narrow bridge crosses the creek to take you to what could be another world, the animal hospital on the right, and the classroom at the left. In between are a cluster of animal pens where unreleasable wildlife are held in airy comfort. We saw foxes, hawks and a screech owl. The class room looks like every classroom you’ve ever seen, with carpet squares on the floor where the little ones sit for learning time, and bigger chairs with adjustable tables in the room after that.

The entire facility has the feel of a delightful ranger station – the old pre-Reagan ranger stations from your childhood where there was always SOMETHING wonderful going on. This makes sense because the land and buildings are owned by the parks department. We were met by the coordinator Sylvia Franke and set up in the well appointed little room.

It was a small group by beaver standards, but very wildlife-savvy and eager to learn more. I felt perfectly at home as I talked about beaver benefits to the appreciative crowd who knew some of the story from the news. I had met Joellen, a docent, years ago at the beaver dam and she had been instrumental in getting us invited. She was there yesterday and kindly said that she still reads the website every day, so if you’re reading this, THANKS!