Members of the St. Matthews city parks committee plan to meet this month with St. Xavier High School student Ian Timothy to further discuss strategies for dealing with beavers in Draut Park, which also serves as a water retention area for flood control.
The dam is back, and councilman Rick Tonini said it, too, will be cleared away. “I understand your love of beavers,” Tonini said. “But it’s not a beaver park.”
Okay, the Courier-Journal has given very specific instructions that they are not to be quoted in any way unless dollars change hands, but I must risk the full wrath of Kentucky copyright law to share with you councilman Tonini’s breathtaking explanation of the issues, in which he considers civic hydrology, cultural demand, and agrarian richness and boils it all down to the Hallmark-worthy greeting, ‘Son, its not a beaver park”.
Wait, does this mean that the City of St. Matthews is going to build a designated ‘Beaver Park”?
In the mean time the councilman should know that every park with trees and water is potentially a “Beaver Park”. Since the dam is back again two months later and you’re going to use manpower hours and the bulldozer again to rip it out, I have to ask is it a “Department-of-Public-Works-Overtime Park“? Is it a “pay-to-relocate-beavers-every-12-months park“? Or maybe a “Generating–bad-press-for-the-city park”?
The article (which you really must go read in its entirety) describes the AWARD WINNING Ian who has lobbied long and hard for a flow device (in his enviable earnest and snark-free manner), talked about sand- painting trees, and pledged support including this lovely sentence:
The Worth A Dam group in California would match the city’s contribution to the $500 cost of a “deceiver” structure, Ian said.
Gosh, those meddling Worth A Dam folks are everywhere! Now technically, we are generally trying to keep the scholarship in California but this is IAN we’re talking about and there’s no question its the best place for it.
At the moment there are two comments for this story, one from me and one from Sharon Brown of Beavers Wetlands and Wildlife.Why don’t you go leave one too?
Of course I sent a letter to the editor – since it has not yet been printed I have no qualms about quoting it.
By now the city of St. Matthews easily has enough public support to get 25 young people working to help wire wrap or sand paint trees in Draut park by this time tomorrow. The city already has matching funds pledged for a culvert protecting flow device. It has been provided an award-winning DVD to teach them how to do this work themselves, and the city is just 15 hours away from the top experts in the country if it wants to bring help in to do it for them.
Surely Mr. Tonini understands that any park with water and trees is potentially a ‘beaver park’? Even if the city could get rid of these beavers, with adequate habitat you can be certain that more will move in to take their place. Why not solve the problem for the long term, and use our matching funds to install a flow device?
At this point the notion of beavers at Draut park is looking pretty IANevitable.
And speaking of our own ‘beaver park’ this morning, there were some very lovely looking dams, a million swallows, several landing mallards and two happily munching beavers.
Our young stop-motion films and beaver hero went to the city council meeting at St. Matthews last night about the beavers in Draut park. It sounds like it went excellently, here’s his summary of the evening.
Update!
The council meeting went great. I got up and talked for about 15 minutes, they asked quite a few questions, and told me how beavers destroy trees. One of the councilmen is in charge of the parks, and another was a biologist and they were very interested in it, the parks guy is going to watch Mike’s DVD and I am going to be meeting with him in a couple weeks at the park and we are going to figure out what we are going to do, he was very open to the idea of a flow device, (if we even need one).
I’ll let you know if anything else happens, but overall I think meeting was very successful. All of the council members, (except the above mentioned) said I did a good job with the presentation.
Great work Ian! We are rooting for you! Good for Mike for donating a DVD! And great work beaver protection S.W.A.T. team that appeared from everywhere to fan out over roof tops and behind parked cars until we had them surrounded! Please keep us posted. Since they are trying to protect a culvert, he better start the DVD here….
George Hyde, operations manager at Dartmoor Zoo, which took in the creature, said they were “99 per cent” certain that this is a different beaver.
“The male that got away was 35 kilos,” he said. “He was known for being a big beaver. “This one is only about 15 or 20 kilos. At an educated guess he’s about two or three years old. It’s a real mystery where he’s come from.”
Ooh! Ooh! I know! Call on me! Looks like there’s a beaver underground in the UK! Knowing that the population is too superstitious to believe the science and too paranoid to accept the change required to protect their creeks and streams, Castor Fiber has taken matters into their own hands – er – paws and started reproducing on their own! And its been happening for two or three years already! (Apparently doing it on your own is so much easier than having a team of scientists looking over your shoulder every minute ruining the mood!)
This particular beaver is a youngster so it’s fairly reasonable to believe that mum and dad are not too far away,” said Mr Hyde.
“The fact he was found in a farmyard suggests he was exploring and looking for territory of his own.”
Yeah, about that…Well the British country side wasted no time in abandoning their stiff upper lips to enjoy a good panic. Beavers breeding in the wild for the first time in 400 years! Giant rodents rampant on the countryside! Snakes on a plane! Jeremy Goodwin from the Free Tay beaver group summarized it dryly and made me snork coffee yesterday morning, saying: “Zombie beavers! They are coming to eat children’s brains.”
You’re thinking we exaggerate? Just check out this from This is Cornwall yesterday!
Beavers, for example, damage river banks and trees, alter water courses and eat, or at least hinder, wild salmon.
Why bother with the facts when it will sound so true to so many readers? I am reminded of this famous introduction 7 years ago.
Sunday I received a beaver SOS from our favorite stop-motion movie maker in Kentucky. The beaver habitat he had been enjoying in the nearby city of St. Matthews – which he watched for inspiration to his series – had been completely destroyed, the lodge bulldozed, and the dams ripped out. Ian was horrified and dismayed to think that the happy family he had been enjoying had been ruthlessly killed.
On the left is the beaver lodge just a few weeks ago. On the right is the lodge after it was bulldozed. It was completely flattened and there is nothing left of it. — at Arthur K. Draut park.
Mind you the city of St. Matthews discussed the beavers at the city council meeting before, pledging in 2010 to relocate them and the mayor Bernie Bowling Jr. personally promised that ‘no harm would come to them’.
The beavers are back at Arthur K. Draut Park. Mayor Bowling will have someone come and remove them. Several people have inquired about being allowed to safely capture the beavers, so that they can be released in another remote location. The mayor and city council are concerned about the extensive damage that is and can continue to be done by these animals. However, it is the city’s intent to not harm the beavers in any way.
But I guess with growing inflation, a promise doesn’t mean what it use to mean anymore. I thought you might want to read what folks wrote the mayor and city council and maybe add your own voice to the outrage. Ian is a good friend to the beavers, and a good friend of ours. Your well-written letter will support him and educate the city to help make sure this never happens again.
Dear Sir, it was a sad day to open an email and find that a decision was made to remove your resident beavers in such a heinous fashion, might I add that these very beavers and your city are known worldwide through the works of young Ian Timothy. Is this the example of humanity we want to send our children and neighbors. Perhaps you should look at the influences of John James Audubon and what that has meant to the great State of Kentucky, what might have been his thoughts concerning this. We live on the west coast of the U.S. and already we have heard about this, it will be worldwide before the day is done.
There is some question to as whether the beavers were harmed and you are quoted “That no harm will come to these beavers”, are you prepared to share with the world how that was accomplished? We hope that future such actions would be more carefully planned so that you and your city will be held in high regards.
Leonard and LoisBeaver Advocacy CommitteeTiller, OR Dear Honorable Bowling,
It is truly unfortunate that you directed the removal of the beaver dam and the eradication of the beavers at Arthur K. Draut Park. Not only have you killed beavers and ruined your credibility as a progressive ‘green’ community leader, but you have also associated City Councilman Arthur Draut’s name with their slaughter, especially with the killing of a pregnant female beaver. The park’s name and reputation, yours, and Councilman Draut’s are damaged.
Did you believe others would forget your promise that, “no harm will come to them”? This choice is even more difficult to comprehend considering your description of this lovely park on the City of St. Matthews’ own government website:
Arthur K. Draut Park – Other amenities in Community Park include: A walking path with creek crossing bridges, stone benches, limited wooded areas, along with dedicated wetlands complete with cattails, water grasses and assorted wild life. The flow of historic Beargrass Creek meandering through this park makes this site pleasing to athletes and naturalists.
I doubt naturalists will be pleased now knowing beavers were killed. Dedicated wetlands with their assorted wildlife rarely thrive without the one creature that ensures the health of their ecosystem – a beaver.
There are proven solutions to concerns of flooding created by beaver dams. Successful installation of flow devices control pond height and resolve flooding for years. When beavers are present at a dam, their territorial behavior will discourage other beavers from remaining. Trees can be protected by wire-wrapping or painting with sand. The abrasive texture discourages beavers and is an inexpensive and visually undisruptive solution.
I am sickened further that Ian Timothy – an award winning filmmaker who was inspired by the beavers at Arthur K. Draut Park – must now realize just how cruel and dishonorable leaders in the City of St. Matthews can be. As an author of eco-literary novels for young readers, I am at a loss as to how this murderous act can be explained to my young readers, especially when there are so many enlightened and caring choices that you could have made to protect the beavers and salvage their valuable contribution to the park.
I visited Kentucky many times, and remember the parks there as beautiful and picturesque, and the people as gracious, intelligent, and caring. If your actions represent Kentucky, then my opinion can only be changed for the worse. I hope this is not the case.
Mayor Bowling, you owe your community an apology and Ian Timothy an apology. You also owe an apology to all those families with children who visited Arthur K. Draught Park and loved the beavers, their dam, and their habitat. However, you owe an explanation to conservationists who truly are shocked by your decision and the ensuing actions. But more than an apology and an explanation – if you are to remain in a position of leadership – you must pledge to follow the excellent suggestions made to you by eco-systems experts such as Dr. Perryman and other conservationists who understand the critical importance of beavers in our communities, even if you do not. And after you make this public pledge, these recommendations must be put into practice.
Looking forward to hearing from you, and seeing the reputation of the City of St. Matthews repaired.
Best regards, Jo Marshall Jo Marshall, Twig Stories www.twigstories.com Snohomish, Washington
I want to express my displeasure on hearing that the city of St. Matthews felt the need to destroy the beavers and their habitat at Arthur K. Draut Park. There are many other options available now for controlling any flooding and other worries when beavers move into an area, and it would have been to your advantage to look into these solutions. Another family of beavers will move in again and you then will be faced with this situation again.
Recently I had the opportunity to meet Ian Timothy, who is from your area. Ian is a very talented claymationist and the creator of the Beaver Creek series. He was on his way to the Wild & Scenic Film Festival in Nevada City, CA where his series was featured. Ian shared with us the pictures that he has taken of the beavers and the habitat they have created in Arthur K. Druat Park. Today I received the new pictures that he took of the destruction that your city has now created.
In our small town we have learned to live with our beaver family that moved into our downtown creek in 2006. We have controlled the water flow and have painted many trees to discourage any beaver damage to them. Our creek now is home to many different birds, fish, otters and even mink. The beavers also have become a tourist attraction as they are so visible, and they are famous through out the world.
I do hope in the future if another family of beavers come to make their home in your park, the city will be ready with the many solutions to keep their beavers and enjoy the beautiful habitat they will create.
Lory BrunoMartinez,CA
I was sorry to learn that St. Matthews decided to destroy the beavers and habitat at the park after specifically promising in your December 14th 2010 meeting not to harm them. “However, it is the city’s intent to not harm the beavers in any way.” As it is March the mother in this colony would have been pregnant, which mean you killed unborn kits as well.
Besides upsetting prominent and not-so-prominent members of your community, you might worry about the misuse of tax payer dollars when you are forced to repeat a failed solution year after year. Removing beavers (whether by relocating or trapping) is a short term solution that will need to be repeated and paid for again when new beavers move into adequate habitat. The successful installation of a flow device will control pond height and resolve flooding for many years. Allowing the beavers to remain will let them use their territorial behaviors to keep others away.Trees can be protected by wirewrapping (not chicken!) or painting with sand. The abrasive texture discourages beavers and is an inexpensive, visually undisruptive solution.
I’m sure that any city that values green solutions is aware that beaver chewing of trees also produces a natural coppice cutting – an old forestry term that refers to hard cutting a tree so that it grows back denser and more bushy. This ultimately provides ideal nesting habitat for migratory and songbirds. You must also be aware of the significant habitat beavers provide for young fish and the recent fines in Alabama where a beaver dam removal destroyed habitat for the endangered watercress darter.
You may not know that these beavers were specifically watched and enjoyed by your local residents, one of which (prominent young filmmaker Ian Timothy) relied on them for inspiration in his award winning stop-motion beaver creek series, honored this year at the Wild & Scenic film festival in Nevada, the Environmental Film Film Festival in Colorado, and at your own festival in Kentucky! In addition to apologizing to Ian for this cruel and senseless act, the city should work with him to develop a humane beaver management policy for the future. In our low-lying city beaver activity required a flow device which has controlled flooding for 5 years, and the dams have exciting new fish and wildlife. We now regularly see heron, steelhead, otter and even mink in our tiny urban creek!
There are lots of reasons to do beaver management correctly, and many proven tools at your disposal. I hope that in the future the city of St. Matthews can “see the forest for the trees”.
Heidi Perryman, Ph.DPresident & FounderWorth A Damwww.martinezbeavers.org/wordpress
The right honorable mayor has a lot of reading to do. I know he also got letters from Utah, Massachusetts and Florida, but I’m sure he still has time to read yours, and maybe Twig’s….Ian?
Draut Park beaver talks continue
