Essex Beavers Will Live Another Day

Thanks to an outpouring of opposition from local residents at the Dec. 4 Essex Conservation Commission meeting, the beaver family that has currently taken up residency at the Viney Hill Brook Park, will not, as originally—and controversially—decided by the commission, be trapped and drowned.

Upwards of 150 residents, young and old, filled the meeting room at the Town Hall, ready with written statements and heartfelt speeches about why the beavers should be allowed to live freely at the park
“The beavers were here before people came in; it’s more their land than ours,” said 11 year-old Jack Simon who attended the meeting with his mother Laura Simon, a representative from the United States Humane Society.

The elder Simon explained that she would be more than happy to work with the town to come up with a viable solution that doesn’t involve trapping the beavers.

“There are simple alternatives such as wrapping the trees and painting the trees,” Simon said. “These are great community service and boy scout projects.”

This is just the kind of story we love best to hear at beaver central! John Ackerman was a resident who started asking questions on the beaver management forum a while back. I gave him all the advice and inspiration I could, but honestly, I needn’t have bothered. John is apparently adept at being creative and engaging on behalf of beavers all by himself!

“I think we should let the beavers do what they do best, build dams and create wetlands,” said 13 year-old Essex resident Jake Klin. “Viney Brook swimming hole was a mistake for humans, but great for the beavers. Please don’t drown the beavers.”

“I personally would like to see the beavers stay. I think they can be lived with,” said former first selectman and current State Representative Phil Miller.

“Instead of being negative about the beavers, why don’t we see them as an opportunity for education? They are a keystone species in Connecticut. We should be working with them not against them,” said resident Megan Schreider, who works at the Denison Pequot Nature Center in Mystic. “This town instilled in me my love of nature growing up and I hope it continues to that for future generations of children. Keeping the beavers alive is one way to do that.”

When I read something like that I am so excited I can hardly stop grinning. The town will bring in Mike Callahan to review the situation and make recommendations. And public works will start wrapping trees. Congratulations John and the people of Essex! You did something extraordinary and should be enormously proud of yourselves. I almost wish Martinez could go back in time and save our beavers all over again! Fantastic work. The meeting wasn’t filmed or photographed unfortunately, but I’m sure this is what it looked like.

Now it’s bird count morning! Tom and Darren will be busy in the field today with the first of their two highly successful bird counts for kids. If you miss this one, you can still catch the 18th. In the meantime if you need to remember who they are the photo from the beaver festival might help. Tom and Darren have helped us get our footing every step of the way, They have made sure to include us on many of their ground-breaking events, the Duck Stamp art show, the Optics and Nature fairs. the celebration of the wilderness act in California. Tom and Darren won the John Muir Conservation award last year, and have been invited to Canada and Washington D.C. to implement their ideas. we couldn’t be prouder of them or their friendship

Christmas Bird Count for kids

Calistoga families looking for a fun, outdoor activity that doesn’t involve a ball, but does involve a little math and education, may want to consider the Christmas Bird Count for Kids this winter.

There will be two nearby opportunities for citizen scientists to take part in the National Audubon Society’s Annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC). On Sunday, Dec. 7, a CBC will be held at Connolly Ranch in Napa, and on Sunday, Jan. 18, a CBC will be held at Sonoma Community Center in Sonoma.

Tom Rusert and Darren Peterie of Sonoma Birding launched Christmas Bird Count for Kids (CBC4Kids) in 2007.

Guess who won for the John Muir Association Conservationists of the year? Tom Rusert and Darren Peterie that’s who! If their faces look familiar they should. They’ve come to our last three beaver festivals and started their own nature event in Sonoma. Tom has been a beaver supporter since the early days, and recommended us to be a project of ISI, our new fiscal sponsor. This year they say they have a new display for the festival called “Binocular boot camp” with practice targets set up in the park. Their CBC4 kids has gone international and remains one of the most popular wildlife events in the hemisphere. Here’s something about their achievements from JMA.

Tom and Darren’s accomplishments are many. Tom and Darren co-founded Sonoma Birding based in Sonoma Valley, California in 2004 as a volunteer “citizen science” based conservation organization that established sustainable bird and nature-related activities and programs for all ages through a variety of partnerships in the United States and Canada. Tom and Darren went on to establish the first Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC) for Sonoma Valley, the Wine Country Nature Lecture Series, and the “Spring Bird Count” for Sonoma Valley. In 2007 they founded CBC for Kids, a half-day “kid-size” event based on the traditional Audubon CBC but geared to youngsters (ages 8-16) and their families and developed other science activities and bird-related programs for kids.

In 2009, they founded the Arbor Day Celebration for the City of Sonoma and mapped the self-directed tree and bird walk of the 8-acre historic Sonoma Plaza in cooperation with the Sonoma Valley Visitor’s Bureau and the City of Sonoma. In 2010 they hosted the California Western Burrowing Owl Consortium and later teamed with the Sonoma Land Trust, AmeriCorps and private ranchers to establish 16 Burrowing Owl artificial habitats. Most recently, they established the Wine County Optics and Nature Festival, hosting major optics and binocular companies along with 30 nature nonprofits and astronomical societies attracting over 1,000 people in 2012 and 2013. They also created the North Bay Science Fair, a day-long “binocular boot camp”, and the Pt. Reyes Bird Festival Birdathon for Kids, and partnered with Wine Country Adventure Guide to highlight twenty-nine “hot” birding spots. Tom and Darren have received numerous awards for their efforts as well as media recognition.

When California became un-insane in 2013, Tom and Darren got married, so this is great timing to recognize their joint accomplishment on behalf of birds. I have a very distinct memory of my first meeting with Tom. He and Darren came to the beaver dam to talk about the possibility of beavers being included in their lecture series. We hadn’t met before but he knew Cheryl because he sometimes helped with releases for International Bird Rescue. He asked a series of very good questions and listened intently. I remember being short of breath and trying to hide that I was actually nervous, which by then almost never happened talking about beavers. When I finished with Martinez story he nodded and stepped back calmly, saying,

“Oh, I know who you are now. You’re someone who gets things done.“

In 7 years of beaver management and advocacy, I’ve never received higher praise. Congratulations Darren and Tom! We’re enormously proud and happy for you both and know John Muir would be proud of you too!