TUES JUNE 10/ SB Beaver Brigade Mtg/ 6:30-7:30pm

[Margie]

SANTA BARBARA BEAVER BRIGADE

Location:  South Coast Watershed Resource Center,  Arroyo Burro County Park (Hendry’s Beach)

2981 Cliff Drive, Santa Barbara, CA 93109.

 

 

Hi everyone, we are looking forward to another SB Beaver Brigade monthly meeting, coming up soon!  Tues, June 10, at 6:30pm.   

 

Among other things, we will be reviewing a proposal for the UCSB 13th Annual Central Coast Sustainability Summit, with beaver climate solutions as a focus.  We have a great team assembled to present if our proposal accepted:

• Molly Alves: Wildlife Biologist, Calif Dept of Fish & Wildlife/Beaver Restoration Program Supervisor/ focus on beaver & policy
• Dr. Emily Fairfax: Ecohydrologist; University of Minnesota/ wetlands as carbon sinks, beaver & wildfire research
• Audrey Taub: SLO Beaver Brigade, proposal of a River Center on upper Salinas river in Atascadero, hosts annual SLO Beaver Festival in San Luis Obispo, CA
• Cooper Lienhart:  Nature’s Engineers, Process Based Restoration; jobs & career paths involving beavers
• Dave Fortson: Regen Network Development PBC, building carbon market infrastructure on the Regen Network blockchain to help the world finance climate action; with local beaver project suggested

 

On another note, our proposed SB Beaver Brigade field trip has been moved to July, when we normally don’t have a monthly meeting. Paul Jenkin of the Ventura chapter of the Surfrider Foundation & founder of the Matilija Coalition has agreed to meet us in Ventura for an informative talk, date & time to be announced, most likely a Saturday morning.

 

We’ve talked about visiting the Ventura River watershed in the past, how it has been impacted negatively by the Matilija Dam above Ojai, and learn about the Surfrider Foundation Ventura Chapter’s amazing work improving the area where the river meets the sea, and the history of steelhead & beaver in that watershed.  

 

Besides the Surfrider Foundation Ventura Chapter, the Ojai Valley Land  Conservancy and the SB Channel Keepers have worked on behalf of the river and its wildlife for many years.  If time permits, we may also visit another site up the river, a part of the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy’s Ventura River Preserve that protects three miles of the Ventura river and its surrounding canyons.  An excellent chance to study a watershed:

  

The Ventura River flows approximately 16 miles from its headwaters to the Pacific Ocean. It is the smallest of the three major rivers in Ventura County, it flows through the steeply sloped, narrow Ventura Valley, through the broader Ventura River estuary, which extends from the 101 Freeway bridge through to the Pacific Ocean. Steelhead trout were once abundant on the river in earlier times.

 

In the meantime, please join us this Tuesday, June 10, for an evening of good conversation about beaver with their amazing capacity of ecosystem repair & ideas of how to assist them in what they do naturally, a benefit to all, if we can give them some room in this crowded world.   

 

It’s exciting times with lots to do for everyone, please invite a friend! 

 

Margie Bushman & Wes Roe, Santa Barbara Permaculture Network & SB Beaver Brigade Chapter

 

***If interested in volunteering, we could use some help with maintaining email lists, hosting meetings, etc.  thanks!  .

 

Upcoming events of note:

• Martinez Beaver Festival, Sat, June 28, 10 -3pm Susana Park, Martinez, CA
• 2025 State of the Beaver conference, November 18-20^th, at the Seven Feather Conventions Center, Canyonville, Oregon
• 13th Annual Central Coast Sustainability Summit UCSB, Wed, Oct 15, 2025

 

 

Videos & Articles of interest:

• Introducing California’s Beaver Coexistence Training and Support Program: https://oaec.org/news/webinar-recording-introducing-californias-beaver-coexistence-program/

 

• Matilija Dam Removal, Interview with Paul Jenkin, Matilija Coalition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EtjPA_7YHY
• Ojai Valley Land Conservancy Ventura River: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWT7kh8-Pig
• Excellent National Geographic Article about Beaver, June 2025 edition: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/beaver-dams-wildfires-climate-change

 

Jobs:

CAL Careers Dept of Fish & Wildlife: Beaver Restoration Scientific Aid:  https://calcareers.ca.gov/CalHrPublic/Jobs/JobPosting.aspx?JobControlId=479605

 

 

 

 

SB Beaver Brigade Meetings always the 2^nd Tuesday of the month (no meetings in July or December)

Location:  South Coast Watershed Resource Center, Arroyo Burro County Park (Hendry’s Beach)

2981 Cliff Drive, Santa Barbara, CA 93109.