I’ll Be Dammed is a down-to-earth, humorous and serious show hosted by the Methow Beaver Project. We have conversations with beaver restoration experts, wildfire researchers, environmentalists, ranchers and community members with the goal of understanding the multifaceted ecological and community benefits that beavers bring to us, as well as the challenges of living with them at times. Listen in as we discuss beaver-human conflicts, benefits to fish populations, and partnering with beavers to adapt and build climate resilience against extreme wildfire, drought, flooding, etc.
06 - Strategic Partnerships with the Methow Valley Salmon Recovery Foundation, talking with Chris Johnson
Chris Johnson is a mastermind character in this story - the guy behind the scenes building relationships and making connections to get meaningful and lasting stream restoration projects accomplished here in the Methow Valley and beyond. Founder of the Methow Salmon Recovery Foundation (MSRF), Chris is a community builder, planner, advocate and leader. Listen in as we discuss his leadership role over the years, how MSRF started, the relationship between MSRF and the Methow Beaver Project, management strategies, conflict management lessons, and some of the current projects underway right now.
https://www.methowsalmon.org/ (https://www.methowsalmon.org/)
https://www.facebook.com/methowsalmon/ (https://www.facebook.com/methowsalmon/)
We want your feedback!
509-289-2770
Methowbeaverproject@methowsalmon.org (mailto:Methowbeaverproject@methowsalmon.org)
Methow Beaver Project: https://methowbeaverproject.org/ (https://methowbeaverproject.org/)
Please consider writing us a review.
1 Jan 2022
05 - A Rancher’s Perspective on Beavers with Bill White
Bill brings decades of experience ranching in the Methow Valley to the table as he discusses how he has watched beavers shape landscapes over time. If you hear some background noise on this one (and maybe a dog) it’s because I hopped in a truck with Bill and his dog for this interview. (In fact, if you have time, the YouTube video for this episode will be more fun than the audio podcast.) We ended up in a field of alfalfa trying to fix the motor on a wheel line irrigation system. Our conversation ranges from his frustrations with beavers, how beaver dams collect sediment and create meadows, the cycle of beavers on the landscape, what beavers do for fish, and the potential challenges of having beavers on your property if you’re a rancher. The Methow Beaver Project does not necessarily agree with everything Bill said, but we appreciate his perspective from a life lived in Eastern Washington’s working landscapes.
Let’s hop in the truck and go for a drive, shall we?
We want your feedback!
509-289-2770
Methowbeaverproject@methowsalmon.org (mailto:Methowbeaverproject@methowsalmon.org)
Methow Beaver Project: https://methowbeaverproject.org/ (https://methowbeaverproject.org/)
Please consider writing us a review.
1 Dec 2021
04 - Who We Are and What We Do: The Methow Beaver Project Team
What’s it like to work for the Methow Beaver Project? What do our days and weeks look like? This episode includes a personal interview conversation with each member of the MBP team. We discuss their past professional experience, the story of how they joined the MBP, what their work looks like, and why they are motivated to do beaver restoration work. After chatting with Alexa Whipple, our Director, last week, this episode includes the remaining four MBP employees:
Josiah Shaver - Summer Intern 2021
Willy Dugauy - Outreach & Restoration Field Assistant
Joe Weirich - Restoration Coordinator
Julie Nelson - Education and Outreach Coordinator
We want your feedback!
509-289-2770
Methowbeaverproject@methowsalmon.org (mailto:Methowbeaverproject@methowsalmon.org)
Methow Beaver Project: https://methowbeaverproject.org/ (https://methowbeaverproject.org/)
Please consider writing us a review.
1 Nov 2021
03 - It’s Complex: The Big Picture of Beaver Restoration with Alexa Whipple
Alexa is the current Director here at the Methow Beaver Project. Listen in as we get down to the heart of our work and why it matters. We discuss the history of beaver trapping in North America, the radical changes to the land and ecology that resulted, how beavers are part of climate change resilience, why this work matters to Alexa personally, and why, in the face of so much environmental doom, beaver restoration offers realistic and much needed hope. Get the inside scoop on our mission, how we are funded as a nonprofit, and what Alexa does on a day-to-day level.
As an ecologist and a farmer, Alexa works for sustainability in all practices and effective solutions to challenging conditions. She has called the Methow Valley home for the last 20 years but has worked across the western US studying songbirds, carnivores, plant communities, agricultural impacts on habitat and wildlife and wildfire impacts on riparian ecosystems. Her family has also commercially raised and sold annual vegetables and perennial fruits as well as provided well water services to the Methow Valley. Alexa completed her MS in Restoration Ecology at Eastern Washington University where she focused on beaver ecology and beaver mediated restoration of wildfire impacts in the Methow River watershed.
We want your feedback!
509-289-2770
Methowbeaverproject@methowsalmon.org (mailto:Methowbeaverproject@methowsalmon.org)
Methow Beaver Project: https://methowbeaverproject.org/ (https://methowbeaverproject.org/)
Please consider writing us a review.
1 Oct 2021
02 - Smokey the Beaver: Nature’s Firefighters with Dr. Emily Fairfax
It’s been said that beavers are the only engineers that come in under budget and ahead of schedule.
With all of the work that beavers do on streams, how does this influence wildfires?
That’s exactly the question that we explore in this episode.
Dr. Fairfax has a PhD in Geological and Earth Sciences from the University of Colorado in Boulder. She is an Assistant Professor at California State University Channel Islands.
Dr. Fairfax’s stop motion animation video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAM94B73bzE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAM94B73bzE)
Dr. Fairfax’s article:
Fairfax, E., and A. Whittle. 2020. Smokey the Beaver: beaver-dammed riparian corridors stay green during wildfire throughout the western USA. Ecological Applications 30(8):e02225. 10.1002/eap. 2225. https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/eap.2225 (https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/eap.2225)
We want your feedback!
509-289-2770
Methowbeaverproject@methowsalmon.org (mailto:Methowbeaverproject@methowsalmon.org)
Methow Beaver Project: https://methowbeaverproject.org/ (https://methowbeaverproject.org/)
Please consider writing us a review.
3 Sept 2021
01 - Beaver Coex Grandmaster, Mike Callahan
Welcome to I’ll Be Dammed, a podcast by the Methow Beaver Project! To kick things off, we decided to interview one of the titans of beaver management and coexistence (“coex”) in the United States. Founder of Beaver Solutions LLC and the Beaver Institute Inc. in Massachusetts, Mike has been working with beavers and landowners for over twenty years and has worked on over 2000 beaver conflict scenarios. Listen in as we discuss beaver history in North America, trapping, common misconceptions about beavers, odd things found in beaver dams, and Mike’s personal story about getting involved with these rodents.
Beaver Institute Inc.: https://www.beaverinstitute.org/ (https://www.beaverinstitute.org/)
Beaver Solutions LLC: https://www.beaversolutions.com/ (https://www.beaversolutions.com/)
Beaver Management Forum Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/339105817425 (https://www.facebook.com/groups/339105817425)
Methow Beaver Project: https://methowbeaverproject.org/ (https://methowbeaverproject.org/)
We want your feedback!
509-289-2770
Methowbeaverproject@methowsalmon.org (mailto:Methowbeaverproject@methowsalmon.org)
Please consider writing us a review.
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