FRIENDS OF THE POKEBERRY CREEK BEAVERS & WETLANDS
June 27, 2018
Alaska Town relies on Beaver Dam for Drinking Water
Another great story shared by Paul... http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2017/09/13/alaska-beaver-dam-drinking-water
June 27, 2018
NPR Story in Beavers
Thank you Paul Stewart for sending this.. https://www.npr.org/2018/06/24/620402681/the-bountiful-benefits-of-bringing-back-the-beavers?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news
May 12, 2018
NC Aquatic Data
The NC Aquatic Data Hub is hosting a series of training workshops across the state on stream monitoring methods. To register: http://ncaquaticdatahub.org/workshops/
Who should attend? Anyone who engages or is interested in engaging citizen scientists in monitoring streams. Participants will learn about and practice methods that NCADH recommends for citizen stream monitoring.
Dates and locations offered:
Piedmont: May 7 and 8 at Umstead State Park, Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh
Western North Carolina: May 22 and 23 at Warren Wilson College, Swannanoa
Eastern North Carolina: June 6 and 7 Edgecombe Cooperative Extension, Tarboro
Each workshop will take place over two days and will consist of both classroom and in-the-stream components each day. Participants can earn Environmental Education Criteria II Continuing Education credit.
Participants can register for day 1, day 2, or both days:
Day 1: 9am – 6pm – Monitoring best practices, habitat assessment, and Tier 1 and Tier 2 chemical/physical monitoring.
Day 2: 9am – 4pm – Tier 2 Bacteria sampling and Tier 1 macroinvertebrate monitoring.
CLICK HERE for the full agenda for each day.
Tier 2 benthic macroinvertebrate monitoring for program leaders will be taught in a separate, two day workshop hosted by the Environmental Quality Institute. More information about the Tier 2 macro workshop is coming soon!
For a review of the NCADH monitoring tiers, click here
The North Carolina Aquatic Data Hub is a new initiative for connecting aquatic monitoring efforts across the state in order to better understand the condition of North Carolina's waters and to maintain and improve them. NCADH is providing resources and training for new groups and existing organizations to contribute to and access a statewide network of aquatic data. Funding is provided by Z Smith Reynolds Foundation. For more information about the NCADH, visit http://ncaquaticdatahub.org/
To register for a workshop, visit http://ncaquaticdatahub.org/workshops/
May 07, 2018
Great info from Haw River Assembly
This is a great article on our website about co-existing with beavers http://hawriver.org/peaceful-coexistence-with-beavers/
And since the wetlands of Pokeberry Creek are the issue here I thought I'd share this paragraph from the 319 study "Targeting Two Threatened Streams" that HRA did back in 2006 about "the health of Pokeberry and Dry creeks:
"We discovered during our assessments that Pokeberry Creek is the home to numerous beavers that have helped create many large wetlands. These wetlands have done an excellent job at removing much of the sediment that has flowed into Pokeberry Creek from new development.
Unfortunately many of the wetlands are filling in with muddy runoff. The stormwater sampling found that the turbidity in Pokeberry Creek is generally higher than it is in Dry Creek, but it also unexpectedly decreases as you go downstream, probably due to these wetland filters."
Best wishes,
Elaine
Elaine Chiosso
Executive Director
Haw River Assembly
April 22, 2018
Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association visits Briar Chapel
Valerie Vickers and representatives from the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association from Durham visited Briar Chapel; they were surveying the beaver dams and have invited us to their preserve. They worked with New Hope Audubon to create a wetland sanctuary that includes beavers called Beaver Marsh Preserve that is an excellent birding site. Valerie Vickers
April 23, 2018
Friends of the Pokeberry Creek Beavers and Wetlands gets started
A small group met on April 23, 2018 to start planning next steps in the effort to save the beaver colony; a key takeaway was the creation of the Friends of the Pokeberry Creek Beavers and Wetlands organization, with the drafting of a mission statement and other action items to be able to start fund raising and educational efforts.