Rutlland Herald
KILLINGTON — After being criticized
online and having complaints made about it to the state, the town is
saying its handling of beaver dams near Archie Baker Road is appropriate
and legal.
Kim L. Greenwood, director of the Environmental Compliance Division of the Department of Environmental Conservation, said Friday that her agency received a complaint Sept. 10 from a Killington resident about the town working to remove beavers and their dams. A DEC investigator, Patrick Lowkes, visited the site Sept. 16, she said. According to the report Lowkes filed, there was no violation and no action was taken, Greenwood said.
Greenwood said if her agency receives new information it may reopen the matter.
The
situation was discussed at the Sept. 17 Select Board meeting. Selectman
Jim Haff asked Town Manager Chet Hagenbarth for an update on the beaver
dams, as Haff said he’d seen people on social media accusing the town
of wrongdoing with regard to them.
“We had a situation, actually a couple situations this past summer, related to Archie Baker Road topped twice during storms. … In large part this is caused by several beaver dams,” said Hagenbarth. “There’s one on either side of Archie Baker Road, and there’s one behind the rec fields.”
He said the town employed beaver trappers to trap the beavers and waited until the water levels lowered so it could remove the dams.
“This is a practice that has gone on for more than 30 years in the town of Killington,” Hagenbarth said. “The fact this is the first time it’s been brought up I think means we’re doing a good job of managing the beavers.”
He said the town only removes beavers and their dams when they’re causing damage to property or preventing the use of town facilities.
“This is in compliance with state regulations, and because of the complaints we did have a visit from the ANR compliance officer on Friday,” he said. “We went through the process that we’ve undertaken, and he said property and town facilities take priority over all of these functions and the town has the right to remove beaver dams in that situation, and that given we’ve been doing this for the length of time we have, to keep it up because we have been managing them correctly.”
Haff said he’d heard rumors that some people were trying to restore the dams, while others had harassed the beaver trappers. Hagenbarth said he’d heard this as well, but had no direct knowledge of it.
Hagenbarth said in a Friday interview that the first trappers the town had hired quit due to being harassed and have since moved on to other projects. He said he has been talking with another trapper who has worked for the town before, but nothing has been finalized. He said the town plans to wait until the ground freezes some before it removes more dam structures.
Killington Police Chief Whit Montgomery said Friday he’s heard from town officials about these issues, but has received no direct complaints.
John
Keough, founder and guide at Appalachian Trail Adventures Inc., said in
a Friday interview he made a complaint to the Agency of Natural
Resources about the town’s dealing with the beaver dams.
Keough said he spoke to the beaver trappers about his concerns, but their conversation was largely friendly, and he didn’t harass them. He said the trappers mentioned to him that they were being harassed by another party.
Keough said he undertook some effort to restore the dams, but has since stopped.
He claims the town has gone against the state’s best practices for beaver dam management and has supplied the Department of Environmental Conservation with photographs of the removal activity. According to Keough, who has operated his business in that area for the past 10 years, the beavers have not been a problem before, and attributed these issues to it being a wet season. He said beavers have been an inconvenience in some areas, but not a nuisance, and they could be managed in another way.
keith.whitcomb @rutlandherald.com
Kim L. Greenwood, director of the Environmental Compliance Division of the Department of Environmental Conservation, said Friday that her agency received a complaint Sept. 10 from a Killington resident about the town working to remove beavers and their dams. A DEC investigator, Patrick Lowkes, visited the site Sept. 16, she said. According to the report Lowkes filed, there was no violation and no action was taken, Greenwood said.
Greenwood said if her agency receives new information it may reopen the matter.
“We had a situation, actually a couple situations this past summer, related to Archie Baker Road topped twice during storms. … In large part this is caused by several beaver dams,” said Hagenbarth. “There’s one on either side of Archie Baker Road, and there’s one behind the rec fields.”
He said the town employed beaver trappers to trap the beavers and waited until the water levels lowered so it could remove the dams.
“This is a practice that has gone on for more than 30 years in the town of Killington,” Hagenbarth said. “The fact this is the first time it’s been brought up I think means we’re doing a good job of managing the beavers.”
He said the town only removes beavers and their dams when they’re causing damage to property or preventing the use of town facilities.
“This is in compliance with state regulations, and because of the complaints we did have a visit from the ANR compliance officer on Friday,” he said. “We went through the process that we’ve undertaken, and he said property and town facilities take priority over all of these functions and the town has the right to remove beaver dams in that situation, and that given we’ve been doing this for the length of time we have, to keep it up because we have been managing them correctly.”
Haff said he’d heard rumors that some people were trying to restore the dams, while others had harassed the beaver trappers. Hagenbarth said he’d heard this as well, but had no direct knowledge of it.
Hagenbarth said in a Friday interview that the first trappers the town had hired quit due to being harassed and have since moved on to other projects. He said he has been talking with another trapper who has worked for the town before, but nothing has been finalized. He said the town plans to wait until the ground freezes some before it removes more dam structures.
Killington Police Chief Whit Montgomery said Friday he’s heard from town officials about these issues, but has received no direct complaints.
Keough said he spoke to the beaver trappers about his concerns, but their conversation was largely friendly, and he didn’t harass them. He said the trappers mentioned to him that they were being harassed by another party.
Keough said he undertook some effort to restore the dams, but has since stopped.
He claims the town has gone against the state’s best practices for beaver dam management and has supplied the Department of Environmental Conservation with photographs of the removal activity. According to Keough, who has operated his business in that area for the past 10 years, the beavers have not been a problem before, and attributed these issues to it being a wet season. He said beavers have been an inconvenience in some areas, but not a nuisance, and they could be managed in another way.
keith.whitcomb @rutlandherald.com
