Now this is just the kind of story I like best. A family that loves their wetlands built by beavers and a mean old developer who wants it drained for his parking space. If I hadn’t been so immersed in Oakley shenanigans lately it would have been all we talked about. But everything comes in good time. And they still get a letter.
Beaver dam battle pits Sandown family vs. developer
SANDOWN — Jeff and Heather Blake have always enjoyed sitting with their kids along the edge of the wetlands in their backyard and watching the wildlife, but their slice of serenity is in jeopardy.
A large portion of the wetlands on the Blake property vanished without warning last Friday when a local housing developer who owns neighboring property hired an excavation crew to tear out a small beaver dam and remove a section of a larger dam.
Jeff Blake watched in horror as the acre of wetlands quickly drained. He said the water and silt “rushed out like whitewater” as he scrambled to transfer about 40 baby turtles to the nearby Exeter River as their habitat was suddenly disturbed.
Hey I bet some baby beavers were disturbed too. Or maybe a pregnant mother since this is New Hampshire. I bet a whole lot of birds and frogs didn’t like it either. It’s hard to believe their aren’t rules about ripping out a wetland in New Hampshire. Art?
Developer Bob Villella, a Hampstead resident and owner of Boemark Construction, said he wants to sell the land for a new house lot, but the beaver dams, which are located on his property, had flooded a small roadway in an area that’s planned to be used for a driveway.
Villella said he needed to address the damming problem and insisted that he did nothing wrong as state law allows property owners to remove beaver dams on their land if done properly.
“The beavers built it up. I have the right to take it down and that’s what I did,” he said Monday.
It’s always the developers. Have you noticed this? It’s always the almighty dollar that is willing to rip out beaver dams even when very photogenic children want to protect them. I see a battle coming on. I see a million preschoolers in beaver tails on the evening news, Don’t make me come over there.
“I just felt like it was gone. It’s a piece that was so relaxing to us, especially now. I’ve been home with the kids with daycare closed (due to COVID-19) and we spend a lot of time outside. That’s what we’ve put a lot of focus on lately, just enjoying the simple parts of life,” Heather Blake said.
While the wetlands have filled up again, the Blakes say they’re still about two but he said he has no plans to completely drain the wetlands on the Blakes’ property and the several more acres of wetlands behind other homes.feet lower than they were before the dams were disrupted.
Villella has built several homes in the Riverbend Estates development and is planning more, but he said he has no plans to completely drain the wetlands on the Blakes’ property and the several more acres of wetlands behind other homes. Villella said his only goal is to reduce the flooding on the land he wants to sell, which may mean lowering the wetlands to a depth of about two feet.
“I understand they’re upset, but the beavers are doing damage to other properties,” he said.
You are fighting progress sweet family. You are demanding the right to be in nature against a well funded landloard. It’s a hard struggle. It takes stamina. Courage. And a firm belief in that a brighter future is possible. And there’s only one way to do it, With an army.
I’d advise you to fight as dirty as possible from 6 feet away. Maybe get every child in her preschool to mail the judge a hand drawn picture of their favorite animal that once lived in the wetlands. And a photo of themselves in a beaver tail.
That’s a start.
