Well time has not been kind to the beavers of Lyme CT who are still hated as much as they ever were. Even the department of Energy and the environment think their dams block fish and ruin things for native plants. Connecticut has a lot to learn about beavers.
Old Lyme man blames beavers for dam activity that continues to plague him
Old Lyme — A Boughton Road resident is pointing to his soggy waterfront property and mold-infested home as evidence that beavers are still contributing to high water levels in Black Hall Pond, but not everyone agrees.
Dave Berggren says the beaver activity is occurring in the Black Hall River, commonly known as Bucky Brook, on the Old Lyme Land Trust’s Jericho Preserve. He alleged the industrious rodents have caused water levels to go up more than 2 feet since he first saw water encroaching on his property six years ago, though it has receded some since its high point in 2019 and early 2020.
He said it would still be at its high point if he hadn’t been “tearing dams out for years” on the land trust’s property.
Good lord. This old guy? Didn’t we write about him a million times already?I’m glad to see he’s bravely continuing in his effort to NOT LEARN A DAM thing about beavers.
Local Inland Wetlands regulations specify a permit is required to breach a dam in wetlands and watercourses. Land use coordinator Dan Bourret said the broad definition of regulated activity prohibits the removal of “any obstruction” without a permit.
Berggren said the beavers — and what he described as the refusal of the land trust and two successive first selectmen to stop their destruction — have “in essence destroyed my life.”
“My septic system is compromised. I can flush the toilet once a day. Washing machine? Got to be real careful. One small load maybe once every other week,” he said. “I told them I’m sick of living like a goddamn refugee, for chrissakes.”
He blamed moisture in the ground for rendering unstable an addition to his house, which had already been constructed when he bought the place in 1964. He pointed to a sagging entrance built on piers and the resulting gap in the storm door. Because the walls of his home are now being bent due to a shifting foundation, he said fissures created in the damp walls allow mold to flourish.
The article at LEAST quotes the beaver institute saying beavers do good things for the environment but it doesn’t say anything at all about beaver problems being solved by people who have more sense than Mr. Berggren.
The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said beaver dams can negatively affect natural resources by serving as barriers to migrating fish and choking out rare plant and animal habitats. It cites lethal trapping as the most effective option for dealing with beavers.
Who on EARTH would make a single department that was tasked with regulating energy AND protecting the environment. anyway? That’s like putting some in charge of the chickens and the fox population.
And they wrong. Unless alewives thrive on drought, frozen ponds and nothing to eat whatsoever, beaver ponds help them.
Berggren recounted that Bucky Brook used to teem with alewife — commonly referred to as Buckies — until the fish were blocked out by dams. According to the Long Island Sound Study, the once-plentiful river herring would migrate from the tributaries and rivers, through Long Island Sound to the Atlantic Ocean. But their numbers have severely declined amid overfishing, pollution and loss of access to their freshwater spawning grounds because of dams and culverts.
Berggren said environmental advocates who focus on beavers as such a beneficial part of the ecosystem ignore realities like the disappearing alewife.
“These jerks, they can’t see the forest because all the trees are in the way,” he said.
Yes these beaver loving jerks. Of which I am one. Did you know alewives have a let hole in their head that allows the sunlight to beam into their brains? And they need it to survive? Gee they must REALLY hate when beavers eat trees and take a way their shade, huh?
She said the land trust last year used a trapper to remove some beavers once it was determined that beaver deceiver devices would not have worked in the location of the then-existing dam.
Great. You should ALWAYS ask trappers if flow devices might work. And ask burglars if alarm systems are any use. And believe what they tell you. Because of course they wouldn’t be protecting their own interest right?
The first selectman reiterated the land trust statement that the organization hasn’t been aware of any beaver activity for a year. He said volunteers resolved the problem and kept the water flowing, though he acknowledged levels are still higher than Berggren thinks they should be.
“So, case closed,” Griswold said. “Now, if new activity occurs and the water levels increase and so forth, that’s a new situation. But I haven’t been alerted that there is a new problem.”
For Berggren, it’s not a new problem but an ongoing one. And he blamed Griswold for not standing up for taxpayers that the frustrated resident said have fewer rights than beavers.
“His duty is to oversee the town and the people of the town,” Berggren said. “Here’s an obvious big problem and he turns his back on it and says it ain’t there, when it obviously is.”
Yes that’s the problem exACTLY! Too many rights for beavers. I can’t tell you a day hardly goes by when I’m reading about beavers and their dam rights.
Sheesh!
Not only have the beavers flooded Berggren’s property, his neighbors have all seen the flooding of lawns, as well as trees and shrubs chewed and felled by the beavers. The Ames Open Space Property has also had over 17 acres of land flooded due to beaver activity on Bucky Brook and in a culvert near Whippoorwill Road.
