Rumor is that the losing council members of Oshawa’s “don’t-kill-the-beavers” vote are directing staff to prepare a cost statement that will prove that saving those dam beavers is too expensive. There has been a request for us to tell them what it really costs and prepare a materials list. I offered my best initial advice, suggested that they add up all the money spent on trapping for contrast, but then thought better of my own efforts.
Bemoaning Beaver Expenses is never about what’s true.
I can remember the wasted effort to control the city’s record of the expenses for our beavers: OT staff hours for uselessly taking down the dam, 5000 for 11 police officers at the November meeting to control a potentially rowdy public, money spent for them to “research” non-solutions and don’t forget the vast sums spent on consultants who said the beavers were a liability; a grand total of 75,000 dollars delivered by staff to the subcommittee. Not to mention the half a million spent on pointless sheet pile a year later. The city was hoping that the massive dollar sign would convince martinez that the beavers weren’t worth it. It worked for a few citizens, but mostly didn’t matter.
(People are used to cities wasting money.)
In the end, (and I can feel my IQ dropping as I saw this…) it is less about what’s true and more about what’s popular. This is the great life lesson I learned from beavers. I told our Oshawa friends to do some basic work preparing a materials list but to stay focused on motivating public opinion. Making the beavers more friends was going to do more to save them than struggling to prove they will be cheap.
