BONNYVILLE – Residents in the MD of Bonnyville will have the ability to take action against the ongoing beaver problem.
During their Wednesday, March 11 meeting, council approved a beaver pest control policy that will come into affect in the winter of 2020/21.
“We’ve had a large influx of beavers and that comes with all the additional moisture that we’ve been getting,” explained Matt Janz, general manager of environmental and protective services for the MD. “The more parcels that we have filled with water, the creeks, and everything full of water, it’s the perfect habitat for the beavers to come in and multiply.”
Reeve Greg Sawchuk agreed, “This has been a long-standing issue in regards to beavers in the MD. They’re out there by the thousands.”
Previously, the municipality hired trappers and offered the service to residents who needed to rid their land of the nuisance.
The new policy was developed to allow for a stronger approach to tackling the beaver population.
“They aren’t on the agriculture pest act, and the MD doesn’t have any legislative duty to provide beaver control on privately owned or provincial land. The demographics of many parts of the MD have low and wet riparian areas, and water levels over the past few years are high,” detailed Janz.
The Beaver Reduction Incentive Program will run from Oct. 1, 2020 to May 15, 2021. A landowner in the MD must fill out an application and have it approved by the municipality’s agriculture department, who will determine if the program's warranted on their land.
“That’s an important portion,” said Janz. “That’s identifying that yes, we identified that there’s a problem area and we’ve identified that there’s a concern.”
Coun. Marc Jubinville noted the ability to approve who qualifies for the program is a necessary aspect of the program.
“I like the idea of you guys having control of the areas and making sure that it would be preventing an area from being destroyed,” he exclaimed.
Residents with parcels of lands that have a waterbody on them can claim up to 10 beavers during the allotted timeframe, while those who have creeks or streams can catch up to 30. They will get $20 per beavertail, and a registered or fur management license number must be provided.
Janz explained the price was to “make the program as attractive as possible.”
“We feel that beavers are a little bit intrusive, and there’s a lot more damage caused, especially to the municipality.”
Sawchuk believes the program allows residents to be involved with addressing the problem, and could bring the population down.
“It puts a little onus on the landowner in the case where it’s only affecting their land. It gives them the option and a way to earn some bucks by looking after the problem themselves and will still be status quo in regards to dams that are damaging our infrastructure.”
Animals that are from outside of the MD’s boundaries, or that are brought in by a non-resident, will not be accepted through the program. Beaver tails can be dropped off at the municipality's public works shop.
The municipality will continue to hire trappers to capture and remove the pests, with a focus on the ones who may cause damage to their infrastructure.
“All the water sitting around the roads and ditches is what causes that. It costs us a lot of money to deal with that, so that’s why we took this approach to reduce their numbers,” stated Janz.
They will also continue to offer beaver dam blasting to residents, but it will now come at a cost of $100.
“Previously, there was no charge to any of the landowners. With us identifying that this land is a problem and if they do require blasting services that the MD isn’t involved with or you’re not impeding the water, we don’t cause additional flooding to their land,” explained Janz.
The deadline to apply for the Beaver Reduction Incentive Program is March 31, 2020.
