The Town of Huntsville has passed a beaver dam bylaw giving it greater control over the management of beaver dams and ‘nuisance beavers’ on private property.
Huntsville council passed the bylaw at its July 26 meeting. The regulation will enable the bylaw enforcement officer to issue an order for the removal of a dam at a property owner’s expense, if “damage to municipal property is likely to occur or has already occurred.”
If such an order is issued, a copy of the order would be sent via registered letter to the property owner/s and could also be forwarded to the occupant/s of the property at the officer’s discretion. The bylaw states that the order may also be posted in a conspicuous place on the property.
“Where some damage to municipal property has already occurred, the order may also require the repair of that damage at the cost of the Owner(s),” it also reads.
“For the purposes of this By-law, a flood risk is created where a Beaver Dam or other obstruction allows water to collect in a manner that might reasonably be expected to cause flooding or other damage to private property, a highway, culverts, bridges, drainage works or other municipal property, if the water collected were to escape,” it adds.
Where danger to public safety and property as well as municipal property is ongoing or imminent, the bylaw states the Town reserves the right to order immediate remedial action or removal of the dam at the owner’s expense. If the owner does not comply, the bylaw also states that municipal representatives can enter the property with third parties to address the situation and the cost of doing so would be placed on the property owner’s tax bill.
Huntsville manager of operations Kevin Boucock said council requested that staff look into the creation of a bylaw at its general committee meeting last October following a washout on Williamsport Road as a result of a beaver dam.
Boucock said it is hoped that property owners will monitor beaver dams on their property and consult with staff if they are concerned or if their efforts are not working. “Whether it be pumping the water down or putting a pipe through a beaver dam to allow the water to flow,” he explained. “We’re hoping the residents take care of it themselves and monitor it.”
He said often people think of issues surrounding beaver dams occurring when they let go but what municipal staff see more often are beaver dams that hold water back and cause flooding on roads. “Everyone thinks of beaver dams letting go and washing out but another issue that we actually have more often is… a beaver dam that’s holding the water back and that water is backing up onto the road… saturating the road and making it soft and destroying the base on the road because it’s holding water and flooding the road.”
When asked why property owners would reach out to the municipality with concerns if they could be ordered to remove the dam at their cost, Boucock said: “Because if they don’t and we have another issue like at Williamsport where it’s deemed to be coming from their property, then they’d be on the hook for a larger bill,” referring to damage to infrastructure such as roads.
You can find the bylaw here (pdf). You can also find more information about beavers and beaver dams from the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry here.
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Ray Vowels says
This bylaw is about the worst bylaw I’ve seen yet. What happens when an old man own a couple hundred acres with a beaver dam at the back and he is disabled and unable to get back and do anything about it and can’t afford to pay to have someone monitor it. Is the town going to evict him or her as the case may be. There are very few trappers left and it’s still not legal to shoot them. Anyone that has tried to keep a beaver dam low when the beavers want it higher know they are stubborn animals and it’s almost impossible to discourage them from doing there thing. I pulled one out every day for two years and finally just gave up. If the town is going to enforce this then they better make another bylaw that lets people shoot the beavers without penalty because that is the only way to stop them.
Lorene Ryall says
We moved here 22 years ago and bought next to vacant land which went for miles. There were 5 beaver damns. They cut down our trees so we wrapped everything in 48 inch high chicken wire. They removed a seven foot decorative cedar right in front of our house. They bit holes in the plastic water system used to pump water from the creek to our garden. Three times they tried to pull the pump into the water. They drive you crazy, they’re inventive, smart and a joy to watch. This bylaw is only going to result in the death of trespassing beavers. Nobody invites a beaver onto their property. I think this is a horrible bylaw. You have the resources to educate the public, please take that opportunity to find a more suitable solution and work with landowners.
Gail Gooley says
I think the MNR should be involved in this not the property owners.
Nadine Gingrich says
I am happy to see this by law. Last year we were stranded for the better part of two days when a beaver dam broke, destroying a large chunk of Williamsport road. The road crews worked long and hard to fill in and then open up one lane. Mr Vowels talks about a hypothetical “old man” unable to check his beaver pond. I am talking about real people. His hypothetical old man could invite inspectors in to see if any damage was imminent. We are lucky no one who was stranded had a life threatening illness or accident while there was no road. If you own land with a beaver pond, you are responsible for keeping the rest of us safe from potential harm. I do agree that the MNR should be brought in to assess and advise.
Ray Vowels says
Gail Gooley is right if the MNR is going to still protect beavers then they should be the ones to take care of the dams these guy’s build. Property owners just are not able to control what the beavers do.
Allen Markle says
If the town is adamant that they will charge damages against a landowner upon the failure of a beaver dam on his or her property, what is the point of them (the town) inspecting the dam to pass judgement on its status? I would suggest that anyone with such a dam on their property send a registered letter to the town, requesting that their dam be inspected. I’ll be ‘damned’ if I believe that someone can look at a beaver dam and tell of its impending failure, in this weather event or the next. To cover their butts, will they deem every dam to be an emergency situation?
All dams will fail: the beaver will run out of accessible food or building materials and move away. Without repairs the dam will eventually go out.
The landowner cannot destroy the beaver and the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act states you must be a trapper to take beaver for fur or to destroy a dam. So you can’t mess with the dam. The draining of a dam will damage fish habitat and you are not allowed to do that. Stream beds, I believe, are owned by the crown, so the the landowner only has a right to that dam.
Mr. Vowels, I think we all can realize the situation you describe and I find it neither more or less tenable than another comment about “life threatening illness or accident” since both are simply ‘what ifs’ and nothing really happened.
And I suppose the MNRF wont want to get mixed in this now the town has it all figured out. Really!
Get us a clear cutting by-law. See if council can apply and stick to the ‘Official Plan’ for our town.
We have seen that beavers can be a problem and it remains to be seen how this will all unfold. Or maybe the beavers and the landowners need only apply for a ‘minor variance’.
Everyone else does.
Alex Armstrong says
Council Declares Open Season to Kill Beavers
Council wants the owner of the dam to take action. But they seem to be confused as to who the owner is. The beaver owns the dam, the land owner did not ask the beaver to squat on the land. In my opinion whoever wants the dam to be removed should pay for the removal. After it is certified by the MNR that removal will not harm the environment or wildlife.