Beaver activity responsible for flooding in the county
Officials in Pender County are considering offering a bounty program for beavers. The move comes after extensive flooding in the county that has been attributed to the activity of beavers, which have significantly impacted drainage issues throughout the eastern N.C. area.
Pender County officials issued the following statement to make their case:
“in the past four years, Pender County has been heavily impacted by flood events of historic proportion. These floods have caused significant damage to hundred of families and businesses in Pender County, causing folks to lose their homes, crops, timber, and even their jobs. The flooding throughout the county was magnified by the drainage issues along the county’s vast network of streams, creeks and rivers. In many cases, the primary impediment to the flow of water is beaver dams.”
Beaver dams prevent the natural flow of water throughout the county
The beaver population in Pender County has ballooned in the past decade, the county said. Part of the problem, they said, is the huge decline in the value of beaver pelts. This has cut down on the number of folks trapping the animals, which have no other predators.
Beavers have built a huge number of dams throughout the county. This stops water from properly draining throughout the county, contributing greatly to massive amounts of flooding.
Funding has been available to the county for clearing the dams. But this only offers a temporary reprieve to the problem. Beavers are hard workers, and simply rebuild their dams as quickly as possible.
The county’s proposal includes a full-time beaver trapper, and also offers money to residents who capture and kill beavers. Aside from trapping beavers, the full-time position will also be responsible for removing beaver dams throughout the county, as well as overseeing the beaver bounty program.
Columbus County already has a beaver bounty program, offering $40 for every beaver collected. Since its inception in 2012, more than 1400 beavers have been eliminated from Columbus County thanks to their bounty program.
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