Beaver Harvest Incentive Program Underway in County of Minburn

Beaver Harvest Incentive Program Underway in County of Minburn

Story Preview

Michelle Pinon - News Advertiser

Flooding and beavers seem to go hand in hand and there were plenty of both in the summer of 2020 throughout the County of Minburn.

Darwin Ullery, Director of Agriculture and Utility Services, said the bulk of his time was spent cleaning out beaver dams from culverts and bridges to move water that was damaging those key pieces of infrastructure.

Ullery said, “We had to drop a number quite a few other things and focus on moving water, and it seemed to go on all summer long. We had a lot of significant rainfall last year as well. So, it was a field day for the beavers that’s for sure.”

Even though they blew up a number of beaver dams and trapped many beavers, Ullery said he did not keep track of how many or how costly that was to do, but the bulk of his time was spent on that. “It’s unlike anything I’ve seen in my 30 years. It was a whole new experience. We had lots and lots of flooding problems, the most in my career for sure.”

As a result, council asked Ullery to look into the issue and the possibility of having a beaver harvest program in the county. “When I was researching it there’s about four or five in the province with the closest one being Beavery County, which is right next to us.”

“The last two, maybe three years, it’s been historically the wettest in my career. And so that brings with it a lot of beaver problems and a huge increase in the beaver population. So, we had a lot of infrastructure problems this year with flooded culverts and bridges; water coming over the top of the roads, and that kind of thing.”

Read the full story in the February 10, 2021 edition of the News Advertiser - now online!

Help shape what you read in your community newspaper! http://tiny.cc/vnasurvey