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Beavers are winning the water war (MA laws protect beavers, not people)
Worcester Telegram ^ | 8/10/07 | Hill

Posted on 08/10/2007 10:10:21 AM PDT by pabianice

“It’s nature. I’m sorry it’s negatively affecting you,”

STERLING, MA - A sump pump rumbled in the cellar of her Sterling home and a hose gurgled in the front yard as Mary B. Honan waited for a state Department of Conservation and Recreation official to arrive at her house earlier this week.

The feisty Irish lilt in her voice falling flat, Ms. Honan declared herself the loser of a four-year war. “The beavers have won,” she said before the deputy director arrived.

A native of Ireland, Ms. Honan fell in love with the energy of the United States in the 1970s while here on a visit, and decided to make it her home. “The coolest place in the world to be was here. So I stayed,” Ms. Honan said the other day.

Some of her life went well, and some not so much. But in April 1992, the single mother of two graduated from Fitchburg State College and bought a house.

“It was my pride and joy,” she said. “You know, doing it all on your own.”

“There was no water — bone dry,” she said as water flowed from her cellar at 6 Twine Road in Sterling through a wide hose and onto the lawn in front of the yellow, cape-style house, whooshing past a “Leprechaun Crossing” sign.

Way in back of the woodland, where a seasonally mushy wetland had been, were the unmistakable signs of beavers. They had gathered branches and started building homes. On nearby Campground Road, where water flows through a box-shaped culvert under the railroad and toward the new wetland across from Ms. Honan’s house, beavers have built a virtual village of small huts and a huge beaver house.

(Excerpt) Read more at telegram.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; US: Massachusetts
KEYWORDS: animalwhackos; beavers; environmentists; environuts; massachusetts; massachussetts; pests
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To: pabianice; All
Such insensitivity...


41 posted on 08/10/2007 2:17:00 PM PDT by backhoe (-30-)
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To: pabianice

There are hidden contradictions in the minds of people who “love Nature” while deploring the “artificialities” with which “Man has spoiled ‘Nature.’ “
The obvious contradiction lies in their choice of words, which imply that Man and his artifacts are not part of “Nature”, but beavers and their dams are.
But the contradictions go deeper than this prima-facie absurdity.
In declaring his love for a beaver dam (erected by beavers for beavers’ purposes) and his hatred for dams erected by men (for the purposes of men) the “Naturist” reveals his hatred for his own race, i.e. his own self-hatred.
In the case,of “Naturists” such self-hatred is understandable; they are such a sorry lot.
But hatred is too strong an emotion to feel toward them; pity and contempt are the most they rate.
As for me, willy-nilly I am a man, not a beaver, and H. sapiens is the only race I have or can have.
Fortunately for me, I like being part of a race made up of men and women, it strikes me as a fine arrangement and perfectly “natural.”

LAZARUS LONG


42 posted on 08/10/2007 2:19:49 PM PDT by HuntsvilleTxVeteran (Remember the Alamo, Goliad and WACO, It is Time for a new San Jacinto)
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To: AFreeBird
I remember reading a story here, don't know if it was true or not, about a guy that had a beaver problem, and the town was sending him notices that he could not build a dam on his property, and he went to great lengths to try and get the PTB to realize he was not the one building the damn dam.

Google:

Spring Pond Beavers

43 posted on 08/10/2007 2:51:06 PM PDT by backhoe (-30-)
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To: backhoe
Thanks! And according to Snopes, this is true.


STATE OF MICHIGAN
Reply to: GRAND RAPIDS DISTRICT OFFICE STATE OFFICE BUILDING 6TH FLOOR
350 OTTAWA NW GRAND RAPIDS MI 49503-2341
JOHN ENGLER, Governor
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
HOLLISTER BUILDING, PO BOX 30473, LANSING MI 48909-7973
INTERNET: http://www.deq.state.mi
RUSSELL J. HARDING, Director

December 17, 1997

CERTIFIED

Mr. Ryan DeVries 2088 Dagget Pierson, MI 49339

Dear Mr. DeVries:

SUBJECT: DEQ File No. 97-59-0023-1 T11N, R10W, Sec. 20, Montcalm County

It has come to the attention of the Department of Environmental Quality that there has been recent unauthorized activity on the above referenced parcel of property. You have been certified as the legal landowner and/or contractor who did the following unauthorized activity:

Construction and maintenance of two wood debris dams across the outlet stream of Spring Pond. A permit must be issued prior to the start of this type of activity. A review of the Department's files show that no permits have been issued.

Therefore, the Department has determined that this activity is in violation of Part 301, Inland Lakes and Streams, of the Natural Resource and Environmental Protection Act, Act 451 of the Public Acts of 1994, being sections 324.30101 to 324.30113 of the Michigan Compiled Laws annotated. The Department has been informed that one or both of the dams partially failed during a recent rain event, causing debris dams and flooding at downstream locations. We find that dams of this nature are inherently hazardous and cannot be permitted. The Department therefore orders you to cease and desist all unauthorized activities at this location, and to restore the stream to a free-flow condition by removing all wood and brush forming the dams from the strewn channel. All restoration work shall be completed no later than January 31, 1998. Please notify this office when the restoration has been completed so that a follow-up site inspection may be scheduled by our staff. Failure to comply with this request, or any further unauthorized activity on the site, may result in this case being referred for elevated enforcement action. We anticipate and would appreciate your full cooperation in this matter.

Please feel free to contact me at this office if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

David L. Price
District Representative Land and Water Management Division



Dear Mr. Price:
Re: DEQ File No. 97-59-0023; T11N, R10W, Sec 20; Montcalm County

Your certified letter dated 12/17/97 has been handed to me to respond to. You sent out a great deal of carbon copies to a lot of people, but you neglected to include their addresses. You will, therefore, have to send them a copy of my response.

First of all, Mr. Ryan DeVries is not the legal landowner and/or contractor at 2088 Dagget, Pierson, Michigan - I am the legal owner and a couple of beavers are in the (State unauthorized) process of constructing and maintaining two wood "debris" dams across the outlet stream of my Spring Pond. While I did not pay for, nor authorize, their dam project, I think they would be highly offended you call their skillful use of natural building materials "debris." I would like to challenge you to attempt to emulate their dam project any dam time and/or any dam place you choose. I believe I can safely state there is no dam way you could ever match their dam skills, their dam resourcefulness, their dam ingenuity, their dam persistence, their dam determination and/or their dam work ethic.

As to your dam request the beavers first must fill out a dam permit prior to the start of this type of dam activity, my first dam question to you is: are you trying to discriminate against my Spring Pond Beavers or do you require all dam beavers throughout this State to conform to said dam request? If you are not discriminating against these particular beavers, please send me completed copies of all those other applicable beaver dam permits. Perhaps we will see if there really is a dam violation of Part 301, Inland Lakes and Streams, of the Natural Resource and Environmental Protection Act, Act 451 of the Public Acts of 1994, being sections 324.30101 to 324.30113 of the Michigan Compiled Laws annotated.

My first concern is - aren't the dam beavers entitled to dam legal representation? The Spring Pond Beavers are financially destitute and are unable to pay for said dam representation - so the State will have to provide them with a dam lawyer. The Department's dam concern that either one or both of the dams failed during a recent rain event causing dam flooding is proof we should leave the dam Spring Pond Beavers alone rather than harassing them and calling them dam names. If you want the dam stream "restored" to a dam free-flow condition - contact the dam beavers - but if you are going to arrest them (they obviously did not pay any dam attention to your dam letter-being unable to read English) - be sure you read them their dam Miranda rights first.

As for me, I am not going to cause more dam flooding or dam debris jams by interfering with these dam builders. If you want to hurt these dam beavers - be aware I am sending a copy of your dam letter and this response to PETA. If your dam Department seriously finds all dams of this nature inherently hazardous and truly will not permit their existence in this dam State - I seriously hope you are not selectively enforcing this dam policy, or once again both I and the Spring Pond Beavers will scream prejudice!

In my humble opinion, the Spring Pond Beavers have a right to build their dam unauthorized dams as long as the sky is blue, the grass is green, and water flows downstream. They have more dam right than I to live and enjoy Spring Pond. So, as far as I and the beavers are concerned, this dam case can be referred for more dam elevated enforcement action now. Why wait until 1/31/98? The Spring Pond Beavers may be under the dam ice then, and there will be no dam way for you or your dam staff to contact/harass them then. In conclusion, I would like to bring to your attention a real environmental quality (health) problem: bears are actually defecating in our woods. I definitely believe you should be persecuting the defecating bears and leave the dam beavers alone. If you are going to investigate the beaver dam, watch your step! (The bears are not careful where they dump!) Being unable to comply with your dam request, and being unable to contact you on your dam answering machine, I am sending this response to your dam office.

Sincerely,
Stephen L. Tvedten

44 posted on 08/10/2007 4:07:53 PM PDT by AFreeBird (Will NOT vote for Rudy. <--- notice the period)
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To: AFreeBird
That's the one- G. Gordon Liddy read it years ago on his show...

...and I've been laughing , ever since.

45 posted on 08/10/2007 4:25:08 PM PDT by backhoe (-30-)
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To: pabianice
They had a beaver problem in northern Mississippi, damming drainage canals. The state brought in alligators. Now they have an alligator problem.
46 posted on 08/10/2007 9:57:34 PM PDT by Vietnam Vet From New Mexico (Rock The Casbah (said the little AC130 gunship))
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To: Vietnam Vet From New Mexico

They should have shipped the beavers over to NO to help with their damn dike problem.


47 posted on 08/11/2007 2:46:55 PM PDT by AFreeBird (Will NOT vote for Rudy. <--- notice the period)
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To: backhoe

Loved the cartoon!!


48 posted on 08/12/2007 7:04:34 PM PDT by VeniVidiVici (No buy China!!)
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To: pabianice

There was an anti-leg hold trap ballot initiative a few years ago sponsored by PETA. It passed so easily that they later remarked that if they had known how easy it was going to be, they’d have tried to outlaw hunting.

City dwellers and ditzy suburbanities like Ms. Honan voted for it overwhelmingly.

Anyway the upshot that no leg hold traps lead to a surge in the beaver (order rodentia) population. FWIW, I saw beaver in the pond next to my house a few weeks ago. Fortunately, the floor of my basement is pretty high above it.


49 posted on 08/12/2007 7:14:00 PM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets (NYT Headline: Protocols of the Learned Elders of CBS: Fake but Accurate, Experts Say)
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To: VeniVidiVici
Loved the cartoon!

Hell, I thought it was hillarious, but on the blogs I've posted it on, it seemed to kill the threads stone dead.

Damn the beavers, full steam ahead...

50 posted on 08/13/2007 4:02:22 AM PDT by backhoe (-30-)
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