Dam Beavers! Scandal Flares at 'End of the World'

The Great Beaver Plague, as some furious locals call it, began in 1946 with the same good but misguided intentions that have presaged countless other ecological disasters.

That year, Argentina's former military government imported 25 pairs of beavers from Canada, hoping they would multiply and create a fur industry among the chilly, lush forests on this large island at the very tip of South America.

Multiply they did. But the fur trade never quite caught on, and there were no natural predators. So today there are tens of thousands of beavers wreaking havoc across Tierra del Fuego -- felling trees, damming up rivers and stirring scandal among the humans as they butt heads over how to solve the problem.

"The beavers are an enormous headache, a plague, and the worst part is that nobody can agree on a solution," said Adriana Guillen, head of the local wildlife department, as she shook her head in bewildered disgust.

The debate has pitted ecologists against animal rights activists, and government officials against each other. Stuck in the middle are tourism companies, who are turning the furry critters into a side trip for a booming tide of foreigners putting in to port on luxury cruises to nearby Antarctica.

On one recent summer evening, when the sun didn't fade away until well after midnight, a guide took a small group to the edge of a small marsh littered with gnawed, fallen trees.

After a good 15 minutes waiting in silence, the water rippled and an overgrown beaver churned through the pond.

"Look! I saw a beaver!" shrieked a Belgian tourist, jumping up and down in delight as her boyfriend snapped photos.

At the end of the night, the tourists huddled around a fire and ate a homemade stew -- made of beef. "You're not eating beaver," the guide assured them, to a round of laughter. The total cost for the four-hour trip ran at about $40.

Nobody knows how many "beaver tourists" there have been so far, but the recent wave of interest has rekindled a debate that has raged for years: by what means, and to what extent should the beaver population be controlled.

In his famous 1977 travel book "In Patagonia," British author Bruce Chatwin nearly got stuck in a swamp created by the misplaced animals.

"This 'beaver tourism' is a scandal," Guillen said. "The beavers need to be controlled, not idealized. They're ruining the environment."

The local government offers hunters about $1.50 for every beaver they kill, and every week somebody shows up with a truckload of bloody tails as proof of their work. But the bounty is so low that the hunting has little effect.

Another dark episode in Tierra del Fuego's past has ruled out more creative solutions. In 1900, immigrants brought in European rabbits -- which then did what they are known for. That prompted settlers to introduce the fox, which then hunted sheep on nearby farms and ravaged the local economy.

"It's a more-difficult problem to solve than you might think," laughed Julio Lovece, tourism secretary in the nearby town of Ushuaia. "Some people say the beaver is a plague. But I say humans do much more damage!"

Paintings of beavers hang in Lovece's office, and can be found in restaurants and hotels all over Ushuaia. Meanwhile, a new ski resort nearby is named "Beaver Mountain," and some local entrepreneurs have just this month begun producing hats and gloves made from beavers.

The consumption of beaver is technically prohibited, but if a tourist meets the right people he or she can get a small Tupperware container filled with marinated meat and onions. Beaver meat is grainy and tough, and tastes a lot like deer.

Tito Baserga, a local guide, has started a business with his wife aimed at exporting beaver meat, keychains and wallets, since Argentine products are dirt-cheap in dollars following a recent economic crisis.

"I want people to love the beavers, but not so much that they can't be exploited. My wife and I want to live off the beavers," said Baserga. "Besides -- the fact they're here in Tierra del Fuego really isn't their fault, is it?"

This was an actual letter from and a reply to the Michigan
Department of Environmental Quality, State of Michigan:

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 shows 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 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 stream 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

RESPONSE

Dear Mr. Price:

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 De Vries 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, authorize, nor supervised their dam project, I think they would be highly offended that you call their skillful use of natural building materials "debris." I would like to challenge your department to attempt to emulate their dam project any time and/or any place you choose. I believe I can safely state there is no way you could ever match their
dam skills, their dam resourcefulness, their dam ingenuity, their dam persistence, their dam determination or their dam work ethic.

As to your request, I do not think the beavers are aware that they first must fill out a dam permit prior to the start of this type of dam activity.

My first dam question to you is: (1) are you trying to discriminate against my Spring Pond Beavers or (2) do you require all beavers throughout this State to conform to said dam request? If you are not discriminating against these particular beavers, through the Freedom of Information Act I request completed copies of all those other applicable beaver dam permits that have been issued. 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 451of the Public Acts of 1994,being sections 324.30101 to 324.30113 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, annotated.

I have several concerns. My first concern is - aren't the beavers entitled to legal representation? The Spring Pond Beavers are financially destitute and are unable to pay for said 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 flooding is proof that this is a natural occurrence which the department is required to protect. In other words, we should leave the Spring Pond Beavers alone rather than harassing them and calling their dam names.

If you want the stream "restored" to a dam free-flow condition - please contact the beavers - but if you are going to arrest them (they obviously did not pay any attention to your dam letter -- being unable to read English) -- be sure they are read the Miranda rights first. As for me, I am not going to cause more 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 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 unauthorized dams as long as the sky is blue, the grass is green and water flows downstream. They have more dam right than I do to live and enjoy Spring Pond. If the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection lives to its name, it should protect the natural resources (Beavers) and the environment (Beavers' Dams).

So, as far as the beavers and I are concerned, this dam case can be referred for more elevated enforcement action right now. Why wait until 1/31/98? The Spring Pond Beavers may be under the dam ice then and there will be no 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 in the area. It is the bears. Bears are actually defecating in our woods. I definitely believe you should be persecuting the defecating bears and leave the 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 via another government organization - the dam USPS. Maybe, someday, it will get there.

Sincerely,
Stephen L. Tvedten

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