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Beavers may be a patriotic symbol of Canada, but for some rural municipalities they are also a problem.
The RM of Garden River is seeing an increased number of the rodents, so its taking steps now to keep the problem from growing by blowing up some of the dams they come across.
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“It’s an issue that has kind of come to a head just because of many years of not really tackling the issue,” said Reeve Ryan Scragg.
It’s not as simple as just letting nature take its course, Scragg explained. Beaver dams, and the resulting ponds they create, can have costly consequences for farmers and municipalities.
“We’ve seen some substantial infrastructure damage over the past number of years, especially on our bridges, and localized flooding as well due to the excess number of beaver dams that have accumulated.”
During spring runoff, ice can build up near the dams and cause significant damage to a bridge. Replacing even a local bridge can cost up to $1 million.
The RM frequently deals with damage repairs in the range of $50,000 to $100,000 from a single runoff event.
“Over the last month or so, we’ve kind of engaged in a program of blowing up beaver dams,” said Scragg.
“We hired a contractor to dynamite a series of beaver dams on the Garden River and the couple of other waterways that are within the RM of Garden River.”
Years ago, the province changed some of the rules regarding beaver control, including requiring residents to have a trapper’s license to catch the rodents and subsequently be able to take advantage of a program that compensates them for the catch.
“The rules that have changed have really reduced the number of people that are out there actively controlling the beaver population,” said Scragg.
“What we’ve seen locally is the loss of the farmer beaver control has led to an increase in population and an increase in the number of beaver dams on the waterways.”
The Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) manages a beaver control program which partners with RMs willing to participate — like Garden River, which will pay $30 per beaver tail. Some of the money comes through the SARM program, and everyone attempting to claim the bounty must have a valid trapper’s licence.
According to the Saskatchewan Trappers Association, there are several steps to take before a licence is issued, but the process has been streamlined since some of it is available online.
Floyd Hendrickson is the coordinator for the official Trapper Education Course and said two things are required to sign up — the person must be at least 12 years old and have their hunter safety course. The trapper course takes one day but the hunter safety course can take several days.
He said demand for the trapping course has increased. How much it costs is up to the instructor or group putting it on, but some are as cheap as $40.
“There’s quite a bit of interest and it’s more than what I ever expected,” he said.
Recent courses in Yorkton and Kamsack either sold out or were almost full, and some people are choosing to drive several hours to take the course.
Hendrickson pointed out that people need to be aware of their local RM rules before they count on getting money for tails.
Farmers wanting to control beavers on their own property are not required to turn in tails, it’s only needed to claim the rebate.
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