This story by Tommy Gardner was first published in the Stowe Reporter on Jan. 18.
Stowe continues to experience a building boom, and not the kind that provides much needed housing. At least not for humans.
Beavers have dammed up waterways and built lodges in the village, causing headaches for town officials who are considering whether to remove the animals while the state’s beaver trapping season is still active.
The selectboard at a recent meeting initially moved to start trapping the animals responsible for causing rising water levels in the wetland between Depot Street and the Memorial Park recreation area, and near the Stowe Recreation Path and Quiet Path near the Mayo Farm public events fields.
However, the beavers were given a possible last-minute reprieve at the Dec. 27 meeting, as board members opted to wait a month to see if the water levels near Depot Street can be reduced an additional 2 feet by adding more “beaver deceivers,” or baffles, devices placed around culverts meant to lower the water levels without destroying beaver’s dens, where they live.
A memo from Tyler Brown, a wildlife specialist with the Vermont Department Fish and Wildlife, said he discovered on an October visit that baffles installed in late 2022 in the wetlands near Depot Street were still functioning, but the beavers traveled further upstream to a patch of woods near the Parks and Recreation department equipment shed.
Brown said a baffle wouldn’t work in that location because, although the water levels had risen higher than the elevation of the nearby baseball fields, the area is too small and the water level too shallow.
The same goes for the second “conflict site” by the Mayo Farm Events Fields off Weeks Hill Road, Brown said.
“Beavers could easily build a new dam upstream or downstream of a baffle, preventing it from functioning. Lowering the water level would also force the beavers to abandon the site, which defeats the purpose of installing a beaver baffle,” Brown wrote in his memo to the town. “The purpose of a beaver baffle is to maintain high quality beaver created wetland habitat.”
Opponents to trapping made several points about developing a comprehensive beaver management plan. They argued trapping beavers has not solved the issue in the past when it was done from 2010-2019, so it’s not a long-term solution.
Stowe resident Brenna Galdenzi, founder of Protect Our Wildlife, said any management plan should get input from experts other than just state wildlife officials.
“The perspective of Fish & Wildlife historically is an extreme institutional bias toward trapping,” Galdenzi said.
She added that trapping risks unintended consequences like other animals being caught or dogs in the area being injured.
Selectboard member Paco Aumand, who voiced opposition to trapping this season, said once the town starts the process, it will need to keep doing it year after year.
“I don’t have a clear understanding of what the goal ultimately is,” Aumand said. “The beaver will repopulate the area.”
If the town does go forward with trapping during the current trapping season — which runs from October through March — the town plans to authorize it within a limited area of Memorial Park during the current trapping season. Specifically, trapping will be allowed between Pond Street and Depot Street, and between the baseball field and the park shed area, but not in the southeast corner of Memorial Park. The goal is to provide immediate relief from the current high beaver population, while also developing a longer-term comprehensive beaver management plan.
While the motion does not explicitly say the town will kill the animals, trapping them implies death, since the relocation of animals is generally frowned upon.
