As a result of the public uproar following the killing of four beavers in Kings Beach earlier this fall, Placer County changed its beaver policy, agreeing to use alternative methods to keep the animals from doing damage rather than removing them. The decision came amid pressure from both outraged residents and Placer County Supervisor Jennifer Montgomery. However, it won’t be the Department of Public Works — which ordered the beavers’ termination — that will be in charge of implementing the beaver management solutions, but community members who are part of a new animal advocacy group that was formed in the wake of the beavers’ deaths.
In early October, a family of four beavers who had made their home in Griff Creek was shot by wildlife agents at the request of DPW. The department was worried that the beavers’ dam could cause flooding on Highway 28 and that trees cut down by the beavers could fall on cars parked at the North Tahoe Fire Protection District’s Kings Beach station. Placer County has dismantled dams in Griff Creek for the past several years because of flood risks, and in 2009 a different beaver family was trapped and killed.
‘We don’t go out and look to kill beavers,’ said Peter Kraatz, DPW deputy director. ‘It’s been a problem site for many years, and we did the same thing before, at the same site. It’s our typical policy.’
But the merits of that policy came into question after community members learned about the beavers’ untimely deaths. Enraged residents staged a protest on the banks of Griff Creek, wrote angry letters to the editor, and in November held a community forum about ways to coexist with beavers. Placer County Supervisor Jennifer Montgomery stepped into the issue, urging DPW to listen to the community.
DPW got the message.
‘Our stance is, folks were upset so we’ve done a one-eighty and allowed the community to keep beavers,’ Kraatz said.
DPW also agreed to the use of a water flow control device, a video of which was shown at the November community forum by members of Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, that would ensure that ponds created by beaver dams would not reach flood levels. The device consists of a plastic pipe that is inserted into the dam, which drains the water down to a certain level.
‘The tube takes care of the problem,’ said Cheryl Millham, Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care executive director. ‘The beavers live, and everybody is happy.’
The device is also relatively cheap, with Millham estimating the total cost at between $50 and $500. And it’s so easy to install, she said, ‘a child could probably do it.’
DPW, however, says it has neither the manpower nor the funds to manage such a device.
‘We think this is not something that you can put in and walk away from,’ Kraatz said. ‘But we would respond if the community asks for help.’
So, with DPW’s blessing, community members took the problem into their own hands. Around 40 people who met at the community forum formed the Sierra Wildlife Coalition, whose mission is to seek humane and practical solutions for managing beavers and local wildlife. The group’s first point of order is to purchase and install a water flow control device.
‘We’d like to demonstrate that it can be done and that it’s simple and should be done instead of killing wildlife,’ said Sherry Guzzi, a Carnelian Bay resident who, along with her husband, Ted, is helping organize the Sierra Wildlife Coalition.
The Wylie Animal Rescue Foundation and Worth a Dam, a beaver advocacy organization in Martinez, Calif., each pledged $500 to the project, and two anonymous donors gave $250 each. Guzzi, who thinks it will cost closer to $1,000, said that should be enough money to construct one water diversion.
The coalition’s first installation might occur in Tahoe Donner, where a beaver dam constructed in Alder Creek could potentially threaten one of the subdivision’s streets. Members of the Sierra Wildlife Coalition made a presentation to the Tahoe Donner Association Board about the water flow control device in the hopes that they will opt for the humane alternative.
However, the coalition does not have a green light just yet. They still need to get permission from the California Department of Fish and Game, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board, and possibly Caltrans. DPW has said that it will help the group with the permit process.
Millham is hoping that the coalition’s message reaches all the counties and agencies around the lake and in Truckee.
‘We are really looking toward the Kings Beach group to being a beacon, a fresh start, to working with wildlife,’ she said. ‘It’s not popular to blow animals away.’
Contact Sierra Wildlife Coalition at sierrawildlifecoalition@gmail.com.
