Park board hears request for further beaver trapping discussion

At their monthly meeting Monday, the Hill County Park Board heard a request that discussion of non-lethal alternatives to beaver trapping be resumed in the future and that the public be made more aware of trapping activities on the park.

Audience member Lou Hagener made an agenda request that the board discuss non-lethal ways of controlling the effects of beaver in Beaver Creek Park at their next meeting, a matter he said hasn’t been given enough consideration.

Hagener said an an advertisement in the Havre Daily News last Friday announcing trapping would begin and did not provide enough information on trapping activities and requested that the board put together a more comprehensive explanation for the public.

He requested that this explanation include the target species of trapping, details about the board’s policy towards beaver trapping, the goals of trapping activities, an evaluation of trappings effectiveness on long-term problems and the cost of operations among other things.

Non-lethal methods were also brought up by Fran Buell of the Montana Trappers Association.

Buell said she and her husband constructed a homemade beaver deceiver and pond leveler for their cabin on the park and tracked its effectiveness over three months concluding non-lethal methods are ineffective.

She said the cost of her efforts were $258 a month in time and materials, to deal with one beaver.

“If non-lethal control of beaver ever comes up again,” she said, “You can see that it doesn’t work.”

Buell requested that the beaver she’s been trying to address be removed from her property, something she said likely can’t be done non-lethally.

Buell read a report from the Montana Trappers Association saying that because they were unable to have a fundraising event, the association’s board of directors has been discussing the practicality of funding beaver damage control on Beaver Creek Park for 2019-2020 trapping year.

She said they voted to offer the Hill County Park Board a matching funding amount of $1,000 for the removal of beaver.

After the meeting, former Park Board member Renelle Braaten said Buell is not an expert on non-lethal methods of beaver control and the board should hear from people who are.

Beaver Creek Park Superintendent Chad Edgar told the board park usage has slowed considerably in the last month, although he’s observed some people have returned now that the county has lifted fire restrictions.

He said the park now hosts 2,008 pairs of cattle.

He also said he’s been working on winterizing camps and park facilities and dealing with recent equipment breakdowns.

Edgar said the park’s garbage truck, one of their mowers, and their four-wheeler all had serious issues that the park has been and is addressing.

Despite these issues, Edgar said it’s been a very smooth month for the park.