Hill County Park Board approves $4,500 for beaver trapping funding

The Hill County Park Board Monday unanimously approved allocating $4,500 of its budget to be used to pay for beaver trapping.

Beaver Creek Park Superintendent Chad Edgar said that would provide, at $30 a beaver, funds to trap up to 150 beaver.

Trappers in the first decade of this century told the board they had trapped 100-150 beaver a year without making a significant dent in the population.

Edgar said he needs to do something quickly to provide access to campgrounds and cabins in the park.

He said flooding from beaver dams has gone over roads so cabin owners can't access their property and campgrounds can't be used.

He said he and other park employees had been trying to tear down parts of dams by hand, but it is exremely difficult work with limited results, and the beavers come back and quickly rebuild them.

He said a culvert at Sawmill Gulch, by Bear Paw Lake - one location where some cabins can't be accessed - also is plugged by beavers. He said he and fellow employees have tried to clear the culvert, but it is even more difficult to clear and soon is filled again.

He said if it isn't cleared soon, water will be running next to Montana Secondary Highway 234, Beaver Creek Highway.

Havre resident Lou Hagener gave an update on work monitoring the ecology of the park. He said Montana State University-Northern Professor Terri Hildebrand received more than 300 answers in a survey on algal blooms, what people know about them and what would be best in educating people about the potentially deadly growths in bodies of water.

Algal blooms have appeared in Beaver Creek Park waters in several of the past few years.

Hagener said Hildebrand wants to do an intensive analysis on the data from the survey.

He added that she likely will be appearing before the board with some proposals on the ecological monitoring, so she can apply for some grants for funding.

Havre Lion Ray Toth gave an update on work on Lions Campground in the park, adding that things kind of were put on hold during Havre Festival Days. He said the service organization would be meeting today to prioritize actions and would be back to the board, likely at its next meeting, with proposals.

He added that the club would like to mark some dead trees at the campground so they could be identified for removal next spring, saying it is fairly difficult to identify dead trees before the leaves come out.

Hill County Commissioner Diane McLean, also a member of the board, said the park has many dead trees and people helping to remove them would be appreciated.

Edgar said usage of Beaver Creek Park is down, which is normal for this type of year, but actually a little higher than normal this year.

He said the park is still very dry, but some precipitation predicted over the next week might help with that.

The board also approved Edgar's proposal to modify the position of the superintendent's assistant.

The full-time position has been empty for months, with former assistant Pam Wilson filling in over the summer.

Edgar proposed breaking the position into two part-time positions, with a 16-hour-a-week position over the summer and another position, with 24 hours a week, for year round.

He said he might be able to find people willing to do the part-time work instead of full-time.

The board also signed a thank-you letter to Havre's Wipfli, the staff of which painted dumpsters in the park.