SADDLETREE — Austin Acy and Dwight Chavis know the challenge of destroying a beaver dam.
“It’s hard work,” said Acy, who on Wednesday was waist high at times in the waters of the Run of Saddletree Swamp using a shovel to tear apart piece-by-piece a dam near the bridge on Saddletree Road. “It’s frustrating at first, but once you know how to do it, the work’s not too bad. Be good if we could get some more volunteers.”
Acy and Chavis have been hired by Saddletree farmer Ronald Hammonds to bust down dams and get rid of beavers that have built as many as 32 dams along a two-mile stretch of Saddletree Swamp between Saddletree Road and Mount Olive Church Road. Chavis said that he recently got rid of 28 beavers in one day near the dams that Saddletree property owners say need to come down to prevent roadways from flooding, bridges from being destroyed, farmland from being turned into fields of mud, and trees that could be harvested from being drowned
No one can say exactly how many beavers call Saddletree Swamp home, but that the number has increased following recent heavy rains in Robeson County.
“It’s out of control,” Hammonds said. “We need some help to bring these beavers down to a manageable level. I’m not against beavers. When controlled they are good for the environment. But what is happening concerns me. I don’t want to leave behind for my grandchildren an environment that isn’t in good condition. We have to take care of our environment.”
David Wallwork, who owns property near Saddletree Swamp, agrees that controlling the local beaver population is necessary to protect the beauty and integrity of the swamp.
“This is a beautiful ecological area with an abundance of wildlife,” Wallwork said. “We will not only help property values but help the ecology and environment in Robeson County by controlling this rodent.”
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, beaver populations have increased dramatically throughout North Carolina since they were reintroduced into the state in 1939. The animals are touted for increasing wetland habitats for a variety of plant and animal species, reducing downstream sedimentation and improving water quality.
But as the USDA points out, beavers also can cause problems, including damage to roads, agriculture and timberland, as well as damaging drainage systems and landscaping.
Hammonds is advocating for the introduction of a countywide bounty program to serve as an incentive for people to hunt and trap beaver. Columbus County has a successful bounty program, he said, that pays $30 a beaver.
Hammonds said that the county should take advantage of programs offered by the USDA and U.S. Wildlife Service that provide flow control devices that can save bridges and roadways from flooding. He also suggested that beavers be trapped and moved to other areas.
Hammonds said that the Robeson County Board of Commissioners has shown no interest in dealing with beaver-related problems. But Bo Benton, a USDA wildlife specialist assigned to administer the state’s Beaver Management Assistance Program, disagrees.
“The commissioners are concerned about beaver problems and are addressing them,” he said. “For the past 18 or 20 years they have been participants in the Beaver Management Assistance Program.”
According to Benton, the commissioners are currently paying $59,000 a year to participate in the Beaver Management Assistance Program, including $4,000 to join and $55,000 for manpower and equipment to remove beavers and destroy dams.
Benton said that he has worked on 42 projects throughout Robeson County since June, removing 160 beavers and 50 dams.
“There is a mess in there,” Benton said, referring to Saddletree Swamp. “The swamp is overpopulated with beavers.”
Benton said that the sooner the problems can be addressed, the better.
“After the beaver population is brought down to a manageable level, there will still have to be maintenance on a regular basis,” Benton said.
Benton said that early last year he surveyed the area of concern to Hammonds and other Saddletree property owners.
“I told him what I thought would have to be done,” Benton said. “It would cost about $4,500 to get rid of the beavers and remove several dams, plus additional annual maintenance costs.”
Benton said that he has not done any other work in the Saddletree Swamp area. Hammonds questions why, and wants to know if the county is getting the best beaver management services available for what it is paying.
On Monday, Tony Pickett, another concerned Saddletree property owner, is scheduled to address the county commissioners about beaver-related problems. Benton said he will likely attend the meeting to answer questions.
Hammonds said Wednesday he does not know if he will attend Monday’s meeting. He says he was “insulted” at a March 21 meeting when he was cut off while speaking during the meeting’s public comment period. Speakers are typically limited to three minutes and commissioners do not respond to comments made during that time.
Commissioner David Edge said that several months ago, Hammonds brought the Columbus County beaver bounty program to his attention.
“I spoke with the manager (Ricky Harris) about the program and he agreed to budget money for a bounty program in the next budget,” Edge said Thursday. “It seems to be working in Columbus County. Maybe this is something new we can try in Robeson County.”
Benton, however, doesn’t know if a bounty program will do the job.
“It has its pros and cons,” he said. “It might work if you are just talking about beaver numbers, but a bounty program doesn’t include getting rid of the dams.”
