Coexisting with Beavers in the Beaver City

The North American beaver, Castor canadensis, build dams and wetlands that are among the most biologically productive ecosystems in the world, comparable to coral reefs and rain forests.

Photo: Adult beaver and yearling

Beavers provide many benefits to humans including:

• Regulating stream flows
• Improving water quality
• Replenishing drinking water aquifers
• Stabilizing water tables
• Repairing eroded stream channels
• Creating diverse wildlife habitats
• Increasing biodiversity
• Promoting salmon/trout recovery

Illustration: Beaver Lodge Menagerie by  Sarah Gilman 

Unfortunately, many beavers are killed by humans each year in Benton County.

Photo: Saskatchewan Beaver Derby

Data from a 2011 ODFW Furbearer Report reveals that a small number of recreational fur trappers kill as many as 195 beavers each year in Benton County.

If fact, when adjusted for county size, more beavers are killed for their fur in Benton County than in any other county in Oregon, except Clatsop County.

Due to conflicts with humans, approximately 10 beavers are killed each year by the USDA Benton County trapper.

An additional unknown number of problematic beavers are killed by private wildlife control operators, foresters, farmers and other property owners each year.

Beavers are also inadvertently killed by humans. Three beavers were killed by vehicles on Walnut Blvd/53rd Street in 2018.

Photo: Vehicle-killed beaver on Walnut Blvd, December 2018

Because beavers are so heavily exploited in rural areas of the county, protecting urban beavers within cities like Corvallis may be important for their conservation.

Map: Locations of beavers on Village Green Creek (northeast) and Dunawi Creek (southwest).

Fortunately, there are cost-effective, long-term, environmentally friendly and humane methods and devices to resolve most conflicts with beavers.

Flow devices such as flexible pond levelers can prevent flooding by beavers.

Wire mesh and electric fencing can protect trees from damage by beavers.

Sand paint can also protect trees from damage by beavers.

Photos: Upper Left - Mixing masonry sand with latex paint, Lower Left - Matching color to aspen bark, Right - left trunk painted, right trunk unpainted

A flexible pond leveler was installed on Dunawi Creek in Corvallis, Oregon on January 17, 2019. The installation was done by Jakob Shockey of  Beaver State Wildlife Solutions  with help from the Beaver Strike Team.

The Beaver Strike Team is a local volunteer citizen action group composed of federal, state, and university biologists, experts in beaver-human conflict resolution, watershed council and wildlife center staff, and other wildlife advocates.

The Dunawi Creek project was funded by the Benton County Agriculture and Wildlife Protection Program ( AWPP ) and Benton County Public Works.

The pond leveler has reduced  flooding  of 53rd Street near the Willamette Pacific Railroad overpass while allowing beavers to continue to provide important ecological services.

The Dunawi Creek pond leveler remained secured to the streambed during a February rainstorm. Water flowed through the pond leveler pipe and over the top of the dam. The level of the beaver pond remained well below the level of the nearby 53rd Street road surface.

The Beaver Strike Team is currently exploring the feasibility of installing a pond leveler on Village Green Creek in Village Green Park, a Corvallis city park.

Photo: Beaver dam in Village Green Park

A pond leveler could reduce the chance of flooding residential property, Village Green Park, and Conifer Boulevard.

Map: Locations of beaver dams on Village Green Creek in Village Green Park.