Hunter River dam worries watershed group

The Hunter-Clyde Watershed Group is concerned about an increased presence of beavers in the Hunter River area.

Beavers recently constructed a dam in a culvert underneath Route 2 inHunter River, beginning to plugup the waterway.

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Danielle Jordan, rehabilitation and research technician with the watershed group, saysthey've noticed an influx of beaver activity in the area which is causing a problem in the river going through the town.

"Beavers are pretty amazing creatures, they're the only mammal other than us people that can convert a completely terrestrial environment into an aquatic one," she said.

Trapper hired

Beavers createwetlands by chopping down trees and building dams andthey becomea nuisance when they enter areas with high human activity, Jordan said, such is the case inHunter River.

"When we're seeing nuisance beavers, they can dam up culverts and when we're damming up culverts, if there is high flooding events or if the dams aren't secure, they can essentially blow out," she said.

"So we're looking at road damage, or flooding of roads or people's properties as well."

The group removed a similar dam last year and with the mammals building a new dam, they've hired a trapper to monitor the beaver population a measure done "only when it's absolutely necessary," Jordan said.

After the beavers areremoved, the group will returnto remove the dam.

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