Sampson's beaver issue builds up

Apr. 19—A couple dozen beavers were released in North Carolina some 80 years ago and, needless to say, the population has boomed since then. Less than a century later, they've worn out their welcome for many, with landowners in Sampson County touting the need for increased trapping measures to alleviate the damage left in their wake.

Craig Beasley with USDA-Wildlife Services is tasked with coordinating the North Carolina Beaver Management Assistance Program (BMAP) efforts in Sampson. This county is one of a handful of the 43 participating counties across the state that pays more than the $6,000 baseline amount to aid trapping efforts and reduce damage.

Residents say it's still not enough, and implored for those efforts to be stepped up.

"I'm sure everybody knows we have an issue in this county," Beasley stated. "The best way to address this issue would be through the trapping. There's been approximately 48 jobs done throughout the whole county, 39 of them were blown with explosives. If you hear something happening in Sampson County, it's probably me with the explosives. Thirty-nine dams I've blown throughout the county —677 hours (spent). And the best way to handle these beaver situations is trapping.

"Beavers are not going away, and all they do is cause damage, blocking roadways," said Beasley. "I do a lot for farmers, I do a lot for individual landowners. Through trapping, you can save money. "

Beasley said the resources saved in Sampson in the past year totaled more than $211,000 in timber, $60,500 in crops, $10,000 in impoundments and $18,500 in roads and bridges.

In 2020-2021, Wildlife Services staff and cooperators reported that BMAP services prevented the impending loss or repair expenditures of an estimated $9.64 million in roads and bridges, timber and other agricultural resources, railroad trestles, dams and ditches, city and county sewer systems and water treatment facilities, landscape plantings, and other resources such as homes, airport runways, and golf courses. Compared to the costs, for every $1 spent, BMAP saved $6.42 in resources across North Carolina, the agency stated.

In 2021-22, according to BMAP's most recent annual report (its 30th report overall), there were 872 projects worked in 43 counties, with 1,649 beaver dams reported and $2 million in services provided. Wildlife Services estimated nearly $9.4 million in prevented damages due to the amount expended, comparable to the previous year's totals.

BMAP was created by state legislative action in 1992 with the express purpose of helping manage ever-increasing problems caused by beaver on private and public lands. The program has grown more than tenfold from four participating counties during its pilot version to the 43 currently participating.

Funding for BMAP comes from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, the N.C. Department of Transportation, USDA-Wildlife Services, participating counties, and cost-share collections from private landholders, businesses, municipalities, and other entities that request direct assistance. These funds are used to cover the costs of resolving beaver conflicts, including fuel, equipment, personnel, and explosives to remove beaver dams.

Any county in North Carolina may opt to participate in BMAP. Each year, all 100 counties are invited to the program via written notice. Interested counties must then respond with their intent to participate and contribute $6,000 to help cover the costs of beaver assistance in that county. County participation fees allow landholders access to beaver management services at a reduced cost-share rate.

There are 10 participating counties, as well as one city, which opted to provide funding beyond the baseline $6,000 participation fee. Those total additional fees amount to $578,828 worth of extra service to those areas. Sampson is one of them.

The funding is provided directly to USDA Wildlife Services to cover the remaining expenses of a part-time, full-time or sometimes multiple full-time beaver damage management specialists.

Of those counties, multiple additional full-time personnel are in Duplin ($185,000) and Robeson ($89,553); single full-time personnel are in Bladen ($54,000), Sampson ($67,500), and Wayne ($79,992); and part-time personnel are in the City of Fayetteville ($37,481), Brunswick ($28,976), Harnett ($5,000), Johnston ($5,000), Lenoir ($17,800), and Wilson ($8,526).

According to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, in 1939, 29 beavers were obtained from Pennsylvania and released in North Carolina, on what is now the Sandhills Game Land. By 1953, they had populated seven counties and were estimated at nearly 1,000 animals.

Today, beaver are present in all North Carolina counties and their population is considered stable or slightly increasing and is conservatively estimated to be near 500,000, according to state wildlife officials.

BMAP-related beaver removals account for about 0.5% of the total beaver population annually and around 17% of the total known annual beaver harvest (including recreational trapping and nuisance removals). A combination of methods (some lethal, some non-lethal) may be used or recommended to reduce beaver damage, placing first priority on issues that threaten public health and safety, and secondly on assistance to landholders experiencing beaver damage.

"Due to practical and ecological considerations, the program's goal is to address specific beaver damage problems rather than to eliminate beaver from North Carolina," the program's mission states.

Wildlife officials attested that beavers provide many positive benefits to people. Their ponds help control erosion and sedimentation, recharge groundwater resources and provide valuable habitat for wetland wildlife. But the dams they build can also cause flooding in agricultural fields and residential areas. They can also destroy timber by chewing on or felling trees.

The best way to prevent conflicts with beavers, wildlife officials attested, is to manage their population by letting licensed trappers remove them during the regulated trapping season (Nov. 1 through March 31 statewide), when they can be used as a renewable natural resource because its pelt, meat and castor oil are highly valued.

"It's against the law in North Carolina to relocate beavers," said Beasley, "so therefore you have to trap them."

There are some areas where when you trap, it alleviates the problem. Sometimes, it takes years, he said.

Philip Bell, a member of the Coharie Tribe and a leader with the Friends of Sampson County Waterways, has worked for years to clear the rivers running in Sampson County.

For the better part of the past decade, Bell has worked in the river system in Sampson conducting debris removal operations, working with N.C. State officials to perform water monitoring and floodplain resilience monitoring.

"What we're noticing ... is a huge beaver population in our county," said Bell. "What concerns the tribe and most of the people who are interested in our environment is the environment that is being created by the beaver population. With beavers and with overabundance comes invasive species of plants and animals."

Bell mentioned plants like alligator weed, smart weed and parrot feather.

"When these are put in an area that has a lot of fertilizer from all the beavers and the other rodents that are in the water, it takes over. We have been seeing a large decrease in navigable waters in our system as time is passing, and beaver management is not taking place."

As a member of the Sampson County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Bell said a main draw to Sampson would be kayaking, part of any package to try to bring visitors to the county or keep them here. The Coharie Tribe, he said, entertained more than 1,800 people in one year through kayaking services on a small stretch of the Upper Coharie extending from near the Star Telephone offices on U.S. 421 to Five Bridge Road, just north of Clinton.

"So we know that it will work," Bell said. "But with the advent of beavers and the nutria, and all of the things that are in the water now, it gives us concerns... I would appreciate consideration for a BMAP program in the county so we can get the beavers under control."

Clinton resident Fred Dufour implored the county to hire an extra trapper for the county.

"If you go from the northern end to the southern end, it's an hour drive," said Dufour, "so if you have to travel that, you spend most of your time driving and not trapping. When I started farming over 10 years ago, beavers were not an issue. We trapped them in the same ditch, once in the spring and once in the fall, and we were done. Now, I call the trapper every two or three months in different places. It's costing a fortune. It's to the point that sometimes we can't even harvest corn or cut hay because the fields are flooded because the ditches are blocked. There is a big loss of income."

"Land is being pushed aside because we can't do anything with it," said Dufour. "When the land is flooded, you can't really do much with it. The value is gone. I do believe that it is very important to take care of the situation. Beavers are just like fire ants. You take care of them in your backyard, they go to the neighbor. The neighbor takes care of them, they come back to your place. That's exactly the way it is.

"The problem now, as Mr. Bell said with BMAP, is we need a plan to cover the county and take care of these beavers. If we only take care of it landowner by landowner, the only person who will be happy is the one charging for the trapping."

The issue is compounded by hurricanes, when the water levels rise and there is nowhere for it to go because those ditches are blocked, residents said. Then water flows over the highways, destroying roads and flooding land.

"And who is fixing the highway and who is paying for the highway? We do," said Dufour. "I think if you look at the expense for the extra trapper versus how much it costs for the upkeep of the river, the loss in revenue from the crop and the timber, you'll find out having an extra trapper is pretty cheap."

As the main trapper in Sampson, Beasley said it's more than a full-time job. And in a large county, he spends a great deal of time chasing his own tail, along with a bunch of others.

"The closer to the river you get, the more issues you have. These beavers can go and come when they want to," said Beasley. "The beavers have been here for a long time, so they ain't going away pretty soon, I can tell you that. They're here to stay. Trapping is the only way you can get them out. Sometimes you don't have any more issues for four or five years. Sometimes you might have to go back two or three times to get them."

Editor Chris Berendt can be reached at 910-592-8137 ext. 2587.