AGM directors for 2018-2019
Thanks to everyone who came to our AGM November 21. The directors for the next year are: Nathan Evans, Jim Foulkes, Bill Potma, Don Schuetze, Deanna Welters and Amar Virk.
Destructive beavers create floods, wreck trails
Humans no match for industrious rodents
Ken Crosby, Surrey’s Natural Areas Coordinator, offers the following observations:
The beaver activity has increased and the beavers have been creating multiple dams between the lake and the marsh. The dam at the marsh has caused the water to overflow onto the trail multiple times this year (causing the trail to be closed and multiple repairs). Earlier this week, the marsh flooded and carved 18 inches deep trenches in the trail.
We have been trying to piece the dam down by hand but it has gotten to a size that we are not able to keep up with the beavers. We are going to require an excavator to come in to remove the main dam in the marsh. This work is likely to be completed next week. Several alder trees will likely need to be removed in order to access the dam. Parks staff and a qualified environmental practitioner will monitor this work.
This will be a short term solution as the beaver will build up the dam again. An excavator will likely be needed regularly while the beavers are active. Elsewhere in the City, Engineering will use an excavator at priority locations approximately once a month. Parks is looking to see if there are alternative actions that can be taken in the long term.