State agencies team to create a “beaver deceiver”

Two state agencies have teamed up to create what they’re calling a “beaver deceiver” at a wetland project near Montpelier.

Dingle Pond is being developed as a mitigation for transportation projects in the District 5 region.

An access road crosses a wastewater canal and creates a prime location for beaver dam-building, which in that location, creates roadway flooding that has become a recurrent problem for Montpelier based maintenance crews.

ITD officials met with Idaho Fish and Game biologists to dream up a strategy. The crew then installed a trapezoid-shaped fence enclosure. The road crew built the fence and Fish and Game will add wire panels around the culvert inlet.

The team believes the fence shape increases the length a beaver would need to create a dam, making the location less desirable for building. Biologists hope that will encourage the beaver to build somewhere else.

They plan to monitor its effectiveness and durability over the summer. If successful, it could provide an inexpensive option to protect road culverts in other areas, while allowing beaver to remain in the area.