Comox council to deal with beavers
Mary Anne Ocol , Comox Valley Echo
Published: Tuesday, November 13, 2007
The way in which the Town of Comox dealt with beavers damming Brooklyn Creek last month has angered and raised a number of concerns from local residents.
Now, Comox Mayor Jim Brass is assuring the public that should the situation arise again, it will be dealt with as a council.
"If it occurs again, council will get together and make a decision," he said during a regular council meeting last week.
He was responding to a letter written by longtime resident and environmental activist Ruth Masters who wanted council's assurance that if the situation comes up again, the beavers will be humanely captured and re-located.
"Your having the Brooklyn Creek beavers destroyed has been a sad disappointment," said Masters in her letter. "There are several marshes where they would bother nobody."
Councillor Patti Fletcher appreciated seeing the letter included in council's agenda.
"We know B.C. is a wildlife corridor . . . we need to find a better way to deal with them," she said. "Staff needs to have discussions with DFO (Department of Fisheries and Oceans) and make sure that it doesn't happen again."
Brass, meanwhile, said he understood the community's support for the beavers, but added that he didn't think there was anything else that could have been done in that particular circumstance.
Last month, a group of beavers in Brooklyn Creek were trapped and killed when their dams posed a flood danger to neighbouring properties.
© Comox Valley Echo 2007