Wildlife sometimes causes damage to public 

 and private property, including buildings and 

 landscaping, roads and utilities, industrial 

 structures, water management facilities, and 

 forest resources. These damages can be 

 relatively minor or may be of such severity as 

 to result in significant economic losses or 

 threats to public health or safety. 



Beaver throughout their North American range 

 are responsible for tens of millions of dollars 

 in damage annually to public roads and 

 highways, agricultural and forest resources, 

 soil and water conservation districts, 

 municipal water treatment and sewer systems, 

 and other property. In the Southeastern United 

 States alone, researchers have estimated the 

 economic damage caused by beaver to have 

 exceeded $4 billion over a 40-year period. 



With dramatic increases in beaver populations 

 in recent decades and low demand for fur and 

 other beaver products, it is not surprising that 

 the need for WS assistance in managing 

 beaver damage has been increasing signifi- 

 cantly. In Oklahoma, for example, the number 

 of requests to WS for assistance in handling 

 beaver damage has increased almost 300 

 percent since 1985. The same is true in North 

 Carolina. Since 1993, the number of beaver 

 damage-management projects completed by 

 North Carolina's WS program has risen from 

 less than 200 annually to almost 1 ,000 in 

 1999. 



Traditionally, WS has recorded reported 

 information on the damage caused by beaver 

 to various resources without taking into 

 account the value of work by the program in 

 preventing further damage from occurring. 

 For FY 1999, WS collected data on these 

 resources saved from further damage. 

 Thirteen WS State programs provided 

 estimates for resources saved that included 

 timber, roads and bridges, and other natural 

 resources. For its GPRA performance 

 assessment, WS set an $8 million target for 

 this work area. The information collected on 

 resources saved during FY 1999 indicates 

 almost $22 million in further damage was 

 averted by WS beaver damage-management 

 projects. Based on this conservative estimate 

 and WS expenditures for beaver work in these 

 States, the benefit-cost ratio is approximately 

 5.6 to 1 : for every $1 spent to reduce further 

 beaver damage, $5.60 is saved. 



More specific examples of resources saved 

 include the North Carolina program, where WS 

 personnel averted an estimated $3.5 million in 

 beaver-caused damage to forest and agricul- 

 tural resources, waterways, highway infra- 

 structures, and other property such as sewer 

 and water treatment facilities. 



In Oklahoma, beaver activity resulted in 

 downed trees and flooded roads and property 

 in many areas. Shawnee, OK, officials 

 estimated beaver damage in one residential 

 area at $20,000. In Blaine County, flooding 

 caused by beaver resulted in lost oil produc- 

 tion when access roads became impassable. 

 During April 1999, County commissioners 

 from five counties requested assistance when 

 beaver flooded numerous roads. State health 

 officials became concerned when beaver 

 tunneled into dikes at the wastewater treatment 

 facilities for Copan and Towson, OK, causing 

 sewer lagoons to leak. WS assisted county 

 work crews in removing the problem beaver 

 dams and provided technical and direct 

 assistance in beaver damage management to 

 affected landowners. 



Conflicts with urban waterfowl continue to 

 grow with the increased expansion of the 

 Phoenix metropolitan area. WS worked in 

 conjunction with the Arizona Humane Society, 



Arizona Society for the Prevention on Cruelty 

 to Animals, and For the Birds to reduce 

 property damage and nuisances caused by 

 waterfowl in the Phoenix area. Under the 

 "Adopt a Duck" program, about 2,000 

 nuisance waterfowl were removed from city 

 parks, golf courses, and housing develop- 

 ments in 1999 and "adopted" by qualified 

 residents as an alternative to lethal control. 



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