Culverts and beavers have a history together in Alna that has cost the town about $700-$1,000 a year and cost some beavers their lives, according to Third Selectman Coreysha Stone. Dec. 18, the board welcomed wildlife expert and "Beaver Deceiver" inventor Skip Lisle, via Zoom from home in Grafton, Vermont. Stone and Lisle said he makes a unique device to benefit people and beavers. 

Stone said beavers have been a problem on Lothrop, Egypt, Cross and maybe Head Tide roads. "These are sites where we've historically paid for beavers to either be trapped, and exterminated, removed ... some people have claimed, and for their dams to be destroyed, and we pay for this annually ... which is a reactive approach and not proactive. And as we've gone through developing the hazard mitigation plan, it's become evident that proactive infrastructure to build resilient communities is really the smartest way to go, both in terms of response to nature (and) weather changes, but also in terms of economic sustainability and forethinking and planning."

Stone is especially concerned for Cross Road because the town redid that road for a half million dollars. "And that should be where we put our greatest effort, in terms of supporting its sustainability ... and so for us to not be proactive … is undermining that pretty massive investment, that was, I think, really hard for most of us to accept that we needed to make ..." She said the devices would be "protecting one of our most expensive assets for the town."

According to Lisle, most beaver-human conflict involves road culverts, which he calls "beaver magnets. They're just ... the most ideal damming sites that have ever existed. They're tiny holes in giant man-made dams. So it's just a guarantee that they'll always be clogged."

And killing the beavers at culverts only creates a vacancy that draws other beavers, Lisle said. "(So killing is) really creating a double magnet effect, just guaranteeing that we'll never solve the problem ... plus beavers have tremendous ecological and hydrolological value. (The devices are) a great opportunity to create some really high value wildlife habitat, while at the same time, saving a lot of money by ending an otherwise ongoing conflict." He designs the system of fencing and pipes for each site and the devices, which he builds by hand, can run about $4,000 and are aimed to last decades with little to no maintenance, he said. 

"And it's a very difficult thing to do. I'm still challenged after doing this for 30 years. It's hard to sneak water away from an animal that's been finding leaks in dams for millions of years. But it can be done ... I've done it hundreds and hundreds of times," he said.

No one spoke against the concept. One meeting-goer who had visited Lisle's website at beaverdeceivers.com called the devices amazing and said she is a big fan; another thanked Lisle for helping beavers.

"There's no downside to it at all," Lisle said. "The taxpayers will save money and ... sometimes ... trappers and hunters feel threatened by it, but all it does is usually create fantastic habitats for all kinds of game animals. So everybody benefits."

Stone is looking into possible grants. "Whether or not the town decides to dig into our own pockets for this or we find funding somewhere else, I'm really hoping that we're gonna make this happen," she said.