GNAW ON THIS: Bills would let officials shoot beavers to protect roads

It’s tough to be a highway in Wisconsin. There are hail storms, car crashes and winter temperatures that sometimes rival those on Mars. 

Now a bill in the Legislature is meant to help officials combat a lesser-known threat: beavers.

According to one author of the bill, Rep. James Edming, R-Glen Flora, the creatures’ well-known propensity for building dams can cause culverts near highways to get plugged, resulting in serious damage. His proposal, Assembly Bill 592, would respond to this situation by giving state or local officials authority to shoot any animal that’s causing harm to highways — beavers included.

“Beavers often dam up culverts under or near roadways, which can cause flooding in the area and damage the roadway,” Edming said in testimony on the bill this week. “This damage and flooding can lead to safety issues for area residents and expensive repairs for local property owners and local governments.”

Edming and his fellow author in the state Senate, Minocqua Republican Tom Tiffany, were not available to comment on this story. Their proposal, which was introduced in November, received a public hearing before the Assembly Committee on Transportation on Wednesday. The Wisconsin Towns Association and the Wisconsin Counties Association have each registered themselves as supporters.

Edming said he drafted the bill after some local officials complained that beavers were damaging highways by building dams near culverts.

It’s now illegal to fire a gun within 50 feet of a roadway, a prohibition that makes it tough to shoot an offending beaver.  And although the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources takes some steps to keep beavers from interfering with highways — such as laying out traps — they’re not always enough, according to Edming.

As first written, his bill would have given officials authority to shoot any animal that causes damage to a roadway or otherwise interferes with it. But after consulting the DNR, Edming introduced an amendment that would prevent officials from taking up arms against anything other than a beaver or a muskrat. The bill’s amendment would also sanction only DNR staff employees, or local officials who’ve received department’s approval, to shoot beavers.

Edming noted that the bill comes just months after lawmakers passed a state budget that puts more than $400 million into road construction. His bill would give authorities another way to protect Wisconsin highways.

“AB 592 will help protect the investments made in our local roads by giving our local governments a new tool to help prevent damage to our roads,” he said. Follow @natebeck9