Long Green Creek Beaver Management

Overview

Ecotone installed a low-tech structure to successfully resolve flooding issues on a Baltimore County property where a beaver dam had been constructed.

Project Description

When beavers built a dam on an agricultural property located along Long Green Creek in Baltimore County, it caused troublesome flooding of the agricultural road on the property. Although the landowners enjoyed all the benefits the beaver pond offered, like the attraction of game birds such as wood ducks, it was necessary to address the flooding while simultaneously preserving the beaver dam. The landowners contacted Ecotone to determine the most effective way to mitigate the issue. 

Ecotone installed a beaver dam flow management device. This low-tech installation consisted of manually installing a pipe from the top end of the pond through the beaver dam, draining back into Long Green Creek below the dam.  Beavers, by nature, will attempt to stop the water flow through the dam, so to prevent them from damming the water flow through the pipe, a cage was submerged to encase the upper portion of the pipe. The low-tech nature of this project means that there is minimal environmental impact from this management method.

The project successfully addressed the beaver dam flooding on the property while preserving the ecological benefits of beaver habitat and the species that thrive in the beaver-driven ecosystem.

Highlights

• Beaver management
• Habitat creation/retention
• Flood management
• Wildlife preservation
• Low-tech process-based solution

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