LETTERS
Mr. Farmer Brown
1 Brown Road
Beartown VT
Dear Mr. Brown:
SUBJECT: DEC File No. 97-59-0023-1 T11N, R10W,
Sec. 20, Bear County
It has come to the attention of the Department of Environmental
Conservation that there has been recent unauthorized activity on the
above-referenced parcel of property. You have been certified as the
legal landowner and/or contractor who did the following unauthorized
activity: Construction and maintenance of two wood debris
dams across the outlet stream of Beechnut
Pond.
A permit must be issued prior to the start of this type of activity. A
review of the Department's files shows that no permits have been issued.
Therefore, the Department has determined that this activity is in
violation of Part 301, Inland Lakes and Streams, of the Natural Resource
and Environmental Protection Act, Act 451 of the Public Acts of 1994,
being sections 324.30101 to 324.30113 of the Vermont Compiled Laws,
annotated.
The Department has been informed that one or both of the
dams partially failed during a recent rain
event, causing debris and flooding at downstream locations. We find that
dams of this nature are inherently
hazardous and cannot be permitted.
The Department therefore orders you to cease and desist all unauthorized
activities at this location, and to restore the stream to a free-flow
condition by removing all wood and brush forming the
dams from the stream channel. All
restoration work shall be completed no later than March 31,2002.
Please notify this office when the restoration has been completed so that
a follow-up site inspection may be scheduled by our staff. Failure to
comply with this request or any further unauthorized activity on the
site may result in this case being referred for elevated enforcement
action.
We anticipate and would appreciate your full cooperation in this matter.
Please feel free to contact me at this office if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Buster Ball
District Representative
Land and Water Management Division
RESPONSE
Dear Mr. Ball:
Re: DEC File No. 97-59-0023; T11N,
R10W, Sec 20; Bear County
Your certified letter dated 2/17/02 has been handed to me to
respond to. You sent out a great deal of carbon copies to a lot of
people, but you neglected to include their addresses. You will,
therefore, have to send them a copy of my response.
First of all, Mr. Farmer Brown is not the legal landowner and/or
contractor at 1 Brown Road, Beartown, Vermont. I am the legal
owner and a couple of beavers are in the (State unauthorized) process of
constructing and maintaining two wood "debris"
dams across the
outlet stream of my Beechnut Pond. While I did not pay for, authorize,
nor supervised their dam
project, I think they would be highly offended that you call their
skillful use of natural building materials "debris."
I would like to challenge your department to attempt to emulate their
dam project
any time and/or any place you choose. I believe I can safely state there
is no way you could ever match their dam
skills, their dam
resourcefulness, their
dam ingenuity, their
dam persistence,
their dam
determination and/or their dam
work ethic.
As to your request, I do not think the beavers are aware that they
first must fill out a dam
permit prior to the start of this type of
dam activity.
My first dam
question to you is: (1) are you trying to discriminate against my
Beechnut Pond Beavers or (2) do you require all beavers throughout this
State to conform to said dam
request? If you are not
discriminating against these particular beavers, through the Freedom of
Information Act I request completed copies of all those other applicable
beaver dam
permits that have been issued. Perhaps we will see if there really is a
dam violation
of Part 301, Inland Lakes and Streams, of the Natural Resource and
Environmental Protection Act, Act 451of the Public Acts of 1994,being
sections 324.30101 to 324.30113 of the Vermont Compiled Laws, annotated.
I have several concerns. My first concern is - aren't the beavers
entitled to legal representation? The Beechnut Pond Beavers are
financially destitute and are unable to pay for said representation - so
the State will have to provide them with a dam lawyer. The Department's
dam concern
that either one or both of the dams
failed during a recent rain event causing flooding is proof that this is
a natural occurrence which the department is required to protect. In
other words, we should leave the Beechnut Pond Beavers alone rather than
harassing them and calling their dam
names.
If you want the stream "restored" to a
dam free-flow
condition - please contact the beavers - but if you are going to arrest
them (they obviously did not pay any attention to your
dam letter -- being
unable to
read English) --be sure they are read the Miranda rights first. As for
me, I am not going to cause more flooding or
dam debris jams by
interfering with these dam builders.
If you want to hurt these dam
beavers -- be aware I am sending a copy of your
dam letter and this
response to PETA. If your dam Department seriously finds all
dams of this nature
inherently hazardous and truly will not permit their existence in this
State -- I seriously hope you are not selectively enforcing this
dam policy - or once
again both I and the Beechnut Pond Beavers will scream prejudice!
In my humble opinion, the Beechnut Pond Beavers have a right to
build their unauthorized dams
as long as the sky is blue, the grass is green and water flows
downstream. They have more dam
right than I do to live and enjoy Beechnut Pond. If the Department of
Natural Resources and Environmental Protection lives to its name, it
should protect the natural resources (Beavers) and the environment
(Beavers' Dams).
So, as far as the beavers and I are concerned, this
dam case can be
referred for more elevated enforcement action right now. Why wait until
3/31/02? The Beechnut Pond Beavers may be under the
dam ice then and
there will be no way for you or your dam
staff to contact/harass them then.
In conclusion, I would like to bring to your attention a real
environmental quality (health) problem in the area. It is the bears.
Bears are actually defecating in our woods. I definitely believe you
should be persecuting the defecating bears and leave the beavers alone.
If you are going to investigate the beaver
dam, watch your step! (The bears are not
careful where they dump!)
Being unable to comply with your dam
request, and being unable to contact you on your
dam answering
machine, I am sending this response to your
dam office via
another government organization - the dam
USPS. Maybe, someday, it will get there.
Sincerely,
Melvin I. Beller, Attorney
2 Brown Road
Beartown, VT
cc: PETA
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