Culprits doing Environmental Damage Busted

[JeffD]

LAST NIGHT IN MY INBOX I FOUND THIS LETTER ABOUT UNAUTHORIZED ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVITY:



Unauthorized Activity

It was an actual letter sent to a man named Ryan DeVries by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, State of Michigan. Wait till you read this guy's response.......but read the letter before you get to the response........ ***************************
Mr. Ryan DeVries
2088 Dagget
Pierson, MI 49339

SUBJECT: DEQ File No. 97-59-0023;
T11N; R10W, Sec. 20; Montcalm County

Dear Mr. DeVries:

It has come to the attention of the Department of Environmental Quality 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 Spring 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 Michigan 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 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 January 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,
David L. Price
District Representative Land and Water Management Division *******************
This is the actual response sent back........

Dear Mr. Price,

Re: DEQ File No. 97-59-0023; T11N; R10W, Sec. 20; Montcalm County.

Your certified letter dated 12/17/01 has been handed to me to respond to.

First of all, Mr. Ryan DeVries is not the legal Landowner and/or Contractor at 2088 Dagget, Pierson, Michigan. 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 Spring Pond.

While I did not pay for, authorize, nor supervise their dam project, I think they would be highly offended that you call their skillful use of natures 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 must first 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 Spring 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 451 of the Public Acts of 1994, being sections 324.30101 to 324.30113 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, annotated.

I have several concerns. My first concern is - aren't the beavers entitled to legal representation? The Spring 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 Spring 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, they being unable to read English.

In my humble opinion, the Spring 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 rights than I do to live and enjoy Spring Pond. If the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection lives up 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 1/31/2002? The Spring 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 to 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.

Sincerely,

Stephen L.Tvedten

 

[Ben Ruset]

http://www.getipm.com/personal/dam2.htm

> From: "Luis Saldivia" <SALDIVIL@state.mi.us>
> Cc: "Byron Lane" <LANEB.DEQ-LWM.DEQ-SC@state.mi.us>
> Sent: Tuesday, April 25, 2000 11:20 AM
> Subject: Beaver Dam letter

Dear Mrs. Carol Whittom:

Thank you for your inquiry to the Department of Environmental Quality regarding the beaver dam letter that has been circulating in the internet.

The letter concerned an enforcement action directed to a tenant on property surrounding Spring Pond, which is located in Pierson Township, Montcalm County, Michigan. The tenant was observed by the downstream complainant, and has since admitted to the complainant, that he artificially built up, and maintained two abandoned beaver dams on the discharge end of the natural pond. Such an activity falls under the jurisdiction of Part 301, Inland Lakes and Streams, of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, 1194 PA 451, as amended. It is the Department's position that in the absence of any threat to public welfare, beaver dams should be left in their natural state, that being either actively maintained or abandoned by beaver.

The Department conducted an on-site inspection of the dams in August of 1997, accompanied by a Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologist, the Pierson Township Supervisor and the complainant. The tenant's actions, and a threat to the welfare of the downstream complainant prompted our correspondence of December 1997, instructing the tenant to cease and desist all illegal activity and to restore the stream to its prior condition. The owner of the property took issue with our action, and responded with his own version of the situation. It was this correspondence that has been circulating in the internet.

I trust that this information is helpful. If you need further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.


Luis Saldivia
Grand Rapids District Supervisor
Land and Water Management Division
616-356-0208

STEVE'S RESPONSE:

Subject: Re: Beaver Dam letter
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 08:57:15 -0400
From: Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: CAROL WHITTOM <clw@micron.net>, LUIS SALDIVA <SALDIVIL@state.mi.us>, BYRON LANE <LANEB.DEQ-LWM.DEQ-SC@state.mi.us>, Linda Jensen-Pascarella <info@safe2use.com>, Donnelly Hadden <dwhadden@umich.edu>

Dear Luis, You are a Dam liar! Please forward to me immediately any "proof" you have that anyone but the Dam beaver maintained this Dam! The Dam neighbor killed the beavers - or the Dams would not have been "abandoned". You Dam bureaucrats never can get the facts straight - there were and are THREE Dams on this property! Quit your Dam Lying!

Respectfully,
Stephen L. Tvedten

This doesn't really have anything to do with the Pine Barrens, so it's being moved to the 'general discussion' forum. :bounce:

 

[Teegate]

That was a dam good one Jeff. Thanks!

Guy

 

[JeffD]

I'm glad you liked the dam story, Guy.

I guess that if you don't connect the dots and reach what I'm thinking, this story doesn't have anything to do with the Pine Barrens. But isn't there an analogous situation in the Pine Barrens, where a human interacted with nature on his own property by throwing dirt on a pond to expand cranberry bogs, and the authorities came after him? The mentality was that the cranberry farmer, like the beavers, was wrong for tailoring nature to meet his purposes.

There is a fringe element in our society that drive these whacko laws, which fortunately, have been reformed, but nonetheless doesn't want humans to modify nature, even to grow more of something that grows naturally and where an formerly endangered species, i.e., the tree frog, can find suitable habitat. Also, an isolated pond that is covered with cranberry vines, sand, etc., will undergo less evaporation than if the water in the pond just lays there in the open.

In the local Pine Barrens case, the pond, being isolated, wasn't directly connected to a body of water. The plants, of course, will suck up water and exhale some vapor, but the unused water will just remain underground, part of the water table. I fail to see how this effects the flow of water on a river where people canoe, etc. There are particular cases, as you mentioned, Guy, where a cranberry grower siphons off water from a river. This doesn't sound like a good idea, and should be stopped. But this wasn't the case with this cranberry farmer. Even if the cranberry bogs cause a little net loss of stream flow, what's wrong with that? Water was put here to use. We can't dedicate every drop of water, every inch of wetland to growing cedar trees just to please those who don't like what they call armies of cranberry farmers using the land. There must be a balance, as there was on the cranberry farm in question.

It's OK for beavers to dam things up but the only dam human problems humans create is when dam environmental lawyers get involved.

The bottom line is that there are folks who think that when nature does something it's fine, but if humans get involved and do the same thing, then that is bad. :crazy: :roll: