Living with Beavers – Notch Exclusion Fence

Beavers at Bald Hill Farm have been busy doing beaver things – building dams, dropping trees, creating habitat for turtles and amphibians and dragonflies and birds – and sometimes flooding out the City of Corvallis’s Bald Hill paved path, one of the only universally accessible paths in Corvallis.

That’s a problem. Along with our partners, City of Corvallis, Marys River Watershed Council, and NOAA, we have been working on a solution that keeps the path open and makes space for the beavers to do their thing – a notch exclusion fence. This simple structure of fence panels has been installed over a notch cut in the dam that is causing the flooding along the path. It is designed to limit the amount of water that can build up behind the dam, and keep the beavers, who are triggered by the sound of flowing water to repair the dam, from accessing the notch and stopping the flow.

Will it work? Will nature’s engineers find a way to conquer the fence and raise the water again, or will they be resigned to a water level that still works for them but keeps the path open?

Explore the answers to these questions and learn more about beavers, the exclusion fence, and how to encourage and co-exist with beavers on the urban edge, on Saturday, January 31st, from 4 – 6pm on the Bald Hill Path. You will be able to see the fence, talk with the partners involved in the project, and maybe even see some beavers beginning their work day at dusk.

Free, no registration required, drop-in anytime from 4-6 pm. The closest access is from the NW Oak Creek Drive trailhead parking lot.

Questions: contact Outreach Manager Matt Benotsch, mbenotsch@greenbeltlandtrust.org