Thanks to an outpouring of opposition from local residents at the Dec. 4 Essex Conservation Commission meeting, the beaver family that has currently taken up residency at the Viney Hill Brook Park, will not, as originally—and controversially—decided by the commission, be trapped and drowned.

Upwards of 150 residents, young and old, filled the meeting room at the Town Hall, ready with written statements and heartfelt speeches about why the beavers should be allowed to live freely at the park.

The vast majority of speakers were there to express their offense with the Commission’s November decision to fatally trap the animals in an attempt to safeguard the trails in the park as well as the swimming hole.

“The beavers were here before people came in; it’s more their land than ours,” said 11 year-old Jack Simon who attended the meeting with his mother Laura Simon, a representative from the United States Humane Society.

The elder Simon explained that she would be more than happy to work with the town to come up with a viable solution that doesn’t involve trapping the beavers.

“There are simple alternatives such as wrapping the trees and painting the trees,” Simon said. “These are great community service and boy scout projects.”

Simon also offered alternatives to the fatal trapping proposal.

“There are water flow devices that work well and completely foil the beavers. This area could be a great educational showcase for the community and I am here to let you know that the Humane Society is willing to offer our resources to work with you and guide you in a long term, non-expensive manner to deal with this situation,” she said. “I would love to work with the town on this.”

Carol Richmond, who has been walking the trails at Viney Brook for the past 20 years, explained that the geese and the geese feces are more of a problem in the area than the beavers are.

“Beavers are an integral part of the nature in Connecticut. The beavers were trapped and killed here 2 ½ years ago and now a new family has moved in. Let us find a better, humane way of dealing with this or we will meet again in another 2 ½ years,” said Richmond to a round of hearty applause from the audience.

As the evening went on, some speakers threw around the work “murder” while others noted that it takes a total of nine minutes for a beaver to drown under water when trapped.

“I think we should let the beavers do what they do best, build dams and create wetlands,” said 13 year-old Essex resident Jake Klin. “Viney Brook swimming hole was a mistake for humans, but great for the beavers. Please don’t drown the beavers.”

“I personally would like to see the beavers stay. I think they can be lived with,” said former first selectman and current State Representative Phil Miller.

“Instead of being negative about the beavers, why don’t we see them as an opportunity for education? They are a keystone species in Connecticut. We should be working with them not against them,” said resident Megan Schreider, who works at the Denison Pequot Nature Center in Mystic. “This town instilled in me my love of nature growing up and I hope it continues to that for future generations of children. Keeping the beavers alive is one way to do that.”

Viney Hill Brook Park was purchased by the town in 2001 for the purpose of active and passive recreation. The active recreation is managed by the Essex Park & Recreation Commission and the passive recreation area, which includes the trails, is managed by the Essex Conservation Commission.

In 2011, beavers in the park were viewed as a problem, and the Conservation Commission moved to fatally trap them. In September 2014, it came to the commission’s attention that beavers were once again in the park. Subsequently, the commission decided at its November meeting to once again deal with the situation by having the animals fatally trapped by a state licensed trapper.

However, after carefully listening to and reviewing the comments of the many concerned citizens of Essex, 42 of whom spoke at the more than 2 ½-hour-long meeting, the commission has decided at this time to put its decision to fatally trap the beavers on hold, to gather a core group of local volunteers to help manage the beaver damage on the trails. The volunteers will help wrap the existing trees with wire, paint trees, and clean up the downed trees and spikes left by the beavers.

In addition, beaver expert Mike Callahan of Beavers Solutions in Massachusetts, a company that specializes in resolving human/beaver conflicts, will be contacted and brought to town to walk the area, assess the situation, and give suggestions on better ways to move forward with the beaver situation at hand.

The town engineers will also be called upon to visit the dams on the park property, assess their structural integrity, and help to identify the scope of damage that is being done by the beavers.

“I think it was unbelievably interesting to hear everything the residents had to say, and to see so many people come out tonight,” said Conservation Commission Chair Kay Tucker.

Commission member Jeff Lovelace said he’s still concerned about the fragile ecology of the man-made ponds on the park property and the integrity of the dams there.

“Just over the past couple days, the beavers have been getting more aggressive with the amount of trees they are taking down and [with] the size of these trees,” said Lovelace.

“It’s obvious from this meeting tonight that the people of Essex don’t want us to put the beavers away,” said Commission member Richard Helmecki.

First Selectman Norm Needleman offered the help of the town’s Public Works crew to assist in keeping the trails cleared and safe.

“I want to thank the commission for all the work you have done, we appreciate it. Beavers are unfortunately an issue all over town on private and public property and they require management. There is not a lot we can do,” said Needleman. “The State of Connecticut is remarkably mum about this issue, because they are the ones who passed the laws that towns can no longer trap beavers and move them out of town.”

Needleman explained that he has been in contact with the town attorney, who did confirm that all authority on this matter lies in the hands of the Conservation Commission.

“The question now is how much damage the town can live with at Viney Brook,” Tucker said.

Anyone wishing to volunteer to work with the commission to help out on the trails should contact the first selectman’s office at 860-767-4340 ext. 112. In addition, the Conservation Commission is currently looking for three regular members and two alternates, as well as a community co-coordinator to help with scheduling beaver damage mitigation teams.