Okanagan beavers won't stop felling trees onto man's property

A few pesky neighbours have been giving a North Okanagan man a headache because they won't stop felling trees onto his property and government officials have so far been unwilling to help.

A family of beavers took down a 20-metre tree last week that narrowly missed the Coldstream resident's shed.

Long, who lives across the creek from the beavers, wants to dispose of the trees safely to ensure they don't damage anyone's property or endanger people's lives, but he says the Ministry of Forests and the District of Coldstream have refused to help. 

Meanwhile, the industrious rodents are busy working away on more trees, he said. 

"These two trees that are still standing are a hazard. They are going to come down."

The trees are located on Crown land.

The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources confirmed in an emailed statement to CBC they have been in contact with a property owner in the Coldstream Creek area.

No one to help

Long says he has asked the district and province to send people out to take a look for themselves, to no avail.

"Nobody will physically come out off their chair and come and look and say, we gotta go this way or that way. All they say from over the phone is, it's your problem."

The issue is time sensitive, said Long.

Two of the trees are already one third of the way chewed through.

The group of trees in question are about 10 metres away from his property, but they are also 20 metres tall. If they were to fall, they could affect traffic on the highway below or crush a neighbour's car, Long said.

But he says officials have been reluctant to take responsibility for the problem. 

He says one official suggested Long trap the beavers himself.

"If I did put a trap down there, what am I going to do with a beaver?"

To hear the full story listen to the audio labelled: Okanagan beavers won't stop felling trees onto man's property