They call themselves the Beaver Patrol, and they’re on a mission to ensure that beavers coexist in balance with people and salmon.

Beavers, of course, intentionally dam streams to create their ponds. But when they block culverts in the wrong place it can cause problems – like flooding trails and keeping salmon from swimming upstream to spawn.

That’s what can happen in the Dredge Lake area near Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau – a network of trails and ponds connected by culverts.

One way to fix the problem is relocating or killing the offending beavers. That option was on the table well over a decade ago if other methods of managing them failed (no one seems to remember it ever actually happening). But years ago, a group of volunteers stepped up with a plan to keep beaver dams from interfering with trails or salmon — without trapping any beavers.

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