Call #6: Dowd Also Wrong on Beaver Management (Snicker).
I think Maureen Dowd is confused about beaver management, which doesn’t refer to proper grooming of her pubic hair, but preventing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of damage to “timber, agricultural crops, homes and other structures, roadways, and ornamental or garden plants” in Mississippi alone, according to Mississippi State University Extension Service, which studies this kind of thing. I’m waiting on a callback, but until then enjoy this (pdf) report on the reasons for beaver management, put out by MSU:
Agriculture – Flooding caused by beaver dams can also destroy agricultural crops. The flat areas throughout many of the important agricultural regions of Mississippi allow just a few beaver dams to flood significant acreage of cropland. This flooding often makes parts of the field inaccessible to farm equipment. Sometimes beaver enter crop fields, cut the plants, and use them for food or dam building material.
Homes and Other Buildings – In situations where beaver and humans both live, floodwater can cause significant damage to human homes or other structures. In some instances, entire subdivisions or neighborhoods have suffered water damage. Occasionally, beaver may cause direct damage to wooden structures, such as backyard decks, by gnawing on the wood, thus causing appearance and structural problems.
Roadways – A significant but often overlooked consequence of beaver dams is damage to public roadways. Water drainage ditches on the edge of roadways offer good habitat for beaver. Dams can flood the road or, in some instances, damage the road itself through erosion. Beaver dams and the flooding they cause have resulted in roads being closed, bridges and culverts requiring
replacement, and occasional car accidents.Water Control – Beaver can obstruct water control devices and damage structures by burrowing. Irrigation canals and drains often are plugged by beaver and must be cleared. Beaver can cause water control structures, often used for temporary flooding to create waterfowl habitat, to be useless. Pond owners should be particularly watchful, because beaver can cause substantial damage to pond dams by burrowing into them.
Why does Maureen Dowd want to promote crop destruction and damaged roads in Mississippi? What did Mississippi ever do to Maureen Dowd? And is anyone else getting the feeling someone from John McCain’s office sent Maureen some stuff on twitter, and she just cut-and-pasted everything?
Why is the Times paying for this easily debunked crap? Is Maureen lazy, hungover, or is she trying to rip off her employers by doing the least amount of work possible?
March 5th, 2009 at 1:35 am
[...] the dissection of today’s column: Brendan makes a lot of phone calls in researching various claims in Maureen Dowd’s lame column today. (There’s a call for every linked [...]