"Eco Friendly" Damariscotta Lake Homeowners Resort to Extreme Measures to Improve View

On a recent canoe trip on Damariscotta Lake my wife and I saw several shore front trees that have been cut down in front of a large shingle style cottage. At first glance it seemed like a blatant violation of Maine's Shoreland Protection Act and the town's Land Use Code until I noticed that the trees had been felled by beavers. For those not familiar with beavers (Warning!: do not "google" the word "Beaver" without changing your search settings to "Safe") they are a large furry rodent with the Latin name of Castor canadensis. Hunted almost to extinction in the 18th and 19th centuries they are remarkably able arborist/engineers with big teeth who normally cut down trees to use them as materials to build dams and lodges. Being a native species and largely illiterate the beaver is not subject to most state or municipal regulations. This gives them free reign to practice their destructive tendencies. 


There was something that bothered me about the levelled trees and on closer inspection I noticed that they were systematically cut down in a very straight line. Coincidentally this newly felled line of trees dramatically improved the view from the cottage out to the lake. Or was it coincidental? 


I checked in with a local wildlife biologist and asked her about the straight line of tree destruction and whether it was normal for beavers to cut in that manner. Wishing to remain anonymous the biologist I spoke with said that it was highly unusual since beavers have exceptionally short attention spans and often don't even finish cutting one tree let alone a line of trees. But she went on to say that in recent months a number of sections of the lake had been subjected to the same damage using the similar methods. And what was more revealing was that in every case the tree damage had resulted in improved views for the homeowners. 


After a trip to the town hall I was able to turn up the names of the owners of one of the earliest effected cottages and after several attempts to contact them I was able to track them down at fundraiser for an local organization environmental organization dedicated to protecting the the lake and its watershed. Trip and Bitsy Hardwood were reluctant to talk at first but as the night wore on and they consumed several Mount Gay and tonics the truth started to come out. The beavers had been trained to cut down the trees so that the cottage owners could improve their view without incurring fines or the scorn of their community. "How would it look if someone found out that a board member of the local conservation group was cutting down trees to improve the view? I can easily afford to pay the fines and it would certainly be less expensive than hiring trained beavers but what I can't afford is to have my clients or neighbors know that I intentionally violated environmental regulations just to improve my view. But really, why would I have a summer house here if I can't have a good look at the lake from the every room in the house? After the beavers finished with my place some of my friends noticed the improved view and I put them in touch with my beaver handler." Trip said. 


Bitsy added, "I mean we are all about protecting the environment, I have reusable grocery bags that I found at a darling little shop in Camden, we have a Prius, our golf cart is electric, we pay our cleaning lady with returnables but do we really have to suffer having an obstructed view? I mean really." 

Reached at home, Marcel Beavrez had very little to say about the matter. Off the record he was willing to admit that he had done a little "night landscaping" but refused to take any direct responsibility. He went on to explain that the last several years had been very hard for his family and a promised apology and reparation payment from the British Government for the wholesale slaughter of his species didn't look like it was forthcoming so he was forced to do what he could to put food on the table. "It is not like there are many opportunities for beavers to earn a living, eh? With the paper mills shutting down left and right we can't earn money cutting pulp wood so this is all that is left to us. What would you have us do? Move back to Canada?"