You are ‘dammed’ if you do and ‘dammed’ if you don’t when it comes to the issue of the Goodman Creek beavers.
While council ultimately voted to kybosh the lethal trapping that was previously happening at the creek, at the end of the day it was almost a split vote with valid concerns on both sides.
On one side of the coin, no one wants to see a creature die needlessly because of what they are or how they live.
The residents had every reason to voice their concerns for the beavers. And they also should have been informed trapping was happening in the first place. Finding traps on the shoreline is no way to figure out what’s happening.
No matter how you slice it, an animal is still being killed.
But on the other side of the token, city staff don’t just make rash decisions and after listening to two experts give recommendations to trap them, that’s exactly what staff decided to do.
And the experts did have valid reasons why trapping was seemingly one of the only solutions.
The animals could starve in a few years because there will be no food left. Relocating them is extremely difficult and also poses risks to their survival. Leaving them to build detrimental dams in that area poses a risk of flooding to hundreds of homes.
It’s a tough call. And while council did decide to halt the trapping and come up with some other water and wildlife management solutions for that area, the fact remains it will be staff again who have the burden of coming up with viable solutions that work for all.  
But the real kicker of this whole beaver issue is the fact that council approved it all in the first place.
A report did come forward with that recommendation and it was received for information with no discussion.
It wasn’t until residents came forward that the issue really heated up.
And though the concerned residents are happy with the overall outcome, council does need to own up to the fact it happened in the first place.
It’s not placing the blame, it’s simply taking responsibility for council’s actions.