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Trans Canada Trail Beaver Pond Project 
The Trans Canada Trail is a recreational multi-use trail planned to make its way through every province and territory. Created in 1992 as a legacy project by Canada 125, a group established to celebrate Canada’s 125th year of confederation, the main trunk of the Trans Canada Trail is targeted for completion in 2010. In Nova Scotia, the trail runs from North Sydney to Amherst and has a link to the Halifax area. The trail accommodates a number of activities including cycling, cross-country skiing, walking, horseback riding and in some places ATV and snowmobile use.
The wooded areas along this trail system represent quality habitat for numerous species of wildlife. Among these animals is the beaver, which creates important habitat for other wildlife through its continuous dam building. Unfortunately, it is this dam building that sometimes results in the flooding of surrounding land and trail washouts.
Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC), trail user groups, the Department of Natural Resources and Eco Action worked together to come up with a solution that would avoid having to remove the beaver, while minimizing the risks of flooding and washouts.
The partners worked together to install Clemson Beaver Levelers at high-risk sites along the trail. The Clemson Beaver Leveler consists of a water intake pipe installed in the pond above the dam which takes water through the dam in a pipe. A 90-degree elbow connects this pipe with an outlet pipe. The height of this outlet controls the water level of the pond.
With over tens years experience using the Clemson Beaver Leveler, DUC felt confident it was the key to finding a balance between the beaver and the user groups. This tool is effective because the beaver cannot detect the water leaving the pond; the mechanism is silent and the flow is gradual enough that the beaver doesn’t feel compelled to build a higher dam.
Under DUC’s supervision a total of 119 Clemson Beaver Levelers have been installed in Nova Scotia in recent years, 25 of them along the Trans Canada Trail. In 2004, another 11 units were installed along the Confederation Trail in Prince Edward Island in a project modeled on Nova Scotia’s success.