Actual Letter From Pennsylvania Dept of Environmental Quality and the Dam Beavers
This is an actual letter sent to a man named Ryan DeVries regarding a pond on his property. It was sent by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Quality, State of Pennsylvania . This guy's response is hilarious, but read the State's letter before you get to the response letter.
SUBJECT: DEQ File No.97-59-0023; T11N; R10W, Sec. 20; Lycoming County
Dear Mr. DeVries:
It has come to the attention of the Department of Environmental Quality that there has been recent unauthorized activity on the above referenced parcel of property. You have been certified as the legal landowner and/or contractor who did the following unauthorized activity:
Construction and maintenance of two wood debris dams across the outlet stream of Spring Pond.
A permit must be issued prior to the start of this type of activity. A review of the Department's files shows that no permits have been issued. Therefore, the Department has determined that this activity is in violation of Part 301, Inland Lakes and Streams, of the Natural Resource and Environmental Protection Act, Act 451 of the Public Acts of 1994, being sections 324.30101 to 324.30113 of the Pennsylvania Compiled Laws, annotated.
The Department has been informed that one or both of the dams partially failed during a recent rain event, causing debris and flooding at downstream locations. We find that dams of this nature are inherently hazardous and cannot be permitted. The Department therefore orders you to cease and desist all activities at this location, and to restore the stream to a free-flow condition by removing all wood and brush forming the dams from the stream channel. All restoration work shall be completed no later than January 31, 2006. !
Please notify this office when the restoration has been completed so that a follow-up site inspection may be scheduled by our staff. Failure to comply with this request or any further unauthorized activity on the site may result in this case being referred for elevated enforcement action..
We anticipate and would appreciate your full cooperation in this matter. Please feel free to contact me at this office if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
David L. Price
District Representative and Water Management Division.
Here is the actual response sent back by Mr. DeVries:
Re: DEQ File No. 97-59-0023; T11N; R10W, Sec. 20; Lycoming County
Dear Mr. Price,
Your certified letter dated 12/17/02 has been handed to me to respond to. I am the legal landowner but not the Contractor at 2088 Dagget Lane , Trout Run, Pennsylvania .
A couple of beavers are in the (State unauthorized) process of constructing and maintaining two wood 'debris' dams across the outlet stream of my Spring Pond. While I did not pay for, authorize, nor supervise their dam project, I think they would be highly offended that you call their skillful use of natures building materials 'debris.'
I would like to challenge your department to attempt to emulate their dam project any time and/or any place you choose. I believe I can safely state there is no way you could ever match their dam skills, their dam resourcefulness, their dam ingenuity, their dam persistence, their dam determination and/or their dam work ethic.
Thought for today: (Laws of Attraction)
When You Are Not Moved To Action If you find that you are not moved to action, if you find yourself running in circles, not knowing what to do, then you have not yet formed your picture of what you want---for when your image of what you want is clear, then the action which will enhance that always comes very easily. When you are not able to move yourself to action, it is because you have not clearly defined what you want, and you have not made a decision to have it.
Thought from "Laws of Attraction"
"Imagine a cork, floating on a body of water. It's up here on the surface in this high, pure, fast place. Hear that..high pure fast, they all mean the same thing don't they. High, because there is no resistance, pure, because there is no resistance, fast, because there is no resistance. So, here this cork is bobbing. Now take hold of it and hold it under the water. That's what negative emotion is. The good news is, when you let go of that cork, in other words, when you take your attention AWAY FROM..Jesus said 'turn the other cheek'.. when you take your attention away from whatever it is that has caused your cork to be under the water, it floats right back up to the surface. Some say I want to learn to float my cork and the natural law says, you don't have to learn how to float your cork, that is natural. The high vibration is the natural vibration for you and if you weren't giving your attention to something that was including a lower, slower vibration, your cork would float."
