PROVO, Utah (AP) - At least once a week, the state Division of Wildlife Resources office in Springville receives a call complaining of a dam nuisance.

Beavers are wreaking havoc on the city's waterways prompting Steve Gray, a wildlife specialist with DWR, to respond to "nuisance beaver" calls. He has trapped beavers and dismantled dams all over the city, from backyard canals to the Provo River, he said.

Last week, a beaver dam diverted about half of the Lake Bottom Canal into nearby backyards.

"It ran right up to my glass doors," said neighbor Jill Smith. "Half an inch more, and it would have run into my garden room."

In less than a week, a beaver had gnawed through several tree trunks as much as 22 inches wide. The industrious critter reinforced the diversion with what it could find, including soda cans and trash.

Along with the flooding, tree damage also prompts residents to complain about the dam builders, but evicting beavers is not a simple task. Homeowners in the Rivergrove area have ripped out dams, only to find them rebuilt over night.

Recently, Gray enlisted the help of Al Loris, a retired animal control officer who now removes nuisance animals as a private business, to snare that beaver. Loris was given a one-time permit to lethally trap the animal.

With a reproduction rate similar to rabbits and a life span of up to 15 years, wildlife experts expect the problem to continue.

Beaver pelts, which once were so popular the trade nearly drove the animals to extinction, entice few participants during Utah's designated beaver trapping season.

"It's a lot of time and effort to trap them and skin them and treat the pelt," Gray said. "You don't see many trappers anymore, so they're more of a problem now."

State law prohibits private citizens from relocating beavers or trapping them without a permit, and local businesses charge more than $100 to remove one beaver. People can protect trees by wrapping the bases in wire or lathering them with a sand-and-paint mixture up to 5 feet high. Trees as thick as 1.5 feet and as far as 300 yards from the water are at risk.

Information from: The Daily Herald, http://www.heraldextra.com