The Lincoln County Board of Supervisors agreed to pay the Beaver Control Assistance Program $7,500 at Monday’s docket meeting.

Trappers with the program assist supervisors with flooding caused by beaver dams in their districts, said Chancery Clerk Tillmon Bishop. The payment will cover the 2016-17 fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1.

The yearlong beaver program keeps counties from being overrun with the toothy rodents.

The nocturnal animals, which can range from 25 to 75 pounds in weight, commonly build dams to flood areas so they can get to food and hide from predators, according to a report from the Mississippi State Extension Service.

While beavers were once a valuable resource in the state because of the demand for their pelts, with the falling pelt prices, a higher human population and more forestry, the beaver is regarded as a nuisance animal.

Eradication programs are in place because the beavers’ natural instinct to create dams also creates flooding problems. The dams can damage timber, agricultural crops, homes and other structures and roadways.

In the past, the county has received grants from the USDA or U.S. Forest Service in addition to the $7,500 the county puts up. They’ve received reimbursements of several thousand dollars from the Pearl River Basin Development District. Additional funding from those sources was cut several years ago.

The board also approved, in a 4-1 split, to purchase an advertisement in the summer issue of the Mississippi Supervisor Association’s quarterly magazine. District 1 Supervisor Jerry Wilson voted against the measure because he said the board should advertise in all four issues.

The half-page ad will cost $550 and will run in color.

Both requests will come out of the county’s general fund, Bishop said.

The rest of the meeting was spent going over the July dockets, which cover routine bills for the county.

The board’s next regular meeting is Monday at 9 a.m.