Indians called them the sacred center of the land; nature experts say they purify water for the earth like a kidney, but for Joe Travis of Somerset, they're a nuisance.

“Just destroying the property,” says Travis, who owns property in the Eagles’ Nest Subdivision north of Somerset.

Travis says a swamp looking area is actually a creek, and he says it used to be beautiful. However, that was before beavers began building a dam.

“You can't stop them. The only way you can stop them is kill them or remove them and I'm trying not to kill them,” he says.

Some others with ties in the area questioned efforts to remove the dam and burn the wood. They wouldn't go on camera, but tell 27 NEWSFIRST they fear environmental contamination, and they have even called the animal activist group PETA to intervene.

However, Travis says he's only trying to protect his property. “I was trying to burn that, and it won't burn because it's too wet,” he explains. “I wasn't trying to burn the dam or whatever, I don't know who saw what or what they think they saw.”

PETA, which stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, may actually have some advice for Travis. They say there's something called a flow device, which would help him tremendously.

PETA says with that you work with the beavers, not against them.