The letter, “Regarding Your Dam Complaint,” drew my attention because of Stephen Tvedten’s ability to express his frustration in a comedic way. Tvedten’s letter was a response to a warning he received from Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ)–now known as Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. What I initially found interesting about the letter from the department is that it was addressed to Tvedten’s tenant, Ryan DeVries. However, MDEQ intended for the letter to be addressed to the property owner, not the tenant. For an official letter from the state to make this mistake was quite surprising. This is just one of multiple things that led to Tvedten’s unique response.
MDEQ’s letter–specifically from the department’s district representative for the land and water management division, David Price–warned Tvedten of facing charges if he does not remove the dams on his property within the next six weeks. MDEQ was aware of the dams because a man experiencing flooding complained that it was caused by dams on Tvedten’s property. This led to MDEQ investigating Tvedten’s property and ultimately accusing Tvedten’s tenant, Ryan DeVries, of constructing and maintaining
“two wood debris dams across the outlet stream of Spring Pond” without a permit.
https://lettersofnote.com/2012/07/12/regarding-your-dam-complaint/
Content, tone, and diction all contributed to the absurdity of Price’s letter to Tvedten. The letter from the department outlines what parts of the law he violated:
“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 Michigan Compiled Laws annotated.”
https://lettersofnote.com/2012/07/12/regarding-your-dam-complaint/
Detailing the parts of the law that Tvedten’s tenant was accused of violating significantly affected the letter’s tone, making it sound even more serious. While the tone was very serious, it is difficult to not regard this letter as ridiculous since beavers were the ones responsible for constructing and maintaining the dams–not humans. According to the National Park Service,
“Beavers build dams across streams to create a pond where they can build a ‘beaver lodge’ to live in. These ponds provide protection from predators…”
https://www.nps.gov/articles/buildabeaverdam.htm#:~:text=Beavers%20build%20dams%20across%20streams,%2C%20coyotes%2C%20or%20mountain%20lions
Stephen Tvedten responded to Price by defending the beavers and refusing to remove the dams. In his response, Tvedten took advantage of “dam” and “damn” as homonyms. We see this in Tvedten’s letter when he argues that
“[the beavers] have more dam right than I to live and enjoy Spring Pond. So, as far as I and the beavers are concerned, this dam case can be referred for more dam elevated enforcement action now.”
https://lettersofnote.com/2012/07/12/regarding-your-dam-complaint/
The word “dam” appeared fifty-seven times in Tvedten’s letter. There are about 735 words in Tvedten’s letter so approximately 7.76 percent of the words in the letter are “dam.” His use of the word “dam” as well as his mockery of the complaint gave the letter a comedic aspect which led to it gaining a lot of attention when it was published on the Letters of Note website. It is possible that Tvedten responded in a comedic manner because he may have struggled to fathom the ridiculousness of the complaint. Or, perhaps, Tvedten struggled to process the absurdity of the letter that responding to the letter in a serious manner seemed impossible.
