122 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin 



Station, as well as by former Commissioner Ellis J. Staley of the 

 New York Conservation Commission, Mr. W. G. Howard, Assistant 

 Superintendent of Forests, and Chief Llewellyn Legge of the Divi- 

 sion of Fish and Game. For assistance in the field I am indebted 

 to the Forest Rangers of the Conservation Commission, and 

 especially to Mr. David Conkey of Beaver River, and Mr. Isaac B. 

 Robinson of Long Lake, in whose districts the most of my time was 

 spent and who placed all their available time at my disposal. Mr. 

 Howard kindly placed in my hands maps and reports which greatly 

 facilitated my work. 



PART I. STATUS OF THE BEAVER IN HERKIMER 

 AND HAMILTON COUNTIES 



Relation of the Beaver to the Timber 



It may be safely stated at the outset that wherever beavers occur 

 in a wooded region, a certain amount of damage to forest trees of 

 one kind or another, large or small, is an inevitable accompaniment 

 of their presence. 



In the region covered by this investigation the damage to timber 

 appears to be the most definite and serious charge placed against the 

 species at the present time. This charge at least has the virtue of 

 being susceptible to ocular proof. The seriousness of this kind of 

 damage of course depends upon its magnitude. In 1919, according 

 to Commissioner George D. Pratt, of the New York Conservation 

 Commission ('20, pp. 48-51), Forest Rangers estimated that a total 

 area amounting to 8,681 acres had been flooded as a result of beaver 

 dams in the Adirondacks and that the merchantable timber that had 

 been killed or was being killed in this area had an estimated value of 

 $51,425.00. In this report 587 beaver dams had been counted, which 

 comprised only a part of all the dams scattered throughout the Adi- 

 rondacks. In 1920 this damage had been increased ('21, p. 101) by 

 $3,410.00, or to a total of about $55,000.00. 



Damage to timber by beavers results from two activities of the 

 animals: (1) The cutting or girdling of trees, and (2) the damming 

 of streams and ponds. 



Damage through Cutting and Girdling of Trees. The total 

 damage done by cutting or girdling of trees of all sizes and descrip- 

 tions is entirely negligible in comparison with that resulting from 

 flooding. The beaver, however, like the lumberman, is wasteful in 

 his methods and much that is cut down is not utilized. As a general 



