Adirondack Beaver 141 



in such places would be to artificially and speedily bring about just 

 such a hazardous situation. In a state of nature where beaver are 

 present in some numbers it would seem that dams thus abandoned 

 by one group of animals would soon be re-occupied by another 

 group and the period of fire risk would be relatively short, if food 

 was available. 



While it is doubtless true that the dead timber in beaver flows 

 may at certain times and under certain conditions become a fire 

 menace, it is none the less true, as another Ranger pointed out, that 

 beaver flows themselves constitute effective fire-breaks. Elsewhere 

 the fire protective value of beaver ponds has been pointed out in 

 Canada ("He Would Conscript Beaver as Fire Rangers" Canadian 

 Forestry Journal, Vol. 14, p. 1656, 1918.) and in Wisconsin by 

 Forester F. B. Moody ('16). Streams a few inches or a few feet 

 wide are frequently transformed by the beaver into series of ponds 

 or flows rods in width and hundreds of yards in length, and whether 

 they be in heavily forested parts or in more open, cut-over or for- 

 merly burned areas (figure 25) the barrier afforded by such flows 

 may on occasion prove of considerable importance in a fire protec- 

 tion system. Were a sweeping fire to arise in the Adirondack- 

 woods it is quite certainly 'true that every beaver flow, large or small, 

 that might be found in the path of the fire would be taken advantage 

 of by the fire fighters as lines of defense. Every effort would be 

 made to drive the fire into these flows. In this connection the practical 

 value of accurately mapping all the beaver flows is apparent. Mr. 

 W. G. Howard, Assistant Superintendent of the State Forest, New 

 York Conservation Commission, sends the following comment : " In 

 reference to the advantage or disadvantage of beaver flows in con- 

 nection with fire protection, I will say that my feeling is that these 

 flows are more of a disadvantage than they are an advantage. They 

 make it impossible to maintain good passable trails, and therefore 

 render communication difficult. It is my feeling that this disad- 

 vantage far outweighs any advantage which might accrue from 

 having a wider strip of water than would be obtained from the 

 natural stream." 



Effect on Logging Operations. In addition to loss of values in 

 timber, lumber or pulp, logging operations also may be adversely 

 affected more or less permanently. Streams used for driving logs, 

 or the tributaries of such streams, it is charged, may have their 

 waters diverted or held up by beaver dams so that there is insuffi- 



