Adirondack Beaver 167 



beaver fur in the early history of this country is a very interesting 

 and important one, to which the reader is referred elsewhere 

 (Martin, '92). 



The qualities of beaver fur are such that it will continue in the 

 future, as in the past, to command a good price in the markets. It 

 is a natural resource that has important possibilities and is worth}- 

 of careful attention. The capacity to harvest a couple of thousand 

 skins or more each year would mean a great deal to the people of 

 the region or to the State itself, and with a fair amount of considera- 

 tion given to the distribution of the beaver and to local conditions, 

 the Adirondack region should be able to support a sufficiently large 

 beaver population to yield such returns without at the same time 

 incurring an undue amount of damage to timber, fishing or other 

 interests. 



In Commissioner George D. Pratt's reports ('20, pp. 48-51 ; '21, 

 pp. 99-101) he summarizes the damage to timber done by beaver 

 dams in 1919 at $90.00 per dam. The estimate for 1920 averaged 

 $22.00 per dam. The total damage for these two years was about 

 $55,000.00, and this is probably near the maximum damage, as the 

 region is presumably fully stocked. 



If, as I have estimated, there are 8,000 beavers in the Adirondacks 

 and if their skins are worth on an average of $10.00, their total 

 value aggregates $80,000.00. or at $25.00 each, $200,000.00. If an 

 annual harvest of 1,500 pelts were taken each year at $10.00 each, 

 the revenue would be $15,000.00; or at $25.00, $22,500.00. If 2,000 

 were taken from the entire Adirondacks at $10.00 each the income 

 would be $20,000.00 per year ; and at $25.00 each, $50,000.00 annu- 

 ally. 



A recently received price list quotes average beaver skins as fol- 

 lows: No. 1 extra large, $33.00; No. 1 large, $26.00; No. 1 medium, 

 $17.50; No. 1 small, $10.00; No. 2 large, $10.00; No. . 2, $8.00; 

 No. 3. $3.25; No. 4, $1.50. 



Willoughby ('20, p. 630) states that: "Beaver skins are worth 

 from $25.00 to $30.00 each, so it is apparent that the 15,000 or 

 20,000 busy rodents plying their engineering profession throughout 

 the Adirondacks constitute a half-million-dollar asset, and that the 

 trapping of their annual increase (which is now probably some 3,000 

 animals) would mean a considerable cash dividend." As has been 

 shown I consider these estimates of the number of beaver too high. 

 Assuming that there are only 8,000 beaver in the Adirondacks, and 



