increased. The problem of supplying adequate winter "browse for large deer 
herds is no easy one. For example, if conditions for white cedar, one of 
the "best deer foods, are to he improved, depleted stands could he fenced 
off for its protection, hut the cost might he prohibitive. If white cedar 
cannot he reproduced or grown in the wintering areas, the number of deer 
would have to he reduced. 
The results of a survey made by the United States Forest Service , 
of the available brcrasein 19 deeryards in the Superior National Forest—' 
are an aid in interpreting the findings in the present study. Data obtain- 
ed in that survey as to availability of the most common browse species, ex- 
pressed in percentage of total pounds of browse available, is the basis of 
figure 3. To show the great difference? in browse conditions between various 
sections of the forest, two individual deeryards also arc compared. 
Olson's figures, as well as the senior author's observations, show 
that balsam fir is abundant and available in most of the deeryards in the 
Superior Forest. In the Jonvick yard it is very abundant and of a size 
small enough to be available, while in the Temperance yard the trees are 
larger and not so much browse is within reach of the deer. 
Spruce is an important cover species over most of the Superior Forest 
and is largely available for browsing, but in the Jonvick and Temperance yards 
the trees are of value chiefly for cover, as they are so tall and clean-boled 
as to supply little food. 
Field studies reveal that pine forms only a fraction of 1 percent of 
the available food and that it occurs mainly outside of the yarding areas. 
Pine formed no part of the food of the deer taken from the two yards individual- 
ly represented in the graph, but it did occur in stomachs of deer taken in 
areas where the animals yarded little or not at all. 
Some cedar is still available in most of the yards, but very little 
is within reach of the deer in the Jonvick and Temperance yards, although 
much of the yarding cover in both areas is composed of mature trees of this 
species. White cedar is reproducing but, being cropped by a herd of heavily 
concentrated animals, never gets above the snow line. 
Alder is abundant in most of the yards of the Superior Forest but is 
rarely found in the Jonvick area. This species is seldom eaten in fall and 
is broweed in winter only after other deer foods are exhausted. 
Most of the birch within the yards is of tree size, thus little is 
available to deer. On the uplands and old burns this species is often 
abundant, but in winter such areas are not frequented by the deer. Dwarf, 
yellow, and paper birches occur, but only the last is common enough in this 
area to be an important food. 
5/ Olson, Herman F. , An Analysis and Interpretation of Deer Study Data 
on Superior National Forest, 1934-37, inclusive. Typed report dated October 
15, 1937, filed in the office of the United States Forest Service, Duluth, 
Minn. 
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