TRUSTEES OF THE NEW YORK STATE COLLEGE OF FORESTRY EX OFFICIO Dr. CHARLES W. FLINT, Chancellor.... Syracuse University Dr. FRANK P. GRAVES, Commissioner of Education Albany, N. Y. Hon, ALEXANDER MACDONALD, Conservation Commis sioner Hon. JEREMIAH WOOD, Lieutenant-Governor. .Albany, N. Y. Hempstead, L. I. ROOSEVELT ON WILD LIFE INVESTIGATION "There must be ample research in the laboratory in order even to present those problems, not to speak of solving them, and there can be no laboratory study without the accumulation of masses of dry facts and specimens. "I also mean that from now on it is essential to recognize that the best scientific men must largely work in the great out-of-doors laboratory of nature. It is only such outdoors work which will give us the chance to interpret aright the laboratory observations." THEODORE ROOSEVELT. THE RELATION OF FORESTS AND FORESTRY TO HUMAN WELFARE "Forests are more than trees. They are rather land areas on which are associated various forms of plant and animal life. The forester must deal with all. Wild life is as essentially and legitimately an object of his care as are water, wood, and forage. Forest administration should be planned with a view to realizing all possible benefits from the land areas handled. It should take account of their indirect value for recreation and health as well as their value for the production of salable material; and of their value for the production of meat, hides, and furs of all kinds as well as for the production of wood and the protection of water supplies. 'Unquestionably the working out of a program of wild life protection which will give due weight to all the interests affected is a delicate task. It is impossible to harmonize the differences between the economic, the esthetic, the sporting, and the commercial viewpoint. Nevertheless, the practical difficulties are not so great as they appear on the surface." HENRY S. GRAVES, Former Chief Forester, U. S. Forest Service. CONTENTS 1. An Opportunity for Great Public Service...... Col. Henry S. Graves Hamilton Counties of the Adirondacks. 3. The Life of the Yellowstone Beaver.. ILLUSTRATIONS Dr. Charles Eugene Johnson Plate 23. The Late Viscount Bryce, 1838-1922. Courtesy The Macmillan PAGE Company. Plate 24. Colonel Henry S. Graves, Member of Honorary Advisory Council 112 FIGURES Figure 1. Constable Creek, one of the sources of Big Moose Lake. View above second beaver dam from mouth of creek... Figure 2. Constable Creek; about a hundred yards above view in figure 1; showing beaver lodge and flooded woodland.. Figure 3. Constable Creek; another view of the beaver flow. Mixed birch Figure 8. Outlet creek of Russian Pond; showing dam two and a half feet high, damaging timber along the stream. Figure 9. Lower Gull Lake; dam at outlet flooding narrow fringe of forest Figure 12. Dam at outlet of Oswego Pond, Twitchell Lake district. This has flooded an area extending half a mile above the pond.. Figure 13. Witchopple Lake; view of part of northwest shore and dam at Figure 14. View along inlet creek of Witchopple Lake. Because of the low banks this beaver flow is submerging considerable spruce timber. 131 Figure 15. New dam on outlet stream of Razorback Pond, on property of Champlain Realty Company. Stand of large spruce above Figure 16. Beaver flow on creek entering Round Pond, northern Long Lake Figure 17. Beaver Pond on Pine Brook, northern Long Lake region. Chiefly cut-over and burned land, so that damage from flow is negligible. 135 Figure 18. Aspen, 17.5 inches in diameter, cut by beaver; north shore of Lake |