Beavers are, by nature, engineers and they are programmed to build dams to ensure the safety and security of their colonies.

After their re-introduction to Acadia National Park in 1920, the aquatic herbivores became so prolific so fast, that John D. Rockefeller, Jr. wrote letters of complaint about the beavers creating dams and ruining trees on his property and elsewhere within the park.

Today, beaver activity is pro-actively managed by the park service in order to maintain the balance of the park’s eco-system with the need of the beavers to build dams and live in the ponds they create.

The Beaver Dam Pond sits on one of the nicest stretches of woods in the Park Loop Road. It only became a pond after the beaver’s made it so and on closer inspection pointed Birch tree stumps attest to their gnawing tendencies in the area. 

In 1947 a massive fire brought about a major change in the Mount Desert Island’s ecology. A Spruce-fir coniferous forest once dominated the island, but the fire created open areas that were colonized by faster-growing hardwood trees, such as birch, aspen and maple.

Miss Poppy doing her part to support the Acadia National Park!