Some of the other important research this New York State deer biologist conducted during his tenure included such timely subjects as the following: the mobility of whitetails, showing that they could jump up to 7 1/2 feet high and leap 29 feet horizontally; the hair depth of the winter coat of whitetails; and the variations of fertility in whitetails relating to range conditions.

He also did research on the number of calories expended by deer at rest and under stress and the relationship of weather to winter mortality and population levels among deer in the Adirondack region of New York State. Those studies included analyzing the annual weight cycles and the various weights of whitetails in relation to their range. Minimizing deer damage to forest vegetation through aggressive deer population management was always of utmost concern to this dedicated deer manager.

CARRYING CAPACITY
By the early 1950s Severinghaus realized that the central Adirondacks contained far too many deer for the available food. The region was still recovering from the massive logging enterprises of the late 1800s and early 1900s that had eliminated many of the old historic winter deer-yarding areas. Existing winter deer yards were overloaded.

Biologists were just beginning to realize that the effects of over-browsing take much longer to correct than re-population of deer. And since regulated hunting is the most practical means of controlling wild, free-ranging deer, Severinghaus and other concerned biologists in the conservation department advocated opening a season in 1954 in which deer of both sexes would be legal game in two large essential wilderness tracts in New York's north woods.

Even though a huge stride was being taken toward the implementation of sound management that would achieve a better balance between the deer population and the carrying capacity of the winter range, old opinions and rigid traditions about killing does were hard to change. Severinghaus was an advocate and spokesman for the program. Years later, severe winter kills in the late 1960s and a record low Adirondack buck harvest of 2,907 deer for the 9,962 square miles of Regions 5 and 6 put an end to that program in 1970.

A COLLISION COURSE WITH CONVENTIONAL THINKING
During a span of three decades from the 1960s through the 1980s, Severinghaus conducted numerous annual public deer forums throughout the Adirondack region to inform and educate the local residents. Those with strong opposing views began threatening him with harassing phone calls and bodily harm. The issue of having an open doe season was such a hot topic at one of the deer forums that posters condemning the practice were made by local school children and posted all around the village in which the forum was held.

At one point, security was required during the annual deer forums held in different towns across the region. (Only a few years ago, a similar situation occurred in Pennsylvania when biologist Dr. Gary Alt received serious threats on his life after initiating antler restrictions along with a heavier doe harvest in Pennsylvania.)

At one of the Adirondack deer forums, a group that so distrusted the state's deer biologists brought in 15 deer carcasses and challenged Severinghaus and fellow researcher Jack Tanck to come up with precise information as to what had caused the deaths of those deer and various other age and fertility information. Accepting the challenge, the two men took on the massive job of determining the exact physiological information on each of the dead deer.

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