 Most of these forests were cut down by 1920, and so several populations today occur in mixed deciduous forests that have replaced red spruce stands.These include yellow birch, American beech, sugar maple, striped maple and eastern hemlock trees.The salamander's occurrence, however, is not dependent upon any particular type of vegetation, but is often associated with boulder fields, rock outcrops, or steep, shaded ravines lined with a dense growth of rhododendron.