Abstract: A comparison of the Desmognathus salamander assemblages between the New and James River Drainages was examined with the goal of understanding how species interactions can influence population sizes and local spatial distributions. The primary question was:  Is there a difference in the density or in the distance from stream distribution of Desmognathus  monticola or Desmognathus fuscus plus Desmognathus ochrophaeus between the two drainages?  One drainage, the New River, hosts D. quadramaculatus while the other does not.  The variable of trout presence in conjunction with drainage was also investigated.  Major environmental differences between the drainages were examined for across-drainage differences.  The questions were addressed by running multiple transects perpendicular to streams in four streams in each drainage.  Two sampling methods were used:  at night salamanders were visually encountered and by day all potential cover objects and leaf litter were turned in an active search for salamanders.  No significant difference in environmental factors was seen across drainages.  Conservative analyses showed no significant difference in abundance or distance from stream of Desmognathus salamanders.  The presence of trout differentially affected Desmognathus species' abundance and distance from stream, and the effects of trout were different in the presence of D. quadramaculatus.  When the effect of trout was included, less conservative analyses detected significant differences in distance and abundance of D. fuscus and D. ochrophaeus, and in distance but not abundance differences in D. monticola across drainages.