No. 28. IN SENATE, FEBRUARY 24, 1904. REPORT OF THE Special Committee of the Senate on the Future Policy of the State in Relation to the Adirondacks and Forest Preservation. To the Senate: The special committee of the Senate appointed to inquire and report upon the future policy of the State in relation to the Adirondacks and forest preservation respectfully report that they have had several hearings in the city of New York and in Albany which have been well attended, and after giving careful attention to the suggestions made and to matters of public record beg leave to submit the following report: Chapter 283 of the Laws of 1885 creates a forest preserve including the counties of Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, Saratoga, St. Lawrence, Warren, Washington, Greene, Ulster and Sullivan. Delaware in 1888. Oneida was added in 1887 and 299062 It soon became apparent that this act, although indispensable as an initial step in the preservation of the Adirondack and Catskill forests, was so general in its terms as to offer in actual administration too great opportunities for interested persons to defeat in part its main purpose. Not even constructively could such counties as St. Lawrence and Oneida, though containing large tracts of Adirondack lands, be converted into a forest preserve, and Hamilton was the only Adirondack county named to which the act could be popularly understood to apply as a whole. To correct this fault and to mark out an area including the main body of forest lands, the Legislature passed chapter 332 of the Laws of 1893, defining the Adirondack Park as the "lands now owned or hereafter acquired by the State within the county of Hamilton" and twenty-two specified townships in other counties. This is the only statutory authority for what is known as the • blue line" on Adirondack maps. All subsequent efforts by the State to acquire Adirondack lands have been within this "blue line" which is popularly understood to bound the park. As it is defined by town and county boundaries only, there still inhere some faults of demarkation arising from the inclusion at points of agricultural tracts and the exclusion at other points of tracts. of forest land which should be within the park. It is apparent that in the pursuit of any policy of forest preservation the boundaries of the park should be defined by law and should correspond with the limits of the contiguous forests which the park was established to protect. The total acreage of the park as now laid out is 3,226,144 acres, of which the State owns 1,163,414 acres. Private preserves contain 705,914 acres. The remaining 1,356,816 acres are owned by private persons and business corporations. To preserve existing } forests on these lands and to reforest tracts that have been denuded by man or devastated by fire is the unanimous and earnest desire of the people of the State. While this sentiment is too well known to require verification, it has been disclosed in whatever branch of the inquiry your committee has been engaged. There is some diversity of opinion as to the best means of executing the public will in relation to this interest, but there are three measures of immediate and available relief which, in general outline at least, have the unanimous approval of our people. These are a resumption of the former State policy of acquiring further holdings of Adirondack lands by purchase, the establishment of a system of fire protection sufficiently effective to prevent great forest fires and the reforesting of barren and denuded tracts. PURCHASE OF LAND. Ownership by the State is the most effective means of preservation. It is much easier for the State to regulate and control its own holdings than to influence private owners to institute rational forestry methods. Prejudice does not exist against State ownership, and its holdings are not subjected in so great a degree as private holding to the perils of incendiarism. It is in keeping with the policy of maintaining these forests in trust for the general good-for lumber and water supply, as a regulator of climate and rainfall, and as a health and pleasure resort of incomparable value. Former investments by the State in these lands are, owing to the great rise in their value, worth vastly more than they cost with interest added. While prices in the future will be higher, the scale of prices is sure to be an ascending one for an indefinite period, and purchases made within the next few years are likely to be as profitable as purchases hitherto made now are. Waste lands can be most easily acquired, but special effort should be directed toward the acquisition of tracts of exceptional value as a watershed or for their natural scenery, as wooded mountains and shores of lakes and rivers. The cost can be properly reduced by allowing reservations of mature soft wood to the seller, while the hard wood, which is of much slower growth and of less value, will remain. A definite policy of acquiring the entire Adirondack Park should be adopted and carried into execution within a reasonable time, due regard being had to the rights of private owners and special privileges extended to present owners who cooperate with the State in forest preservation. FIRE PROTECTION. The statement in the annual report of the Forest Department shows the loss by fire in the Adirondack and Catskill forests during the year 1903 to be as follows: Total number of days' labor employed in fighting fire.. 77,290 |