In this manner, and at an inconsiderable cost, the State acquired a large area of forest lands. Much of it was sold again by the State, before the impolicy of such a course was realized, and what was not sold formed the nucleus of the present Forest Preserve. Of the 1,589,988 acres now constituting the Forest Preserve, 788,940 acres were thus acquired.

Who originated the Forest Preserve it is difficult to say. In the proceedings of the Constitutional Convention of 1894 there is a reference to Governor De Witt Clinton in this connection. But up to 1872, when the Adirondack Survey was begun by Verplanck Colvin, and indeed for many years after that bold engineer began his exploration of the wilderness, the Adirondacks were a terra incognita to all but the moose and deer and bears and other wild creatures which lived there unmolested, and to the very few woodsmen and hunters who dwelt among them. In 1872, Horatio Seymour urged the establishment of a forest preserve, and an appropriation was made for the survey. Ten years later, Governor Cornell, in his message to the Legislature, January 3, 1882, urged that the State discontinue the sale of its forest lands. Health, pleasure and water supply were the chief considerations dwelt upon. The present fear of timber famine had not been entertained. At that time individual ownership was confined to a few hundred thousand acres. The rest of the wilderness belonged to the State. From that time on every Governor in turn - Cleveland, Hill, Flower, Morton, Black, Roosevelt, Odell and Hughes

has urged the conservation of the forests and the enlargement of the Forest Preserve.

The first legislative step toward the preserving of the forests of northern New York appears to have been the enactment of chapter 13 of the Laws of 1883, which prohibited the sale of lands belonging to the State in ten Adirondack counties. In 1885, chapter 283 was enacted, establishing the Forest Preserve and creating

the Forest Commission. The Forest Preserve, as defined by this law, was to consist of "all lands now owned or which may hereafter be acquired by the State of New York within the counties of Clinton (excepting the towns of Altona and Dannemora), Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, Saratoga, St. Lawrence, Warren, Washington, Greene, Ulster and Sullivan.” In 1887 Oneida county was added, but was dropped in 1888 when Delaware county was put in its place.

The sale of land owned by the State was now checked, but it was not until 1890 that the tide was turned the other way and the State began to buy back the land it had so foolishly sold, and to enlarge the Forest Preserve. Chapter 37 of the Laws of 1890, appropriating $25,000 for the purchase of land at a price not exceeding $1.50 per acre,* was passed.

Since that time appropriations haave been made under every Governor for the acquisition of forest land until the area has reached that stated hereafter.

Meanwhile, a state of affairs developed which required more rigid restrictions than the Legislature had imposed. During the decade prior to 1894 the State's title to no less than 158,296 acres was surrendered on one ground or another. Reservoirs which destroyed acres of trees and created dismal swamps were built for the purpose of floating logs. For these and other reasons the Constitutional Convention of 1894 adopted the following section, known as section 7 of article VII:

"The lands of the state, now owned or hereafter acquired, constituting the Forest Preserve as now fixed by law, shall be forever kept as wild forest lands. They shall not be leased, sold or exchanged, or be taken by any corporation, public or private, nor shall the timber thereon be sold, removed or destroyed."

*

Land, which in 1890 could have been bought for this price, now commands $8 or $10 an acre.

This section was the only change in the revised Constitution which received the unanimous approval of the Constitutional Convention.

It should be explained that the Forest Preserve, the Adirondack Preserve and the Adirondack Park are not synonymous

terms.

The Forest Preserve, as fixed by law, consists of all State lands in the county of Clinton (except the towns of Altona and Dannemora) and the counties of Delaware, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, Oneida, Saratoga, Saint Lawrence, Warren, Washington, Greene, Ulster and Sullivan, except lands within the limits of any village or city, and lands not wild acquired by the State on foreclosure of mortgages made to loan commissioners.

The Adirondack Preserve: It will be observed that the counties above mentioned lie in both the Adirondack and Catskill regions. All the lands of the Forest Preserve, lying in the Adirondack counties, constitute the Adirondack Preserve, while those in the Catskill counties constitute the Catskill Preserve.

The Adirondack Park was established by chapter 707 of the Laws of 1892 "for the free use of all people for their health and pleasure and as forest lands necessary to the preservation of the head waters of the chief rivers of the State and a future timber supply." The Adirondack Park, as distinguished from the Adirondack Preserve, consists of the lands owned by the State within a certain boundary line in the Adirondack Preserve popularly called the "blue line." This line, as now fixed by law, is described in detail in chapter 304 of the Laws of 1904. It lies in the heart and comprises the greater portion of the Adirondack Preserve, but not all of it. The total area, within the "blue line " bounding the park, is 3,313,564 acres. Of this area 1,353,357 acres belong to the State and constitute the Adirondack Park, while 1,960,207 acres are held in private ownership.

The following figures will show at a glance the area of the subdivisions of the Forest Preserve on March 28, 1908:

The total cost of all land acquired by purchase up to March 28, 1908, has been a little over $4,000,000. This figure represents simply the cost of land purchased and is far from representing the total investment of the State in its Forest Preserve; for large sums are appropriated annually for the administrative work of the Forest, Fish and Game Commissioner and his department. The latest addition to the Adirondack Park was the purchase in March, 1908, of 3,500 acres of heavily timbered land embracing Mount Marcy. This mountain, with an altitude of 5,344 feet, is the highest peak of the Adirondacks. This purchase was made at the rate of $8 an acre.

The Catskill Park.

Much of what has been said about the Adirondack Park applies to the Catskill Park. The latter has also been a gradual growth. The earliest acquisitions were made as far back as 1853, but the

Catskill Preserve may be said to date, like the Adirondack Preserve, from chapter 283 of the Laws of 1885, which created the Forest Preserve and included therein lands owned by the State in Greene, Ulster and Sullivan counties, to which Delaware county was added in 1888. During the next nineteen years the State increased its possessions in those counties and also made small appropriations for deer parks in the Catskills, but it was not until chapter 233 of the Laws of 1904 was enacted that the Catskill Park as such was established by law and definitely bounded. The same relation exists between the terms " Catskill Preserve" and "Catskill Park" that exists between the "Adirondack Preserve" and the "Adirondack Park." The Catskill Preserve embraces all lands owned by the State in Greene, Ulster, Sullivan and Delaware counties. The Catskill Park embraces only those lands owned by the State within the boundaries defined by chapter 233 of the Laws of 1904. The total area within that boundary is 576,120 acres, of which the State owns 107,652 acres. For the boundaries of the Park we refer to the law of 1904 and for other statistics of area to the figures given under the preceding head. Like the Adirondack Park, the Catskill Park is under the jurisdiction of the Forest, Fish and Game Commissioner.

Saint Lawrence Reservation.

Probably few persons are aware of the existence of the Saint Lawrence Reservation which was created by chapter 802 of the Laws of 1896. This act provides that all that part of the St. Lawrence river within the State of New York, with the islands therein and such lands along the shores thereof as then were or should thereafter be acquired by the State, should constitute an International Park to be known as the St. Lawrence Reservation. The reservation is in charge of the Forest, Fish and Game Commissioner.