REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 335 



cottages under some definite, business-like arrangement, the F"orest Commission — 

 prior to the organization of the present Board — granted them five-year leases and 

 charged them rent, the price varying from $10 to $75 per year, according to desira- 

 bility of location or amount of ground occupied. Five acres was the maximum 

 amount of land leased to any one occupant. The leases thus granted were limited in 

 number, the Commission reserving the greater part of the islands for the free use and 

 benefit of the public. Of the islands in Lake George which are owned by the State, 

 over 150 are large enough for desirable camping ground; but only twelve of these 

 are occupied. It might be well to bear this fact in mind, in view of the ill-considered 

 talk in certain quarters about the Lake George islands having been leased and occu- 

 pied to the exclusion of the public. 



On the Lower Saranac Lake there are five buildings, two of which are under State 

 leases. No buildings, except an ice house and a shanty made of slabs, have been 

 erected on the lake since the present Commission took charge of the Preserve. As 

 there are fifty-two islands, large and small, in the Lower Saranac, and forty miles of 

 shore line, all available for camp sites, it is evident that the public has not thus far 

 sufTered by any exclusion resulting from the few buildings erected there. Several 

 parties have occupied tents along the shore and on the islands, but as these are taken 

 down and removed each fall, there is no permanent or exclusive occupancy on their 

 part. The use of tents on the Preserve is permitted and encouraged by the Com- 

 mission. 



On the islands and shores of Raquette Lake there are several buildings. Many of 

 these were on the ground when the land passed into the possession of the State, or 

 before the establishment of the Preserve. Some were built during the administration 

 of a former Board, but without permission. One small cottage was erected last spring 

 without the knowledge or consent of this Commission. As there is only one forester 

 for all Hamilton county, it was easily put up during his absence in other parts of the 

 county. Three of the occupants on Raquette Lake hold leases from the State. 



In all, there were .seventeen leases of land in the Forest Preserve granted by the 

 former Commission. None have been granted by the present Board. These leases, 

 which in each case were limited to five acres or less, were issued as follows : 



RAQUETTE LAKE. 



LESSEE. LOCATION. ANNUAL RENT. 



Dr. A. C. Gerster, . . Big Island, $200 



Hon. John B. Henderson, . Indian Point, .... 50 



Mrs. Cornelia T. Kirby, . Golden Beach, .... 5° 



Henry Bradley, . . . North Bay, . . . . 20 



