460 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF FISHERIES, GAME AND' FORESTS. 



diameter, the greater part of the balsam will necessaril)' be left. But little tamarack 

 will be cut; there is no demand for it. Aside from the manufacture of shingles there 

 is little cedar used. The parties who have these timber rights are not cutting all the 

 species which, in their contract, they are permitted to take. 



The largest area covered by a timber right is that in which Thomson and Dix are 

 operating. They have eight years from May i, 1894, in which to remove their 

 timber; after that period the State obtains absolute possession and there can be no 

 more cutting. Moynehan Brothers have finished their contract, and Ouderkirk will be 

 through with his soon. The lumbering done under these contracts is free from many 

 of the objectionable features which are too common in similar operations elsewhere in 

 the Adirondack forests. The jobbers w^ere obligated to "cut and trim orlop the large 

 branches of tops of trees left on the ground after their operations, so the same will fall 

 to the ground under the weight of winter snow"; and in felling trees to " use care and 

 diligence to cause them to be so felled as not to unnecessarily injure or destroy other 

 trees standing on said lands." 



The contracts prohibited any cutting wdthin twenty rods of the shore of lakes and 

 ponds; also, any dams that, by flooding or back flow, might injure the trees along the 

 shores of Big Moose Lake or the lakes of the Fulton Chain. 



Although a timber right exists on these lands it must be remembered that no trees 

 urider ten inches in diameter on the stump — three feet from the ground — can be cut; 

 on part of the tract this diameter is fixed at twelve inches. No small trees, such as 

 are cut for pulp wood on other lands, can be removed. As a result, this forest will 

 furnish thirty years hence another cutting of spruce. 



At present, the State is prohibited by the new Constitution from utilizing the 

 mature timber in its forests or obtaining any revenue from its woodlands; and many 

 years must elapse before this Constitutional restriction can be removed. When the 

 State is ready, at some future time, to undertake forestry operations on these lands, 

 the spruce will have attained a size sufficient for a second cutting. 



Attention is called to the easement granted by Dr. Webb in the contract, on 

 Township 8, wherein the State acquires certain desirable privileges on the lands in that 

 township not included in the 74,584 acres purchased. By the terms of the contract, 

 the 15,000 acres which were reserved and not sold to the State, are placed under 

 permanent forest condition. The public is granted a free right of way through the 

 township, over the trails as now used, with access to all the beautiful lakes in that 

 tract. No fishing and hunting privileges are reserved, and the entire township is now 

 open to our citizens. 



