Conservation Commission 149 



for preserve purposes. This explanation is made for the reason 

 that the sale of outside lands has been advocated by many and, 

 therefore, our data has been compiled separately. 



Area. — The definition of the Preserve (Sec. 50, Conservation 

 Law) reads as follows : 



" Sec. 50. Forest Preserve. The forest preserve shall include 

 the lands owned or hereafter acquired by the State within the 

 County of Clinton, except the towns of Altona and Dannemora, 

 and the counties of Delaware, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamil- 

 ton, Herkimer, Lewis, Oneida, Saratoga, St. Lawrence, Warren, 

 Washington, Greene, Ulster and Sullivan, except 



1. Lands within the limits of any village or city, and 



2. Lands not wild lands acquired by the State on foreclosure 

 of mortgages made to loan commissioners." 



There will be found on the following pages statistics and other 

 data showing the character of these lands. 



Timber. — We have also summarized the reports and prepared 

 tables showing the quantity of merchantable timber by species 

 and by counties, also according to location within and without 

 the parks. 



Camp Sites. — There are along our hundreds of lakes and 

 ponds ideal camping places, and the advisability of leasing a 

 portion of these areas has been discussed. Our study and tabula- 

 tion includ-es this possible resource. 



On account of the importance of these subjects they will be 

 treated under the three divisions, viz. : Area, timber resources, 

 and camp sites. 



AREA 



Description. — The statutory Preserve includes not only lands 

 with forests, second growth and brush, but also denuded areas, 

 marshes, and lands under water. The first purpose must be to 

 consider the land from the standpoint of forest growth and 

 adaptability. The classification has been taken as of two gen- 

 eral groups, viz. : Timbered and non-timbered and then follows a 

 further delineation of each group. 



Tables. — Table I represents the summary of the data of all 

 kinds in both Preserves and both within and outside the parks 



