REVIEWS 437 



Report of the Connecticut State Park Commission for the Tivo Fis- 

 cal Years Ended September ^o, ipi8. Hartford, 1919. 36 pp., 12 

 plates. 



This report raises at once in the mind of the reader the question 

 as to what constitutes the dividing Hne between a State Park and a 

 State Forest. Since its creation in 19 14 the Connecticut State Park 

 Commission has acquired an area of 3,150 acres, scattered through 

 some 18 towns and inchiding mountain tops, woodlands, and river, 

 lake, and seashore frontage. Of this area the State Forester estimates 

 that approximately 3,000 acres are already forested or are suited for 

 forest purposes. In other words, the forest land acquired for State 

 Parks does not fall far short of the 3,702 acres now included in State 

 Forests in Connecticut. Furthermore, nearly two-thirds of the State 

 Park area is included in a single tract, most of which is covered with 

 a stand of second-growth hardwoods. 



Appropriations for the State Park Commission and for the Forestry 

 Department have so far not differed widely. During the last two years> 

 for example, the Park Commission has received an appropriation of 

 $25,000, $20,000 of which has been for the acquisition of land, while 

 the Forestry Department has received an appropriation of $31,000, 

 $10,000 of which has been for the purchase and maintenance of State 

 Forests. The Park Commission, however, has ambitious plans, the 

 accomplishment of which would leave the State Forests far in the 

 rear. Two years ago it stated its belief that in the next decade the 

 State should spend four or five million dollars for park purposes, and 

 asked for a specific appropriation of $150,000 for the acquisition of 

 lands, suggesting at the same time the wisdom of issuing bonds to 

 cover such an appropriation. This year it is asking for an appro- 

 priation of $200,000 for the purchase of land and of $170,000' for 

 development work. The request is justified on the ground that an 

 immediate demonstration is needed of what is meant by a State Park 

 in its largest and fullest sense, since "a. park is not a park until it is 

 used and enjoyed by the people to whom it belongs." 



On general principles it would seem to be better policy to devote 

 the bulk of this money to the acquisition of State Forests. Areas 

 now under consideration by the Park Commission could be secured 

 and their recreational possibilities developed, while at the same time 

 their forest resources could be improved and utilized under the direc- 

 tion of the Forestry Department. The Secretary of the Park Com- 

 mission defines State Parks as being "for the use and enjoyment of the 



