58 Forestry Quarterly 



IV 



Section 2 prohibits any cutting of timber or trees, except that 

 the Commission may cut trees for fire trails and remove dead 

 and down timber for the purpose of reforestation and fire pro- 

 tection solely, but prohibits the sale of such timber. The opin- 

 ions of the Attorney General of the State have indicated that 

 the Commission already has the authority, under the police powers 

 of the State, to go ahead and cut fire trails or trees in order to 

 protect the forests from fire. Therefore, this provision does not 

 give any added power. It is difficult to understand the reason 

 for prohibiting the selling of dead trees and timber cut for re- 

 foresting and fire protective purposes. It was argued by some 

 members of the Committee that if the material was sold it would 

 be an inducement to set fire in order to permit the cutting of 

 wood, but in my judgment, this is not a preventative or an in- 

 ducement, because it has been found in trespasses and otherwise 

 that wherever the parties pay as much or more than the material 

 is worth that there is no incentive to trespass. The fact that 

 such material cannot be sold would mean either that it would 

 have to be burned or given away. If given away, there would 

 be a greater incentive to fire, and if burned in communities where 

 people were in great need of fuel, it would create such an un- 

 pleasant feeling towards the Commission that more fires would 

 likely result. 



This provision also permitted the construction of the State 

 Highway from Saranac Lake to Long Lake. The reason for 

 this is that the Attorney-General of this State has held that 

 neither the State itself nor a municipality can take a part of the 

 Forest Preserve for its own use for the construction of a neces- 

 sary road, the idea being that the prohibition provided in the 

 present constitution is so strict that the land cannot be taken 

 for a road. 



The Adirondacks are a great playground for our people. With 

 the advent of the automobile, improved roads have been built 

 and in some places it is necessary to change their location. The 

 Attorney-General has ruled that such roads cannot be built out- 

 side of the existing highway bounds. The region is now accessi- 

 ble except from the southwest and it was the purpose of this 

 clause to permit the building of such a road for the necessary 

 distance across the Forest Preserve. 



Section 3 is the same as now included in the present consti- 



