Forest Management Required 19 
at the headwaters of the Hudson and other rivers should remain 
covered with permanent protection forests, which may be cut 
lightly or perhaps not at all. 
Years ago the State set aside the Adirondack Preserve and 
the Catskill Mountain Preserve with these purposes in view. 
Article 7, section 7 of the State Constitution provides that 
they shall be forever kept wild forest lands, much like the 
National Parks of the West. These preserves now contain 
1,936,492 acres, or about 15 per cent of the lands suitable for 
forest. Additional purchases are being made as fast as condi- 
tions permit. In the preserves the State has a magnificent 
forest property. At present no timber may be cut from them 
either for commercial purposes or improvement, but they are 
under patrol to protect them from fire and theft, and valuable 
species are being planted. In 1919 about 5,000 acres were thus 
reforested. New York may well be thankful that so much has 
been and is being accomplished. Just what areas in the future 
-will be reserved wholly for recreation or protection, without 
use of the timber, cannot be determined at the present time. 
Undoubtedly the State forests will in the long run be largely 
extended, and will play an important part in the future timber 
supply, especially of high grade materials. 
Large tracts are also owned by lumber companies, which 
for the most part have not seen fit to handle their lands with 
a view to another forest crop. There are also a few large 
privately owned tracts held mainly for recreational purposes, 
which have received protection by patrol. 
Forest management means cutting, as well as planting and 
protection from fire. The old crop must be harvested to make 
way for the growth of new timber. It is probable that not more 
than a small fraction of the forest soil of the State is producing 
the quantity, species, and quality of wood which would be 
possible if human intelligence were everywhere directing the 
latent productive forces of the soil. The best timber, like the 
best corn, can not be produced without planning, watchfulness, 
and labor. Moreover, the depletion of the remaining timber 
is now so far advanced and the productive capacity of the soil 
