241 



settled and defined ; and that all the lands outsiae these limits should be subject 

 to sale. He recommended that the area of the park should be from fifty 



to seventy miles square, the mean area of 2,847,0 esponding with the 



amended boundaries now proposed by the com > He also recommended that 



the State give permission to persons desirous 'milding summer camps upon 

 State lands ; and that small parcels should be suitable restrictions at 



a moderate rental for such purposes, arguing that occupants would have an. 



interest in preserving the forests in al ould be the best of 



firewardens or foresters; and that the wilde would thus afford a summer 



home to persons of moderate means as wei ; hy. 



" In the same year a committee of the State Senate re^ that there could 



be no dissent from any of these propositions ; and that is admitted that the 



creation of 31 park would he of incalculable benefit to the State and the 



whole country. The claims of the tourist and the summ ident for a great- 



public reservation, where the worker, the traveller and the lover of nature may 

 find rest, recreation and recuperation, great as they are, sink into insignificance 

 de the acknowledged fact that the preservation of the Adirondack forest, which 

 -e accomplished by the liberal action of the State, promptly taken, is a 

 sanitary necessity. Consideration for the invalid, who, according to eminent 

 authority- f" 10 ^ nere a rei ' a ge of unsurpassed vah; _:ard for the public 



health and protection of v rcial and inanm istries depending 



upon the Adirondack forests for even and seasonable distribution of the rainfalls 

 of that region, alike counsel action in this matter, immediate, liberal and coin- 

 l /herisive.' 



" The report of this committee was signed by the Hons. George B. Sloan, 

 Charles T. Saxton and J. S. Fassett. Further than this, the is forestry 



associations of the State of New York, and the boards of trade in various promi- 

 nent cities, together with the entire press of the Stat 'e unanimously and 

 persistently urged that the legislature no longer delay action in this matter, and 

 that their action, when taken, should be comprehensive and proportionate to the 

 magnitude of the interests involved. 



" Section 5 provides for the purchase of lands in the Catskill Mountains. The 

 law of 1885, establishing the forest preserve, contemplated a reservation in the 

 Catskill as well as in the Adirondacks, and not without good reason. 



" As one of the primary objects of forest preservation is the protection of the 



watersheds of our chief rivers, the wooded slopes <>!' Hu .watershed 



demand special C'mskk , The four comities of Greene. Ulster, Delaware and 



Sullivan contain mountains whose forests protect the head waters of important 



streams that flow to the Mohawk, the Hudson, and the Delaware. The Schoharie 



ek, which tak in the Catskill Mountains, is a large stream that flows 



northward and joins the Mohawk River at Tribes Hill, it- i-s flowing thence 



the Hudson. This stream is also utilized as an important feeder to the Erie 



Canal. The Esopus Creek a! is in the Catskill Mountains and flowing to 



north and east pours its waters into the Hudson at Saugerties. This stream is 



valuable for its water power, which is used to advantage by the manufactories 



situated near its mouth. The east and west branch* s d' the Neversink, and the 



t branch of the Delaware also rise here. The State has already about 50,000 



acres of forest land in these four counties, the bulk of which is situated on and 



near Slide Mountain, in Ulster County, the highest peak in the Catskills. 



<; But there are more important reasons for the establishment of a forest park 

 in the Catskills. This portion of the preserve is in close proximity to the great 

 cities of New York and Brooklyn, and the many cities alon-/ the Hudson. It is 

 easily accessible to three-fourths of the population of the Slate, and receives 



16 (F.) 



