115 



Dickinson he was author of the "New York Walk Book," 

 that has done much to stimulate interest in hiking about New 

 York and is a prized guide for hundreds. 



Some \'ears prior to his death he gave up all the newspaper 

 work in which he had been actively engaged, except "The Long 

 Brown Path," and becdme the secretary of the American Scenic 

 Historic and Preservation Society and of the Society for the 

 Preservation of the Adirondacks. There came under his direct 

 supervision and control such scenic and historic monuments as 

 John Boyd Thacher Park in the Helderbergs, the Stony Point 

 Reservation on the Hudson, Philipse Manor Hall, Letchworth 

 Park, including Portage Falls on the Genessee River, Diamond 

 Island in Lake George, Battle Island Park on Oswego River, and 

 for a time, Watkins Glen in the Finger Lake Region. A student 

 of state parks in the United States, he traveled extensively and 

 set forth the result of his observations and conclusions in a 

 publication entitled "State Parks and Recreational Uses of 

 State Parks in the United States." 



He was above all devoted to the preservation of the Adiron- 

 dacks, and particularly the lands that constitute the "Forest 

 Preserve" of New York State, which under the State Constitu- 

 tion (Article 7, Section 7) "shall be forever kept as wild forest 

 lands." By reason of repeated attempts to encroach upon this 

 preserve, Mr. Torrey was kept constantly on the alert in de- 

 fense of the Forest Preserve. Just before his death he was par- 

 ticularly concerned, that the proposed new State Constitution 

 should not in anyway weaken the article just mentioned. 



He frequently brought to the attention of the club members 

 cases where some scenic point on the Hudson or some section 

 of the Adirondacks was threatened with destruction or exploita- 

 tion and secured the club's support in endeavoring to save it. 

 It was this work in behalf of conservation that gave him the 

 greatest satisfaction, since he felt that in protecting our natural 

 heritage he w^as contributing not only to the preservation and 

 furtherance of the health and happiness of his contemporaries 

 but also of those who w'ould come after them. 



A tablet in his memory will be erected on the top of Long 

 Mountain, one of the lookout points he loved. 



