LIBRARY 

 NtiW Y#RK 

 BOT A HiC At, 



OAAOEfi^ 



To the Governor of the State of New York: 



The undersigned respectfully report that in pursuance of Chap- 

 ter 669 of the laws of 1906, an Act which provides for the appoint- 

 ment of commissioners to inquire into the advisability of preserving 

 the waters of the Bronx River from pollution, and of creating a 

 reservation of the lands on either side of the river, they were 

 appointed commissioners by the Hon. Frank Wayland Higgins, 

 Governor of the State, and that they thereupon qualified as such 

 commissioners and organized by the election of Madison Grant, as 

 Chairman, and James G. Cannon, as Treasurer, and that they ap- 

 pointed William W. Niles, Secretary, and J. Warren Thayer, En- 

 gineer. That immediately after their organization, the Board made 

 a careful personal inspection and examination of the Bronx River 

 from Bronx Park to Kensico Reservoir, and repeated this per- 

 sonal examination from time to time thereafter. That they famil- 

 iarized themselves with the present condition of the stream, the 

 improvements along the borders thereof, the appearance and 

 topography of the adjoining land. That they were greatly im- 

 pressed with the natural beauty of the stream and its immediate 

 surroundings where the march of alleged improvement had not 

 impaired that beauty, and of its great importance to Bronx Park, 

 and those great institutions, the New York Botanical Garden and 

 the New York Zoological Park, which are located in the Bronx 

 Park, and to the portion of Westchester County through which the 

 stream runs. That the Board felt the necessity from the outset 

 of immediate action if the river was to be saved, and concluded 

 that its preservation was important not only to the City of New 

 York but to Westchester County. 



In looking for a precedent for action to save the river, the 

 Board found that it was not necessary to go abroad where such 

 action is quite usual, but that here at home enlightened communi- 

 ties had already commenced to take such steps, as for instance in 

 the case of the Wissahickon, in Philadelphia, and of the Charles 

 River, in Boston, and it also found on investigation that through- 

 out the Union municipalities were awakening to the necessity of 

 taking concerted action in order to preserve tracts of unusual nat- 

 ural beauty from destruction and to maintain them for public use. 



