FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSIONER. 73 



His father, having retired from the ministry, engaged in the lumber 

 business and located his principal mills on the Tioga river in the southern 

 part of this State. Here and at his father's mills in Canada, he learned the 

 details of the lumber business. Later, in connection with his own mills 

 in western Pennsylvania and those of his brothers in the upper peninsula of 

 Michigan, he acquired knowledge and experience in buying and selling 

 timber and timber lands and of the various products of the saw mill and 

 the planing mill. This training was of great value in his later life. 



When the first Forest Commission was established and organized the 

 first appointment made was that of Colonel William F. Fox, on November 

 i, 1885, to the position of Assistant Secretary. On account of his associa- 

 tion with the official forestry work from the beginning, first as Assistant 

 Secretary, later as Assistant Warden and finally as Superintendent of 

 Forests, he was familiar with all the various policies, laws, plans and develop- 

 ments that took place in working out our State forest policy. 



The Legislature of 1883 passed an act prohibiting the further sale of 

 land owned by the State in ten of our Adirondack counties. This was the 

 tangible beginning of our present forest preserve. This step having been 

 taken, some policy necessarily had to be decided upon, and the State Comp- 

 troller was authorized to appoint an investigating committee. They made 

 a careful examination and in 1885 reported advocating the establishment 

 of a Forest Commission. Their recommendations were acted upon favor- 

 ably, and the Commissioners were appointed by the Governor. It was 

 this Commission which first appointed Colonel Fox. The Commissioners 

 served without pay and, therefore, upon him fell the brunt of the work. 

 One can hardly appreciate his position at that time, confronted with so 

 much that was new and no resource upon which to draw for reliable infor- 

 mation. Yet the report for 1885 shows that he had a clear insight into the 

 requirements. The law of 1883 placed 715,267 acres of land under the con- 

 trol of the Commission. This land was widely scattered over ten counties, 

 the boundaries poorly marked and was being seriously trespassed upon. 

 The organization of a fire protection force, ejecting " squatters " upon the 

 lands and enforcing the law, all with a small untrained force were initial 

 problems. 



