FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSIONER. 8l 



In the 12 Adirondack counties there were 69 forest fires during the 

 year 1907. The extent of the burned area, as computed from the reports 

 of the various firewardens, amounted in the aggregate to 4,914 acres, of 

 which 70 acres only were in the Forest Preserve. The total damages to stand- 

 ing timber, as shown by these reports, was $7,790. In addition, there was 

 a loss of $3,685 in logs, cordwood, and fences; also, $800 in buildings. 

 The total number of days worked by the men ordered out to fight these 

 fires was 1,801 days. 



In the four Catskill counties there were 13 fires, which run over, in 

 all, 738 acres. Of this area only 4 acres were State land. The damage 

 to standing timber was reported at $1,620, and a loss in cordwood at $28. 

 The total number of days worked by men in extinguishing these Catskill 

 fires was 188. 



Under the provisions of our fire law the State grants a rebate to the 

 forest towns of one-half the amount expended by them in fighting wood- 

 land fires, maintenance of patrols, and posting notices. The total amount 

 of money thus repaid by the State to the town boards for the year 1907 was 

 $6,771.25. 



In addition to the 82 fires in the Adirondack and Catskill forests, which 

 caused a destruction of standing timber, there were 116 other fires, incipient 

 or otherwise, that occurred in the open country where there was little or 

 no tree growth. These fires were confined to waste lands, pasture fields, 

 brier patches, or tracts that had been burned over repeatedly. But it was 

 necessary in each case to extinguish them or get them under control to 

 prevent the flames from spreading into adjacent forests. In attending to 

 this class of fires the men worked, in all, 1,868 days. 



At some places in the Catskill counties lands of this kind are fired in- 

 tentionally by residents to improve the crop of huckleberries, as the gather- 

 ing of this wild fruit furnishes employment each season to a large number 

 of people. Although these lands are worthless at present, they would be 

 covered in time with a tree growth of some kind if this practice could be 

 stopped. The incendiary acts of the huckleberry pickers are regarded so 

 lightly by the people in these localities that the employment of a sufficient 

 number of patrols would meet with strenuous objection by the taxpayers 



