2 28 FIFTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



private parties interested, and without jeopardizing the greater interests 

 which concern the taxpayers and residents of the whole State. 



2. To this end the Commissioner is ready and willing to organize and 

 direct a fire organization, with the assistance and co-operation of residents 

 and property owners, in order to stamp out, if possible, the fire evil within 

 this area. 



3. The forester already appointed under the law will be at the call 

 of the owners of forest property in the reservation, and will advise and 

 assist any one desirous of improving his woodland. 



4. Gifts of land or funds to purchase land will be welcomed by the 

 Commissioner, not only as a measure of interest in the objects of this bill, 

 but also as opening the way to the simplest and most complete attainment 

 of its objects. 



5. Concerning the purchase of land by the State, the Commission 

 feels that the Adirondack and Catskill Preserves are of the utmost import- 

 ance to the State as a whole from an economic and from every other stand- 

 point, and that the extension of those preserves should not be interfered 

 with by any other enterprise of a similar nature. 



6. If those interested in this reservation can secure appropriations 

 for the purchase of land within the reservation, the Commission will be 

 glad to administer and improve such lands according to the methods out- 

 lined in the act. 



Further, the Commissioner said: " As far as the practice of forestry 

 in the Highlands is concerned, many points are in its favor, viz.: The 

 large area suitable for the growth of timber only, the excellent transporta- 

 tion facilities, the proximity to markets, character of ownership, tax rates, 

 etc., make forestry of a fair degree of intensiveness practicable ; the question 

 of success in regulating private holdings depends upon the measure of your 

 co-operation. 



' Forestry may be defined as the art of raising a crop of timber with 

 the greatest possible profit (and, I might add, clear cutting is a well-recog- 

 nized forestry method, a fact that some of you may have overlooked). 

 So far the aim of the forester and the private owner who wants his rocky 

 hillside to yield as much revenue as possible are identical; but the time 

 element must be reckoned with. 



