Report 



of the 



Pore^t Pisf) and Game Commission 



To ti)e Honorable tl)e legislature: 



THE Commission, in presenting its final report as at present constituted, has 

 the pleasant satisfaction of knowing that its work has had the commenda- 

 tion of the public, and that the value of what has been done for the 

 protection of fish and game and the reforestation of denuded woodlands in the 

 Adirondack and Catskill regions has been recognized both at home and abroad. 



Standards of comparison for such matters are not as well established as yet in 

 our own country as they are in other parts of the civilized world, and an occasional 

 criticism is consequently to be expected either from the uninformed or the unthink- 

 ing. But it is certain that, dollar for dollar, the State of New York is getting more 

 for its expenditure for the business which the Commission has had in charge than 

 any other locality at present known. The work of the Forestry Department has 

 developed in value to the extent that its success is frequently commended, and its 

 documents are considered very desirable for public distribution. Advice on 

 important questions is sought by the experts of other countries from our Depart- 

 ment of Fisheries, and the game laws of this State are frequently used as models 

 by other lawmakers. 



The sagacious editor of the London Spectator, in reviewing a recent report of this 

 Commission, after paying a high tribute to the wisdom shown by the State of New 

 York in providing adequately for the preservation of its forests and the increase 

 of its fish and game supply, says : 



Omitting moneys spent on purchasing land and maintaining forests the total cost 

 of fish propagation, fish and game protection, the Shellfish Department and taking 

 deer to the forests, with some items for printing, was about ^30,000. The fish cost 



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