FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 1 23 



maintenance of fish and game, they offer this peculiar source of wealth and 

 further diversification of business. But it must be remembered that this desir- 

 able condition is solely dependent for its continuance on the preservation of the 

 forests, which constitute the sole attraction to the thousands who throng these 

 summer resorts. If the mountain slopes and upland plateaus of the Adirondack 

 and Catskill regions are denuded of their forest cover — ■ if in place of these 

 sylvan attractions there is to be only a dreary waste of stump fields and fire- 

 blackened areas — the thousands of summer visitors will seek other places, the 

 hotels and boarding-houses will then be tenantless, and the people of the State 

 will lose this source of revenue. The permanence of our forests will depend 

 largely on the permanence of tenure; and there is no permanence of tenure aside 

 from that of the State. 



I append to this report some extracts from the firewardens' reports which 

 you will find readable and interesting. They throw a sidelight on the situation 

 and furnish certain items of information that are necessary to the obtaining of 

 a full and correct idea as to events in the Adirondacks during the fires of 1903. 



Trusting that the discussions in this report will meet with your approval, and 

 that the suggestions may receive your favorable consideration, I am, 



Yours very respectfully, 



William F. Fox, 



Albany, N. Y., December 31, 1903. 



Superintendent State Forests. 



Wl)af tl)e Firewardens Had to $&%. 



I append here some extracts from the reports of the town firewardens which 

 furnish additional information of a special character and serve to give a better 

 idea of the conditions under which their work was carried on. They are from 

 practical, experienced men whose opinions are entitled to careful consideration. 

 While I do not always agree with the firewardens in their views and suggestions, 

 it seems proper to call the attention of the Commission to what they have to say 

 about these matters. In these extracts from the "Remarks" in their reports, 

 it is highly satisfactory to note the keen interest and zeal which they evidently 

 take in the discharge of their duties. Nowhere have I found anything indicating 

 apathy or indifference. I also include some extracts from letters and telegrams 



