'.OO 



REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



upon the condition that the plans for the work, prepared by the department, be 

 followed, and the work be done in the specified time. 



It is difficult for a forester to see good reason in the constitutional clause 

 which prohibits State land from being used to provide the people with wood. Its 

 advocates cry: "The forest must be preserved!" But this law compels conditions 

 under which the forest may be destroyed by fire, insects and fungi ; and, by the 

 annual decay and loss of unharvested material, the forest product is allowed to 

 go to waste. "Ah, but the forest must be left to protect the headwaters of our 

 streams!" Aye, but the forest is not permitted to be managed so that it can best 

 subserve this purpose. A cultivated forest gives much better protection than a 

 wild, ragged woods, with many large areas along the streams entirely bare. 

 "But we are afraid of collusion between the lumbermen and the State officials, 

 and we think it better to endure the ills we have, than fly to others that we 

 know not of." This is an unjust and unnecessary arraignment of the officials 

 who have been appointed to look after the forests. If the people of the State of 

 New York are so degenerate that they cannot find men of integrity to take care 

 of their public affairs, it is immaterial whether the forests are preserved or not. 



