FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 89 



the firewardens and prosecutions of violations of the law, I am confident that the 

 forest fires in our State can be reduced to the lowest possible minimum. 



I would embrace this opportunity also to call attention to the urgent need of 

 some efficient system for patrolling the Adirondack and Catskill forests. To this 

 end I would suggest the organization of an adequate force of forest rangers who 

 should be assigned to districts of a suitable area, which should be patrolled con- 

 stantly and thoroughly. The few game protectors on duty in the Adirondacks 

 cannot attend to this kind of work. One man cannot patrol an entire county. 



The value of patrol service was strikingly exemplified this last summer, at the 

 time of the numerous fires which, owing to an extraordinary drought, occurred 

 then. Although one-third of the Adirondack forest is owned or controlled by pri- 

 vate clubs, or held- as private preserves, not one fire occurred on these lands, because 

 this territory was thoroughly and efficiently guarded. On the million acres, or 

 thereabouts, owned by the private preserves there are about ninety-eight patrols. 

 Surely the State with its greater acreage should have some such kind of a force, 

 even if not so numerous. 



Each ranger or patrol should be assigned to some particular township for his dis- 

 trict. The average Adirondack township is about seven miles square. The ranger 

 should be required to live on the township, and a log cabin should be built for that 

 purpose near the center of the township. He should live in the woods, not in some 

 distant village. During dry seasons the highways should also be patrolled because 

 more fires start at a roadside than anywhere else. 



The duties of a patrol are different from those of a firewarden. The firewarden's 

 work commences after the fire has started ; the work of the patrol, before. The best 

 way to fight fire is to have no fire ; and there will be very few fires in woods that are 

 thoroughly watched. The patrol would follow each camping party, and all hunters 

 or fishermen, to see that the "coffee fires" are extinguished; and he would keep a 

 sharp watch on any skulker who might be a possible incendiary. In winter time he 

 would see that no timber was stolen and hauled off from State land ; also that no 

 deer were killed by "crusting." Every snowshoe track would be followed, and the 

 reason for it ascertained. 



The rangers or patrols by their mere presence in the woods would contribute 

 greatly to the protection of fish and game. No poacher would attempt to operate 

 on a township where there was a ranger. These rangers would also report all viola- 

 tions of the Game Law, and these reports would be turned over to the Chief Fish and 

 Game Protector for prosecution. This force of rangers, if numerous enough, should 

 be under the charge of some official who, in addition to other field work, should see 



