REPORT OF THE FORESTRY BUREAU. 



Hon. Charles H. Jackson, Deputy Commissioner, Division of 

 Lands and Forests, Conservation Commission, Albany, N. Y.: 



Sir. — I respectfully submit the following report relative to the 

 affairs of this bureau for the year 1912. 



The activities are grouped under the following heads, namely : 

 Forest preserve, forest fire protection, forest products, practical 

 forestry, State forest problems. 



The Forest Preserve. 



The protection and administration of an area of over one 

 million six hundred thousand acres of land of varying character 

 scattered over portions of sixteen counties, intermixed with 

 approximately inrve times as much private property, consisting of 

 nearly seven thousand parcels and bounded by over nine thousand 

 miles of lines, is not an easy problem. 



The fact that many lines are old, often indistinct, sometimes 

 erroneous, and that rangers must be familiarized with the correct 

 location of boundaries; that title to the area has been acquired 

 in various ways, and that a careful examination of records by 

 competent title examiners has been necessary, and is often difficult 

 and tedious; the wide distribution, and sometimes small size of 

 parcels, all tend to increase the labor of protection. The increased 

 value and growing scarcity of timber induce trespass which, there- 

 fore, necessitates greater vigilance. The widely varying character 

 of the land presents a multitude of problems. Some parcels are 

 used, although this varies from the slightest extent to in some 

 cases an effort to exercise control, use and ownership. 



The work in connection with the administration of the forest 

 preserve will be discussed under ^ve headings, namely: Use, 

 maintenance, classification, boundaries, titles. 



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