I 68 REPORT OF THE 



sary to the preservation of the headwaters of the chief rivers of the State, 

 and a future timber supply; and shall remain part of the Forest Preserve." 

 For these purposes it was essential to preserve the forests and so important 

 was it considered to put them beyond the possibility of destruction that 

 in 1894 an amendment to the Constitution was adopted prohibiting abso- 

 lutely the cutting or sale of any timber on land owned by the State wdthin 

 the Forest Preserve. Additions to the Preserve are made by the Forest 

 Preserve Board. Its administration is in the hands of the Forest, Fish and 

 Game Commission, whose engineer, the Superintendent of State Forests, 

 has " charge of all work connected with the care and custody of the Forest 

 Preserve." 



Besides protecting the water-supply and furnishing a recreation ground, 

 the Preserve is destined to become of great value to the people of the State 

 as a permanent source of timber-supply. Far from being inconsistent with 

 the other interests for which it is maintained, its conservative utilization 

 for this purpose will rather advance them. Experience has shown that the 

 great enemy of the forest is fire, not lumbering. Forestry, the aim of which 

 is to harvest successive crops, must protect and improve the forest. This 

 it does by removing the mature trees in such a way that reproduction of 

 the forest is secured, and its continued productive existence is maintained. 

 The trees which have passed their prime give place to a vigorous young- 

 growth, which, properly handled and protected, makes certain the future 

 usefulness of the forest as a source of timber-supply. At the same time 

 its beauty remains unimpaired and its general condition is improved. 



Realizing the importance of a systematic and conservative plan for the 

 management of the State forests along these lines, the Forest, Fish and 

 Game Commission requested the cooperation of the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture in the study of the forest conditions of the Adiron- 

 dack Preserve. The request was made in the face of the existing amend- 

 ment to the Constitution, adopted in 1894, which governs the Forest Pre- 

 serve. This amendment reads as follows: 



" The lands of the State, now owned or hereafter acquired, constituting 

 the Forest Preserve as now fixed by law, shall be forever kept as wild 

 forest lands. They shall not be leased, sold or exchanged, or be taken by 

 any corporation, public or private, nor shall the timber thereon be sold, 

 removed or destroyed." ^, 



It is understood that the main object of the Commission in making 

 the request for the cooperation of the Department of Agriculture in the 



