FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 169 



Study of the Adirondack Preserve was to set before the people of the State 



the reasons why the above clause in the Constitution should be so modified 



that the forest might be properly utilized and administered. These reasons 



are set forth in this working plan. The request was made under the terms 



of an offer by which the Department of Agriculture, through the Division 



of Forestry, offers to cooperate with owners in the preparation of working 



plans for forest lands which present favorable conditions for systematic and 



conservative management.* 



Appropriation. 



Under the timberland agreement of the Division of Forestry, the sala- 

 ries of the agents of the Division are paid by the Department of Agricul- 

 ture, while the owner of the land pays their expenses for traveling and 

 subsistence. To meet the initial expenses of the work requested by the 

 Forest, Fish and Game Commission, the Legislature of the State of New 

 York during the session of 1900 appropriated $2,000. This was to be 

 expended by the Superintendent of State Forests " for the payment of the 

 expenses of experts furnished by the United States Bureau of Forestry for 

 estimating standing timber and other information regarding the lands and 

 trees in the Forest Preserve." 



It was decided by the Superintendent of State Forests and the Forester 



of rhe United States Department of Agriculture that the first working 



plan should be made for the tract known as Township 40, in Hamilton 



County, which contains Raquette Lake. Here, during the summer of 1900, 



the necessary field work was carried out by a party from the Division of 



Forestry, assisted by the three foresters of the Forest, Fish and Game 



Commission. 



Object of the Working Plan. 



The main purpose of this working plan is to outline a method of man- 

 agement under which the merchantable timber may be cut in such a manner 

 that successive crops may be obtained and the condition of the forest con- 

 stantly improved. 



Li order to decide how to make the first cutting so as to insure suc- 

 cessive crops within a reasonable time and at a profit to the owner (in this 

 case the State of New York), it is necessary to know the present stand of 

 timber and of immature trees, and what the rate of growth of the latter 

 will be after the mature trees have been removed. The making of the 



* Practical Assistance to Farmers, Lumbermen, and Others in Handling Forest Lands. Circular 

 21, Division of Forestry, U. S. Department of Agriculture, October, 1898. 



