New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-12-21
THE STATE FORESTS.

The report of the State Forestry Commission,
so far as it can be judged from the abstract
made by the secretary and published in our
issue Of Wednesday, contains many recon-
mendations which will be approved by those
who have given serious thought to the Adiron-
dack problem. There can be no question as to
the necessity of forbidding railroad companies
to lay tracks through the Forest Reservation
II they are permitted to penetrate the forest
there will soon be no forest left to preserve.
They mean destruction to the woods. bill
to arrest further encroachment Of this kind
was presented to the Legislature last winter,
and it failed mainly because it was emb
IN another measure which authorized the Com
mission to lease lands to private persons with
privilege of renewal. This last project is vicious
in its essence, and it is to be regretted that tho
Commission have again asked to be clothed
with the extraordinary powers and response
bilities which this scheme carries with it, The
State Forest Reservation should belong to the
people of the State, and not to certain individ-
uals elected by the Commission to practical
ownership Of its most desirable portions
The Commission is right in holding that the
State should reacquire the lands it has thrown
away. The Reservation must ultimately be-
long to the State if it is to be rescued from
ruin, and if any consistent and effective plan
is adopted for it's permanent Improvement. But
before the time is ripe for such step the
people of the State must have a clearer idea
of the value of their hentage-of what there
is vet to lose if the officials in charge of The
North Woods are careless, incompetent or worse
Il hot &c q rai if this trISf ad-
ministered with due devotion and intelligence.
When the people realize to the full the worth
Of the Wilderness, and are alive to the dangers
that hang over it, they will insist on owning
the Adirondacks in fee simple, and they will
see to it that the agents selected for such re-
sponsibe duty as this repurchase imposes are
men whose very names are synonyms for public
spirit, business sagacity and administrative
force
No doubt the suggestion that the denuded
areas should be reforested is a proper one; but
the Legislature will hesitate long before making
any appropriation for tree-planting How many
men are there in the United States who have
the adequate knowledge to start forest from
the beginning on those rocky slopes where the
SOILS virtue has been burned out and the soil
lIScll StOultu away "! tVlIOHAN w hO mus h"'
experience in establishing forests on the scale
contemplated even under most favorable con-
ditions? The people who have kept an eye
on the Reservation have not discovered that the
Commission have secured the services of any
expert forester who could be trusted to re-
furnish with forests the miles on miles of desc
lation which axe and fire have made. The
Commissioners themselves do not claim any
such skill or knowledge and it is premature
to give them money to experiment with. To
conduct experiments even, to any advantage,
demands trained ability.
The restoration of the North Woods must be
sow-discouragingly slow. 1t cannot be hur
ried by careless appropriations. 1t certainly
would not be helped if this Commission should
make a sudden plunge into the business of
tree planting