Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-09-23
NEW YORK REGAINS
VIRGIN TIMBER LAND
WORTH S26,OOO,OOO
$4,000 Acres in Adiron-
dacks Won After Long
Litigation-Rights of the
State Date Back to Revo-
lutionary War.

,,,ANy Sept. Extracts of virgin
,orest. comprising altogether ABOUT o.
.so .ores situated in various parts OF the
.,,.ordacks Forest Preserve, have peer
..od for the State through the ef-
~ lanes A. Parsons, Attorney
. n.nersL with the determination OF the
,,no ~ some 5000 acres, additional htiga'
,or over property in the preserve will
have been settled.
r.,mates made of the value of the
II. .he state preserve. some of which
I.S never been touched with an axe
nas rom s25. 900, 900 to s35,OOO,0OO. large
uu. ~ this valuable territory has been
povored in the past year by the con-
...,ion department of the Attorney
ca.orars office Expert title searchers
,,ndor the direction of Mr.. Parsons and
pnniauin McClung, Deputy Attorney
General have been pressing vigorously
,nyostgations of the titles of persons
nho have taken over tracts withln the
,reserye. and wherever the facts have
Justified the bringing of legal proceedings
.so,. have been instituted. with the result
.ns, .ne; before the end of the present year
sor,e 10000 acres will have been turned
hack to the state.
New York States right to a greater
nsrt NJ the lands in the forest preserve
iates back to the Revolutionary War,
ofter which a large tract was taken over
from Joseph Totten and stephen Cross
eeId probably the earliest real estate
,necuators in State history The alleEi-
ance of Totten and Crossheld to England
nrompted the confiscation of the lands by
The state. More than two-thirds of what
A a all arly
within which the forest preserve Is To-
cated was purchased by Totten and
Crossheld from the Mohawk Indians for
The sum of 5000 The records of the At
torney Generals office recite how the
tribal chiefs accompanied surveyor to
A spot on the boundary of Herkimer and
Lewis counties and from a mountain top
agreed to turn over to Totten and Cross
field lands to the eastward FAR beyond
The Totten and Crossfield tract was then
chained" or surveyed almost to Lake
Champlain.
EXTENT OF PRESERVE.
At the present time the State preserve
comprises over 100000 acres of forest
In the prmeval state. A constitutional
prohibition against numbering or cutting
down of trees within the preserve has
had the effect of keeping intact practical
" all of this forest area. Mr.. Parsons
declared today that the Investigations
conducted by his office show that the
States interests in the past have been
shamefully neglected.
"In the absence of common vigilance
on the part Of the State" said Mr.. Par
sons, "men have squatted upon the most
valuable portions of the AdirondaCks,
have cut timber and have built camps
and have appropriated the most beautiful
and desirable portions of this park for
private purposes. The proceedings insti-
tuted by this office have been effective in
displacing the squatters and establish
Ing beyond question the States right to
possess these lands.
THE policy at present i'm force will he
followed up with the end in view of put
ting stop for all time to this vandalism
and to this high-handed confiscal appro-
pration of the States valuable property"
Valuable tracts in what is known as
Township No. 10 in the vicinity of Ra-
quette Lake have been recently recov-
cred by the State. Here the land is val
ued at $1,000 an acre-several private
owners who hold lands along the shores
Of the lake to which their title has been
upneld by the courts recently offered the
lands at this price. The forest land in
Township No 40 is valued at S3,OOOOOO.
MADE HARD FIGHT.
The lands now comprised in the for
est preserve cost New York State about
S5OOOD The Totten and Crossneld
tracts were taken over after the Revo-
luton, and held intact until 1871, when
lhe state began to purchase additional
lands. Through tax sales and purchases
81 umeS when the land was offered for
very reasonable prices, the State almost
nouhled the area Of it's Adirondack hold
ngs. Some of this additional land was
purchased for as little as $40 an acre.
some of the cases of confscal appro-
'natlon which the Attorney General has
handled were bitterly contested in the
courts In some instances the persons
VINO appropriated the property for their
own use had constructed valuable homes
y tne preserve, and maintained they Had
IN lnalienable right until the courts de-
trhln"d the title in the States favor.
u predict said Mr.. Parsons, that
"lthih the next few months the States
'ains over the Zoo OOO odd acres. which
ndNe up the forest preserve, will have
Ven determined in the States favor
,Ner thal careful vigilance on the part Of
ne state viii be necessary if it Is to
roteet ITS lands from appropriation by
rvate individuals"
me Adirondack preserve embraces for
~ 'ands In the counties of Clinton, Es-
eA, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herki-
g4VNrtH