IN THE Colonial period, exploitation of the natural resources of the New York area was limited only by the needs of the colonists and the means at their disposal. With trinkets, firearms, and firewater as means of exchange, the French, Dutch, and English encouraged the Indians in their wholesale destruction of beaver and mink. Wild animal life, an important food source, was considered fair game without sanctuary; and some species, like the wild turkey and the elk (eastern wapiti), were in time exterminated. Trees were cut for building, to clear land for cultivation, for fuel, and for naval stores. Soil ‘conservation’ was carried on in Indian fashion: when one piece of land was exhausted another was brought under the plow. Another form of ‘conservation’ resulted from the edict of the British Government reserving to the Crown all pine trees above a certain height as potential masts for the Royal Navy.
In the national period, destruction was intensified and expanded by a rapidly growing population, the reckless assignment of natural resources to private interests, improvements in transportation, and the development of industry. The Erie Canal and its feeders opened eastern markets to the farmers of the central and western parts of the State, encouraging soil exhaustion through specialization in the staple crops. Fish and game were taken without regard to breeding season and age. Stands of wood were burnt for potash; the magnificent forests of the Catskills and the Adirondacks, sold to individuals or private groups at a few cents an acre, were laid low—to provide hemlock bark for leather tanning and to feed the lumbering and papermaking industries.
The modern conservation movement can be traced to Verplanck Colvin and Franklin B. Hough in the fifties and sixties. In 1873 the State park commission, established the previous year, recommended a plan of State forest control to insure the preservation of water resources and to establish a recreational area. Nothing was done until 1883, when a bill was passed withdrawing Adirondack lands from sale and appropriating $10,000 for the acquisition of land of which the State was joint owner. In 1885, 25 years after it had lost its leadership in the lumber industry, the State established a forest preserve in 15 Adirondack and Catskill Counties and set up a three-man commission for its control.
The commission, however, was ineffective, the State lost much of its land because of defective titles, and lumbering companies and individuals boldly invaded the preserve. In 1893 Governor Flower signed a bill legalizing timber cutting on forest preserve land. This action probably led to the incorporation of the heart of the law of 1885 in the State constitution by the convention of 1894 as Article VII, Section 7. This was changed in 1938 to Article XIV, Section 1, which specifies that ‘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.’
Because of its stringent language, this article has been ‘the most loved and the most hated’ of all State constitutional provisions. It has served to postpone the development of production forests by the State and even to delay the construction of new roads. Its chief supporters have been sportsmen, interested in the preservation of wild forest land as a sanctuary for game and as a playground for strenuous vacationers. Thus the New York State World War Memorial Highway was opposed on the grounds, first, that it would mar the beauty of Whiteface Mountain, and second, that it would open up the mountainous interior to mollycoddles who would climb a mountain only by automobile.
In 1892 the Adirondack Park was created; in 1904 the Catskill Park. These were outlined in blue on the maps of the conservation commission; and the ‘blue line’ became the line of battle. The fight was won by slow stages. Some land reverted to the State as a result of tax delinquencies; more was purchased. At first the legislature was niggardly with its appropriations, but later it became more liberal, so that by 1937 more than $16,000,000 had been spent on land purchases. By 1936 the State owned 2,159,795 acres in the Adirondack Park, about one half the entire area, and about 230,000 in Catskill Park.
Preservation of State forests involves an endless war on fire and disease. In 1899, 80,000 acres of trees went up in smoke and flame; in 1903 and 1908 a combined total of more than 865,000 acres was destroyed. As measures of prevention, fire wardens were appointed and fire towers erected; railroads were compelled to burn oil during dry summer months; and the governor was given power, which he frequently exercises, to close parks and forests in time of fire hazard. About 73 per cent of the fires in 1934 were traced to the carelessness of hunters, fishermen, campers, hikers, and children. State foresters, with the co-operation of the Federal Forest Service, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and private persons, have attacked the white-pine blister rust, birch-leaf skeletonizer, gypsy moth, Dutch elm leaf beetle, and other pests, by tearing up and burning intermediate hosts and infected parts of trees and by establishing barrier zones.
In 1898 the State established a school of forestry at Cornell University, but ceased its subsidies in 1903. In 1910 a department of forestry was created in the New York State College of Agriculture at Cornell. In 1911 the State College of Forestry was organized at Syracuse University.
Reforestation for production purposes was pioneered in New York on private plantations, the first in 1859. Reservoir watershed plantings were begun in 1902 on the banks of Hemlock Lake by the city of Rochester. The Delaware & Hudson Railroad in 1904 and the Santa Clara Lumber Company in 1905 established nurseries for reforestation purposes. The first State nursery was established near Lake Clear Junction in 1901. A nursery begun in 1902 near Brown’s Station in the Catskills, under the direction of Clifford R. Pettis, evolved the methods now nationally used for raising conifers. In 1936 the four State nurseries distributed more than 72,000,000 trees to individuals and groups interested in the propagation and conservation of forest areas.
Under a law passed in 1929 and the Hewitt amendment ratified in 1931, the State is carrying out a 15-year plan to purchase and reforest upwards of 1,000,000 acres of idle and abandoned land outside the preserve at an estimated cost of $20,000,000. By the end of 1936, about 335,000 acres had been acquired and 250,000 acres reforested.
Conservation of fish and game has been promoted by hunting restrictions, natural propagation in game sanctuaries, and artificial propagation on game farms and fish hatcheries. The first State game and fish wardens were appointed in 1880. The large revenue from licenses, first acquired in 1908, encouraged artificial propagation. Early restocking of waters was not always successful; but after the Conservation Department had made its habitat and forage studies, the restocking activities were scientifically directed. In 1936 a total of 398,119,905 fish of all varieties were distributed from State hatcheries. Among the game birds, the imported Hungarian partridge and pheasant, propagated on a large scale, have readily adapted themselves to New York weather and food.
In 1927 the conservation activities of the State were placed under the control of the State Conservation Department. The department has had to step warily in order to mediate between varying views and interests within the ranks of conservationists. Organized sportsmen demand the stocking of their favorite lakes and streams, without regard to ecological principles. Hunters assert that reforestation with conifers is destroying the habitat of small game, deer, and bear; foresters reply that there will always be sufficient hardwood cover. Some conservationists charge that the department plants large numbers of Scotch pine and foreign larch, relatively useless woods, because they grow rapidly and make a favorable showing in a short time; State foresters reply that these trees are good soil binders and their fast growth therefore makes them the best agent to prevent soil erosion and too rapid runoff.
At first thought it might seem that conservation had little or no place in the economy of the metropolis. Yet there are 15,148 acres of park land within the City of New York, representing the conservation of land or water front and the beauty of woodland, lake, glen, and greensward. Nut trees attract chipmunks and red and gray squirrels. Within the parks are six bird sanctuaries, two of them in Central Park. Geese, pelicans, and herons are among the park’s protected species. Wild bird species observed in Central Park number 168, those in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, 200. The bird sanctuary on Staten Island is 51 wooded acres in extent and includes a salt marsh for waterfowl and a strip of underbrush for quail, pheasants, and similar species. Outside the parks there are still more trees than buildings—more than a million of them—and nearly all are municipal property. In Bronx Park there is a virgin forest of hemlock—3,000 trees. Most New York trees, however, are imports, such as plane trees and Norway and Japanese maple. Poplars are forbidden because to reach water they sometimes pry into sewers and city mains. The ailanthus, a Chinese tree, flourishes in even the dankest tenement yard.
Other natural resources of the State have received little governmental attention. The activities of the three Federal soil conservation stations and other Federal services and of the State College of Agriculture and the State Planning Board have been largely limited to reconnaissance and recommendation. A survey completed in 1934 delimited 3,800,000 acres of submarginal land outside the Adirondack and Catskill park boundaries, and the State Planning Board recommended that four fifths of this extensive ‘hardscrabble’ area dotted with ramshackle farm buildings and abandoned fields be transformed into forest land paying dividends in forest products, watershed protection, fish and game preserves, and recreational opportunities. In other millions of acres, on which erosion has not yet progressed to a state of complete removal of top soil, preventive measures were urged.
The total available water-power resources of New York are estimated at 3,562,000 horsepower, of which about one third has been developed. Of the remaining potential power, one half is represented by the State’s share of the St. Lawrence. This resource is awaiting development and a market.
For flood prevention and control, 18 reservoirs with a total capacity of 73 billion cubic feet have been built. Those in the Adirondack area are used primarily for river regulation. The Sacandaga Reservoir, completed in 1930, with a capacity of 30 billion cubic feet, is operated by the Hudson River Regulating District. In the Catskill area the reservoirs are used principally for water supply. The two largest, the Schoharie and Ashokan Reservoirs, provide water for New York City. Plans have been proposed for the construction of additional reservoirs with a total capacity of 379 billion cubic feet.
The State Conservation Department includes among its functions that of ‘selling’ the State to the touring millions and therefore continually expands the attractions available. In the depression years the department was faced with a possible curtailment of funds; but, with Federal services and aids, including the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Work Projects Administration, and the co-operation of private groups, it has been able to proceed with its long-time program. More than $50,000 is spent annually to restock lakes and streams with fish. Ducks are plentiful in the fall over the Hudson, Lake Champlain, and the Finger Lakes. Partridge, pheasants, quail, and woodcock are the principal land game birds and may be hunted with dogs; the principal wild animal game are deer, bear, and fox.
The three largest State parks—Adirondack, Catskill, and Allegany—provide picnic and camping grounds, cabins, foot trails with lean-tos for overnight shelter, and lakes for canoeing and swimming. The Conservation Department has mapped out a 150-mile canoe trip between Old Forge and Loon Lake and a 136-mile hiking trail between Northville and Lake Placid. Many of the smaller parks were established to preserve unusual physical features, like Taughannock Falls and Watkins Glen, which attract large numbers of tourists every season. In Jones Beach State Park on Long Island the State has reclaimed two miles of shore line and has provided attractive bathing facilities. In 1935 the State parks were visited by 23,500,000 persons.
With a wealth of waters, waterside yacht clubs, and boat liveries, boating is a State-wide activity; according to the Bureau of State Publicity, the State has 300,000 miles of waters navigable for craft larger than canoes. Outboards vie for national honors in the annual Albany-New York 150-mile marathon, and small power boats roar around courses on Seneca Lake and Keuka Lake in annual regattas that attract top-flight competition. Long Island Sound turns white with sails as early in the spring as the weather permits; and sailing fervor reaches its peak late in May when the Larchmont socialite tars sponsor the International Class yacht races. Fresh-water sailors of the Great Lakes challenge salt-water sailors to race off Rochester, smug in their knowledge that peculiarities of water and wind will baffle the ocean mariners. (See also Sports.)
