Ass'n for the Prot. of the Adirondacks v. MacDonald

• Decision Date: 18 March 1930
• Citation: 170 N.E. 902,253 N.Y. 234
• Parties: ASSOCIATION FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE ADIRONDACKS et al. v. MacDONALD, State Conservation Commissioner, et al.
• Court: New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

253 N.Y. 234

170 N.E. 902

ASSOCIATION FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE ADIRONDACKS et al.

v.MacDONALD, State Conservation Commissioner, et al.

Court of Appeals of New York.

March 18, 1930.

Action by the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks and another against Alexander MacDonald, State Conservation Commissioner, and another. From a judgment of the Appellate Division, Third Department (228 App. Div. 73, 239 N. Y. S. 31), in favor of the plaintiffs on submission of a controversy, enjoining defendants from constructing and maintaining a bobsleigh slide on state lands of the Forest Preserve, on the ground that Laws 1929, c. 417, is unconstitutional, defendants appeal.

Affirmed.

Appeal from Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third department.

Hamilton Ward, Atty. Gen. (C. S. Ferris, Asst. Atty. Gen., of counsel), for appellants.

George Welwood Murray, Samuel H. Ordway, Jacob Gould Schurman, Jr., and Alanson W. Willcox, all of New York City, for respondents.

Frederick T. Kelsey, Wallace T. Stock, and John W. De Witt, all of New York City, amicus curiae, for Public Park and Playgrounds District of North Elba, Essex county, N. Y.

CRANE, J.

By chapter 417 of the Laws of 1929 the Conservation Commissioner is authorized to construct and maintain a bobsleigh run or slide on state lands in the Forest Preserve in the town of North Elba, Essex county, on the western slope of the Sentinel range.

The act was passed for the purpose of providing facilities for the third Olympic winter games, which are to be held at or in the vicinity of Lake Placid, in the year 1932. The bobsleigh run will be approximately 1 1/4 miles in length and 6 1/2 feet wide, with a return route or go-back road. As additional land will have to be cleared on either side of the run, the width in actual use will be approximately 16 feet, and 20 feet where the course curves. It is estimated that the construction will necessitate the removal of trees from about 4 1/2 acres of land, or a total number of trees, large and small, estimated at 2,500. The Forest Preserve within the Adirondacks consists of 1,941,403 acres. The taking of 4 acres out of this vast acreage for this international sports' meet seems a very slight inroad upon the preserve for a matter of such public interest and benefit to the people of the state of New York and elsewhere. The Legislature, recognizing the benefits of an international gathering of this kind, has sought in the public interest, by the enactment of the above law, to provide appropriately and in the spirit of hospitality the necessary equipment and facilities for these games and contests, incident to winter sport, of which tobogganing is a large feature. Winter sports, of course, must be held in a place where there will be an assurance of sufficient continual cold weather for snow and ice, and the vicinity of Lake Placid gives this assurance. The western slope of the Sentinel range, chosen for the toboggan slide, is the nearest and most appropriate place for its construction in connection with the center of attractions.

Considering the distinction of having one of the beauty spots of New York state selected as appropriate for the International Olympic winter games and the advantages afforded by Lake Placid and its vicinity, together with the good will promoted in the recognition by the state, through its Legislature, of the event, what possible objection can there be to the above law permitting this toboggan slide to be constructed on state land? One objection, and one only-the Constitution of the state, which prevents the cutting of the trees. This objection has been raised by the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks, which has sought and obtained an injunction restraining the conservation commission of this state and the superintendent of lands and forests from constructing and maintaining the bobsleigh run on the ground that chapter 417 of the Laws of 1929 is unconstitutional and void.

The constitutional provision is section 7 of article 7, reading: ‘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.’

The lands and trees proposed to be taken for the toboggan slide are within the Forest Preserve and covered by this provision of the Constitution. Taking the words of section 7 in their ordinary meaning, we have the command that the timber, that is, the trees, shall not be sold, removed, or destroyed. To cut down 2,500 trees for a toboggan slide, or perhaps for any other purpose, is prohibited. Some opinions, notably those of the Attorney General of the state, cited on the briefs and by the Appellate Division, have even gone so far as to state that a single tree, and even fallen timber and dead wood, cannot be removed; that to preserve the property as wild forest lands means to preserve it from the interference in any way by the hand of man.

[1] The words of the Constitution, like those of any other law, must receive a reasonable interpretation, considering the purposeand the object in view. State of Ohio ex rel. Popovici v. Agler, 280 U. S. 379, 50 S. Ct. 154, 74 L. Ed. 489. Words are but symbols indicating ideas, and are subject to contraction and expansion to meet the idea sought to be expressed; they register frequently according to association, or like the thermometer, by the atmosphere surrounding them. The purpose of the constitutional provision, as indicated by the debates in the Convention of 1894, was to prevent the cutting or destruction of the timber or the sale thereof, as had theretofore been permitted by legislation, to the injury and ruin of the Forest Preserve. To accomplish the end in view, it was thought necessary to close all gaps and openings in the law, and to prohibit any cutting or any removal of the trees and timber to a substantial extent. The Adirondack Park was to be preserved, not destroyed. Therefore all things necessary were permitted, such as measures to prevent forest fires, the repairs to roads and proper inspection, or the erection and maintenance of proper facilities for the use by the public which did not call for the removal of the timber to any material degree. The Forest Preserve is preserved for the public; its benefits are for the people of the state as a whole. Whatever the advantages may be of having wild forest lands preserved in their natural state, the advantages are for every one within the state and for the use of the people of the state. Unless prohibited by the constitutional provision, this use and preservation are subject to the reasonable regulations of the Legislature.

The laws developing the Forest Preserve and the Adirondack Park, up to the Constitution of 1894, are reviewed in the opinion of this court in People v. Adirondack Ry. Co., 160 N. Y. 225, 54 N. E. 689....