Wise Conservation > "A Sort of Coney Island"
The particular form of the Chamber’s conservationism comes through in a 1923 discussion concerning the purchase by the State of the lands surrounding Lake George.
“The design,” said the state senator who introduced the bill, “is to safeguard for future generations the wild splendor of this historical spot by dedicating it to public enjoyment in recreational purposes.” Governor Al Smith supported the idea. The Times agreed. “There are a hundred reasons why the … bills should become laws,” it editorialized, “the opposition has only one, the desire to make money, either by speculation or lumbering, to defeat them.”
But, the Chamber’s representative saw the matter differently.
Much of the land the State wanted to purchase was owned by a substantial businessman whose family had possessed the land for decades. According to the Chamber, the family had always kept their land in good condition. “They have trails marked through it, provisions for campers, springs housed and kept sanitary. Every modern idea in respect to forest property is carried out.”
This gentlemanly conservation, where private land owners allowed other well-to-do sportsmen to enjoy their preserves, was what the Chamber preferred. The alternative – “opening up the Lake George region to the general public and making it a sort of Coney Island to the owner of a Ford car” – was not acceptable.
The bills, supported by the Governor and the newspapers - but opposed by the Chamber - died in committee.