17
forests and root systems were vulnerable to soil erosion, and to forest fires started by
careless hunters, or the sparks of passing steam engines.
33
The resulting sediment from
both then combined with manure and minerals drained from the tilled soil of farmers’
fields to pollute mountain streams, which flowed into principal waterways like the
Mohawk, the Raquette, and the Au Sable. It was feared that the over harvesting of
timber at the headwaters of the Hudson, in particular, would dangerously reduce the
volume of water available to power mills and factories downstream, and hinder the
navigability of the river itself which fed a system of canals linking merchants in Albany
by boat to New York City.
34
In short, for the state’s urban centers, protecting the North
Woods was of “paramount importance” to commerce by securing a safe and ample
water supply for the future.
35
Threats to the Adirondacks were not purely a matter of political economy,
however. According to one park commissioner’s report, there were “social and moral
reasons” to preserve the forests as well.
36
In an article bluntly titled “What People Die
Of,” The New York Times noted that just over 100,000 people passed away in the state in
1889. According to mortality schedules, the leading cause of death was “acute
respiratory disease,” followed closely by consumption (better known today as
tuberculosis). The numbers tallied in that report indicate that 19
th
century New Yorkers
were six times more likely to succumb to a respiratory or pulmonary illness than to
accidents and violence combined.
37
The pure mountain air of the Adirondacks was New York’s salvation. It was
heralded as the state’s “breathing place,” and as the “the lungs of the metropolis.”
38
Convention