http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dlf/publands/artxiv.htmlForest Preserve - Article XIV NYS Constitution
I read it saying for the state land owned within the Adirondack & Catskill parks, Section 1: 'nor shall the timber thereon be sold, removed or destroyed'; this severely limit the activity to help the herd. Then it goes on to say about lands outside of the two parks, and land aquired later will be managed: Forest and wildlife conservation are hereby declared to be policies of the state... Furthermore it states the list of restrictions on section one are removed except for this: lands shall not be leased, sold or exchanged, or be taken by any corporation, public or private. So, if I'm reading this correctly, outside of the parks, it's permissable for the state to thin out the trees and plant vegetation to promote wildlife. I just heard a statistic that hunting is a 10 billion dollar a year industry in the US alone, which we've all been contributing to for many years. I would think the DEC would want to get a larger slice of that pie thru a more healthy deer herd, producing nice bucks statewide, to draw in more out of state hunters to feed the economy & coffers of the state.