The Adirondack Park comprises six million acres and contains the largest wilderness area in the eastern United States. Nearly three times the size of Yellowstone National Park and larger than the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, it is unique in its mix of land ownership, with nearly one-half as state-owned Forest Preserve and the remainder mostly private lands. Approximately 130,000 people live in its towns, villages, and hamlets, and tourism, forestry, agriculture, and mining have been major components of the economy within the park’s boundaries. In 1872, the New York Legislature created the Commission of State Parks, and in its first annual report on May 14, 1873, the commission strongly recommended protecting the Adirondack Forest and creating the Adirondack Park. In 1883, the legislature forbade further sale of state lands; in 1884, it appointed the Forestry Commission to consider a system of forest preservation; and in 1885, it created the Forest Reserve, comprising land to be kept as wild forest but without controls on timber harvesting. In 1892, with support from many groups, the legislature created the Adirondack Park based on the boundaries of a proposed Blue Line drawn on a map in 1891. In 1895, amid concern over continued logging and road construction on state lands, the New York State Constitution was amended to ensure that the Forest Preserve would be forever kept as wild forest lands and that its lands and timber would not be leased, sold, exchanged, removed, or destroyed. In 1911, New York State established the Conservation Department to consolidate several prior commissions for more effective management of the Forest Preserve, and in 1970 it was reorganized as the Department of Environmental Conservation. In 1971, the Adirondack Park Agency was created with planning, policy, and regulatory responsibilities for both public and private lands in the Adirondack Park, fulfilling its mandates through the State Land Master Plan for the Forest Preserve and the Land Use and Development Plan for all other lands inside the park. New York State has the oldest state forest system in the nation, and the establishment of the Forest Preserve and the Adirondack Park stands as a major landmark in America’s conservation movement.