§ 9-0105 — General powers and duties

§ 9-0105. General powers and duties.\n For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this article, the\ndepartment shall have the power, duty and authority to:\n 1. Exercise care, custody and control of the several preserves, parks\nand other state lands described in this article.\n 2. Consistent with the provisions of section 9-0109 of this chapter,\nestablish, acquire, control and manage state parks, historic sites and\nparkways in the forest preserve counties within the sixth park region as\ndefined in section 41-0101 and to acquire lands for such purposes when\nmoneys have been appropriated therefor.\n 3. Make necessary rules and regulations to secure proper enforcement\nof the provisions hereof. In particular, the department shall have\nauthority to make rules and regulations prohibiting any person or\npersons from entering upon any state-owned lands, or restricting the\nactivities of the public on such lands, whenever it determines that a\nserious fire hazard exists thereon, and with the consent of the owner to\nextend the applicability of such rules and regulations, in whole or in\npart, to privately-owned forest lands.\n 4. Establish, operate and maintain nurseries for the production of\ntrees to be used in reforestation. Such trees may be used to reforest\nany land owned by the state, supplied to owners of private land at a\nprice not exceeding cost of production, or used for planting on public\nlands under such terms as may be deemed to be for the public benefit.\n 5. Prepare, print, post or distribute printed matter relating to\nforestry and make investigations or experiments with regard to forestry\npractices.\n 6. Receive and accept, in the name of the people of the state, by\ngift, devise, or otherwise, the fee or other interest or estate therein\nof lands or timber or both, for general conservation purposes, including\nbut not limited to water-shed protection, forest management, production\nof timber or other forest products, silviculture, forest and outdoor\nrecreation and kindred purposes.\n 7. Acquire, when moneys therefor have been appropriated by the\nlegislature or are otherwise available, real property or any interest in\nany timber thereon, situated within the Adirondack or the Catskill parks\nor contiguous, connected with or adjacent to either park, deemed\nnecessary for the enlargement of the forest preserve or for the\nconservation of the lands, forests and waters within the state, and real\nproperty deemed necessary for the purpose of protecting the forests\nwithin the state from fire.\n 7-a. Acquire, with the approval of the director of the budget and\nwithin such appropriations as may be made available therefor by the\nlegislature, such abandoned railroad rights-of-way and other real\nproperty pursuant to subdivision seven of this section as may be\nnecessary to develop a system of trails in the Adirondack and Catskill\nparks which shall mesh, where possible, with the comprehensive statewide\ntrails system promulgated by the commissioner of parks and recreation;\nand promulgate, develop and improve such trails systems within said\nparks in order to make such trails suitable and available for use. For\nthe purposes of this subdivision "trails" shall include footpaths,\nbikeways, snowmobile trails, horse trails, cross country ski trails,\nroads and other rights-of-way suitable for hiking, strolling, cycling,\nhorseback riding, skiing and other means of motorized and non-motorized\ntravel for recreational purposes and shall include combinations and\nsystems of trails, including connecting and side trails, and trails\nleading to scenic and recreational areas.\n 8. Examine the forest lands under the charge of the several state\ninstitutions, boards or other management for the purpose of advising and\ncooperating in securing proper forest management of such lands.\n 9. Bring any action or proceeding for the following purposes:\n a. to enforce the state's rights or interests in real property which\nan owner of land would be authorized to bring in like cases;\n b. to insure the enforcement of the provisions of this article;\n c. to determine in trespass, ejectment or other suitable actions, the\ntitle to any land claimed adversely to the state;\n d. to cancel tax sales or to set aside cancellations of tax sales.\n 10. Compromise or adjust any judgment or claims arising out of\nviolations of any provisions of this article, except where title to land\nis involved.\n 11. Have custody of all abstracts of title, papers, contracts or\nmemoranda relating thereto, except original deeds to the state, for any\nlands purchased or conveyed to the state for forest preserve purposes.\n 12. Enter into cooperative agreement with the United States Department\nof Agriculture, the United States Department of Labor, the United States\nOffice of Economic Opportunity, municipalities or persons for the\npurpose of better protecting the forests of the state from fire and\npests and promoting the practice of forestry. Moneys received from the\nUnited States government, municipalities or persons in accordance with\nsuch agreements shall be deposited with the Division of Finance in the\nDepartment of Taxation and Finance, and may be withdrawn by the Division\nof Finance upon the warrant or order of the Commissioner of\nEnvironmental Conservation. The provisions of section 121 of the State\nFinance Law shall not apply to any moneys received pursuant to the\nprovisions of this subdivision if used for the purposes indicated.\n 13. When an honest dispute arises as to the location of the boundary\nline between land owned by the state, over which the department has\ncontrol and supervision, and land privately owned, execute a boundary\nline agreement between the owners of such private lands and the state,\nsubject to the approval of the Commissioner of General Services.\n 14. Designate or approve, whenever the Commissioner of Correction or\nthe director of the division for Youth so requests, sites on land under\nits control for the establishment of work camps to which persons\ntransferred to the correctional camps for youth, or to youth opportunity\nor youth rehabilitation centers may be sent; designate and approve work\nfor such persons in conservation projects on publicly owned lands or\nlands over which the State has a permanent easement for fishing right\npurposes, and provide technical supervision for such work; and designate\nand approve work for such persons in conservation projects on lands\nowned by Cornell University for the use of the State University College\nof Agriculture, and by Syracuse University for the use of the State\nUniversity of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry.\n 15. Make rules and regulations and issue permits for the temporary use\nof the forest preserve.\n 16. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as extending the\njurisdiction of the department over the real or personal property now or\nhereafter under the control or in the custody of Palisades Interstate\nPark Commission, but the department, subject to the powers of the\ncommissioner, is authorized to cooperate with Palisades Interstate Park\nCommission by the joint employment of wardens, foresters and keepers for\nthe mutual protection of the lands under their respective jurisdiction\nand other commissions and the preservation of the forests thereon and of\nthe fish and game therein.\n 17. Refund, to the persons entitled thereto, moneys heretofore or\nhereafter received by the department pursuant to any law or to an order,\nrule or regulation made and prescribed by the commissioner regulating\nthe discharge of the functions, powers and duties of the department and\ndeposited to the general fund, upon satisfactory proof of entitlement.\nSuch refunds shall, upon approval of the commissioner and after audit by\nthe Comptroller, be paid from any moneys available to the department in\nthe general fund.\n 18. Establish, operate and maintain a search and rescue program in\nfire towns and fire districts of the state. For the purposes of this\nsection fire towns shall mean such towns provided for in section 9-1107\nof this chapter and fire districts shall be deemed to be the fire\nprotection areas provided for in section 9-1109 of this chapter and\nregulations promulgated pursuant to the authority of such sections.\nPursuant to such program the forest ranger force of the department shall\nhave the authority to organize, direct and execute search operations for\nlost persons or civilian aircraft and conduct rescue operations for\npersons injured or in serious danger of injury in the wild, remote and\nforested areas of fire towns and fire districts of the state; provided\nthat, where criminal conduct is suspected or fugitive search is involved\nsuch search or rescue operations shall be conducted under the\njurisdiction of the appropriate law enforcement agency. Search and\nrescue operations outside of fire towns and fire districts may be\nconducted by the forest ranger force upon request of the agency\nconducting such operation.\n 19. Identify, manage and conserve plants and ecological communities\nthat are rare in New York state, located on state-owned lands under the\njurisdiction of the department, and participate in the New York natural\nheritage program, created pursuant to section 11-0539 of this chapter,\nto identify rare plants, animals and ecological communities.\n 20. Exercise such other powers and duties as are provided by law.\n