§ 847-a. Statement of legislative findings and purpose. The\nlegislature hereby finds that for approximately twenty-five years, the\nTug Hill commission has provided essential planning and technical\nservices to the sixty-two local governments and to residents in the\ntwenty-one hundred square mile Tug Hill region.\n The legislature further finds that, lying between Lake Ontario, the\nBlack River and Oneida Lake, is a region of approximately twenty-one\nhundred square miles that encompasses towns and villages scattered in a\nvast acreage of forest and farm land. The core of the region encompasses\nmore than eight hundred square miles of remote forest land and the\nheadwaters of several major rivers, with much of the area inaccessible\nby public road. These lands and waters are important
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§ 847-a. Statement of legislative findings and purpose. The\nlegislature hereby finds that for approximately twenty-five years, the\nTug Hill commission has provided essential planning and technical\nservices to the sixty-two local governments and to residents in the\ntwenty-one hundred square mile Tug Hill region.\n The legislature further finds that, lying between Lake Ontario, the\nBlack River and Oneida Lake, is a region of approximately twenty-one\nhundred square miles that encompasses towns and villages scattered in a\nvast acreage of forest and farm land. The core of the region encompasses\nmore than eight hundred square miles of remote forest land and the\nheadwaters of several major rivers, with much of the area inaccessible\nby public road. These lands and waters are important to the state of New\nYork as municipal water supply, as wildlife and plant habitat, as key\nresources supporting forest industry, farming, recreation and tourism\nand traditional land uses such as hunting and fishing. State assistance\nthrough the Tug Hill commission to help Tug Hill local governments and\norganizations is merited and needed because of the importance of these\nresources to the state, and because of the small population and relative\npoverty of the region.\n The legislature further finds that the Tug Hill commission, originally\nestablished in nineteen hundred seventy-two as a temporary state\ncommission, has studied the Tug Hill region, provided technical\nassistance to the region's local governments and reported to the\ngovernor and legislature regarding the conservation and development of\nthe Tug Hill region. The purpose of the commission is to enable local\ngovernments, private organizations, and individuals to shape the future\nof the Tug Hill region, and to demonstrate and communicate ways that\nthis can be done by other rural areas. Commission programs are geared\ntoward the conservation and productive use of the natural resources of\nthe region, strengthening of the long-term economy, employment, cultural\nand social resources, and the general well-being of the rural\ncommunities. The commission has facilitated local action as the most\nenduring and cost-effective method of retaining the rural and remote\ncharacter of this land, and of retaining the independent way of life of\nits people and their economy.\n The legislature finds that the Tug Hill commission's track record\ndemonstrates its capability for working together with towns and villages\nfor appropriate community and economic development and resource\nprotection. Its continuation will enable municipalities to perform their\nbasic local government functions.\n It is the purpose of this article to insure continued municipal\nassistance, conservation, preservation and development in the region by\ncontinuing the Tug Hill commission, in order to serve those local\ngovernment and regional needs, now and in the future.\n