New York State Executive Department Division of State Planning Tabulation of Public Lands Owned by the State of New York

Arranged by department or administrative agency.

The Division of State Planning was created by Chapter 304 of the Laws of 1935. It consisted of five members, appointed by the governor. Its mission was to assist existing state departments and agencies in the preparation and coordination of plans and policies for the development of the state and for the use and conservation of its resources. It also advised departments on programs for public improvements and the financing thereof. Major focuses of the Division of State Planning included base and record maps, water resources, highway development, suburban development, public works, population changes, industrial trends, land use, and coordination with local planning boards. As World War II grew nearer, its focus turned more to civil defense planning. It was abolished by act of the legislature in 1941 (Chapter 216), and its functions and duties were transferred to the Bureau of Planning in the Division of Commerce, also in the Executive Department.

The records in this series consist of tabulations of data gathered from state departments and agencies showing public lands owned by New York State, specifically those acquired by the state between January 1937 and June 1939. The tabulations include descriptions of each parcel of state owned land, acreage total, and a map reference number. They include handwritten annotations by Division of State Planning members. Also included is a sample of a proposed atlas of state owned lands.

These tabulations were gathered to assist in the creation of an updated index map to state lands in 1939. The original index map, created at a 1:500,000 (8 miles per inch) scale, is available in the Division of State Planning's 1937 annual report, and the revised index map is available in the 1939 annual report. The maps showed forest preserves, reforestation areas, state parks, parkways, state operated schools and colleges, state hospitals and institutions, armories and other properties under the jurisdiction of the Division of Military and Naval Affairs, state police barracks, prisons and correctional institutions, training schools, canals and canal terminals, power houses, reservoirs, game farms and refuges, fish hatcheries, camp sites, Indian reservations, and all other state owned lands and buildings.

B2319Series B2319, Reports and administrative plans relating to aerial photography, contains a 1938 report from the Division of State Planning pertaining to aerial mapping of the state.

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of the material.