New York State Conservation Department Rules and Regulations

Alphabetical by departmental division.

The State Legislature has enacted the laws that have shaped the general policies of the Conservation Department and its successor agency, the Department of Environmental Conservation. However, in most instances it has allowed the department to draft and enforce the detailed regulations needed to implement the broad policies outlined in legislation. Regulations issued by the department acquire the force of law when the Department of State publishes them in the Official Compilation of Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York (commonly known as the NYCRR). In 1962, the Legislature required (Chapter 305) that each new or revised regulation sent to the Department of State for publication be accompanied by a certificate citing the statutory authority pursuant to which the regulation was adopted or revised.

This series documents the rules and regulations that the Conservation Department forwarded to the Department of State for publication. The bulk of the material consists of routine correspondence between the Conservation Department and the Department of State and the text of the rules and regulations adopted, revised, or repealed; in some instances, internal memoranda concerning the content of draft regulations and certificates citing the statute that gave the department the authority to issue a given regulation are also present.

Almost all of the regulations (also referred to as "rules" or "orders") in this series were drafted by the Division of Fish and Game and concern hunting and fishing seasons, use of hunting, fishing and trapping equipment, and licensing requirements. Regulations developed by the Division of Lands and Forests concern forestry and recreational use of state-owned lands, and those created by the Division of Motorboats concern use of boating equipment and boating safety. Most of the rules written by the Division of Water Resources concern the internal structure of the division. Other divisions represented in this series include: Oil and Gas, Parks, and Saratoga Spa State Park-Saratoga State Park. Also included are annual summaries (19591963) detailing all of the rules that the department adopted, revised, or repealed during a given year.

13063Series 13063, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Executive Office Commissioner's Subject and Correspondence Files, contains records documenting additional functions of the department and its predecessor agencies.

This series description was enhanced as a part of the New York State Archives Environmental History Virtual Research Collection Project, 2004. The National Endowment for the Humanities provided funding for this project.

This series was originally accessioned as accretion 13063-80A, but was determined to have records specifically documenting the Conservation Department's (later Department of Environmental Conservation) development and promulgation of rules and regulations. Therefore, the accretion was reaccessioned in 2004 as Series B1837, New York State Conservation Department Rules and Regulations.

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