You know that this Snowmobile Trail Marker must be at least a half century old, because during the 1970 session of the legislature, Governor Nelson Rockefeller put forward his program bill that would re-organize the Health Department and Conservation Department into a Department of Ecology.

Governor Rockefeller's Department of Ecology was proposed as his advisers suggested he get out in front on environmental issue, as it was known that former Labor Lawyer and Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg was expected to be a formidable opponent during the 1970 election, especially with an anti-Nixon/anti-GOP wave starting to form in the country, as often happens during mid-terms.

The Department of Ecology program bill ultimately failed in the legislature, as Upstate Republicans feared eliminating the Conservation mandate as a prime focus of the Conservation Department. They thought a Department of Ecology wouldn't be as active at promoting and managing hunting and fishing, and would primarily be focused on urban pollution concerns.

Ultimately a compromise was reached and a Department of Environmental Conservation was created. The Conservation Department took on new responsibilities relating to pollution control, while the health department retained many of their traditional responsibilities.

This is at the start of the Willis-Wilcox Lake Trail. I think this sign has seen better days.