§ 849. Appropriations for conservation purposes in Washington county. 1. The board of supervisors of Washington county is hereby authorized and empowered to enter into an agreement or agreements with the board of supervisors of one or more adjoining counties possessing equivalent powers for the joint construction or acquisition, maintenance and control of facilities for the promotion and conservation of fish, game and other natural resources, and may annually appropriate and expend such sums as may be necessary pursuant to such agreement. The agreement may provide for the method of acquisition or construction of the facility, the management and operation thereof; the method of fixing the proportionate share of each county and of making contributions; the custody of moneys; the audit of claims; the duration of the agreement; and such other matters as may be appropriate in the circumstances. The agreement shall have a maximum duration of ten years, but such limitation shall not prohibit successive agreements. Nothing herein contained shall prevent the financing of the county's share of a project pursuant to the provisions of the local finance law.

2. The board of supervisors of Washington county is hereby authorized and empowered to annually appropriate moneys to defray such portion of the cost of maintenance of a fish screen in Ticonderoga creek between Lake George and Lake Champlain, heretofore constructed and now maintained by the Lake George Screen Committee, Incorporated, as such board may see fit. Moneys so appropriated shall be held in the custody of the county treasurer and paid out by him only upon order of the board of supervisors after due and proper audit and allowance. The board of supervisors is hereby authorized to enter into such agreement with the Lake George Screen Committee, Incorporated, as may be deemed necessary to effectuate the provisions of this subdivision.

3. Nothing herein contained shall be deemed to supersede, alter or abridge the powers and duties of the department of conservation, or any division, agency or officer of said department, or to deprive said department, or any division, agency or officer thereof of jurisdiction now or hereafter conferred upon it in relation to conservation matters.