In May, the N.H. Legislature passed Senate Bill 388, which establishes a committee of lawmakers to study the current status of land conservation in New Hampshire, and to make recommendations on how the state can best encourage voluntary land conservation over the next decade. It has been nearly 15 years since the New Hampshire Legislature has taken a comprehensive state-wide look at land conservation.
The study committee will conduct a baseline survey of the state’s current portfolio of conservation lands, so the legislature and the public can understand what we have now, where it is, why it was protected, and how it is managed. It will also analyze how well the state’s conservation land is safeguarding natural resources including drinking water supply, food and forest products, fish and game habitat/biodiversity, and recreational opportunities. In addition to looking at the land itself, the committee will survey how conservation is currently funded in New Hampshire, and analyze the return on public investments to date. Finally, the committee will make recommendations based on this up-to-date analysis of the state’s current base of conservation lands, recent trends and likely realities going forward.
SB388 enjoyed strong bi-partisan support in both houses of the legislature. Prime sponsor Senator Martha-Fuller Clark (D-Portsmouth) was joined by Senate co-sponsors Jeannie Forrester (R-Meredith); Bob Odell (R-Lempster), Jeb Bradley (R-Wolfboro); and Jeff Woodburn, (D-Dalton). The bill was co-sponsored in the House by Representative Mary Jane Wallner (D-Concord). The Forest Society thanks all the co-sponsors, and House Resources Committee Chair Shannon Chandley (D-Amherst) and all the members of the Committee for their support of SB388.The land conservation study committee will be doing its work through this summer and fall, with a report due Nov. 1.
Read SB 388 here: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2014/SB0388.html