Not for Hunters only
The New Hampshire Fish and Game Commission’s recent decision to reinstitute a bobcat hunting season, over the protests of thousands of New Hampshire recreationalists in deference to a small number of hunters and trappers, starkly illustrates the reason the agency needs to reconsider its mission.
The use of the outdoors in New Hampshire is evolving. According to the Fish and Game website, fees collected from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses, a major source of the department’s funding revenue, are flat.
At the same time, wildlife watching is becoming more important to the state’s economy. A 2011 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation indicated that in New Hampshire, “wildlife watchers” bring in more revenue ($281 million) to the state’s economy than hunting and fishing ($276 million). According to that same study, more than twice as many people watched wildlife in New Hampshire than fished or hunted here.
This increase in wildlife watching-related activity and its related positive impact on the state’s economy likely will become even more important, according to Fish and Game Director Glenn Normandeau. Speaking for a recent New Hampshire Wildlife Journal article, he said, “For the first time, we’re seeing the economic value of wildlife watching exceeding the value of hunting and fishing combined.”
Fish and Game needs to work more in the direction of satisfying this growing clientele and to worry less about appeasing a small community by allowing it to hunt bobcats. People want to see bobcats in the wild the same way they want to see bear and moose. Allowing bobcat hunting works at cross-purposes with where the future of enjoying the state’s considerable natural beauty and resources lies.
Blake Allison
Lyme
Lebanon Raiders Excelled
The Lebanon High School boys basketball team may not have left the UNH campus with the NHIAA championship trophy, but they left as champions. They and their coaches and staff should be so proud of their accomplishments this season. Their play, teamwork and sportsmanship will be remembered for a long time. They played their hearts out and competed with integrity.
Officiating should enhance the flow and fairness of a game and not be the primary influence on the outcome. It is unfortunate that the NHIAA officiating process so overweights the use of officials from the southern region of the state (yes, the numbers of officials from the northern region are fewer, but are still available).
A championship competition deserves the best management and opportunity for a fair playing field to allow the games to play out as they should. The bias and unbalance was shocking, and I hope the NHIAA will review the game films and address having a more fair process. Ultimately, I hope the game outcome will not change the Raiders’ sense of pride and accomplishment in themselves. Congratulations to all — Go, Raiders!
Robert W. Tichner
Lebanon
The Future of N.H. State Parks
The Executive Council’s upcoming decision on Sunapee’s proposed modest expansion will impact the future of all New Hampshire State Parks. The facts: The New Hampshire State Park System, managed by the Department of Resources and Economic Development, is “self-funded” and must operate like any business where total revenue dictates scope of operations.
Currently, Mount Sunapee, No. 2 in state ski area visits, generates over $600,000 a year in lease payments. These payments fund Cannon Mountain capital improvements, so Cannon is now competitive and profitable. Cannon’s profits are used by DRED to subsidize the annual operations of the approximately 90 “low/non-revenue generating” parks. What happens if Sunapee falls behind its competition and its revenue declines? The domino effect is obvious. DRED would be faced with having to cut back on Cannon improvements or close “low/non-revenue generating” state parks or both.
An even scarier scenario is looming in 2018 when the current leaseholder has the option to exercise a 10-year extension (to 2028). If this option were not exercised, a new Request for Proposal (RFP) would need to be issued for bids on a new lease. What is a lease for a ski area that cannot expand worth? The current leaseholder, by any measure, is a “Class A” ski area operator. A new lease will have a far lower perceived value than the current lease (executed in 1998) and likely would not draw bids from any such operator or would draw no bids at all.
Unfortunately, having no Mount Sunapee Ski Area is what the opposition has advocated since 1948. They now claim the modest addition of four trails and one lift will ruin Mount Sunapee State Park. What they don’t tell you is a non-competitive Mount Sunapee Ski Area will result in a greatly diminished state park system for future generations.
Hess Gates
Sunapee
Ski Business and Climate Change
This is our new reality: On average, ski seasons are shorter and storms more difficult to predict. Fourteen of the warmest years on record have come in the past 15 years. Winter is starting later and spring coming earlier — fewer ski days equals less ski revenue. New Hampshire’s higher winter temperatures correlate with changes in global climate. Our climate records provide a context for analyzing New Hampshire’s ski industry’s future. Every scientific report and statistical analysis points to one conclusion: the ski industry is in decline.
“Nationwide, the $12.2 billion winter tourism industry, which includes skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling, has lost more than $1 billion in aggregated revenue between low- and high-snowfall years over the past decade, according to a Natural Resources Defense Council and Protect Our Winters report. Between 13,000 and 27,000 associated jobs were lost during this same time period. Decreased snowpack, rising average winter temperatures and economic instability caused a loss of more than 15 million skier visits to U.S. resorts in the last 10 years.
More than three-quarters of the nation’s states benefit economically from winter sports. Climate change stands to negatively impact nearly 211,900 American workers within the winter sports industry, according to the NRDC and POW report. Ski resorts bear the brunt of climate change impacts, but the effects trickle down to rental shops, restaurants, hotels, ski apparel stores, gas stations, grocery stores and bars as well.
With all this information at hand, Commissioner Jeffrey Rose of the New Hampshire Department of Recreation and Resources Development decided to approve a large expansion of ski terrain on the pristine south-western side of Mount Sunapee State Park.
Rose stated that it will benefit the state and the towns of Newbury and Goshen economically with increased tax revenue, and trickle-down effects for businesses. But how is this possible with skiing on the decline?
So it is a lose-lose bargain on the part of the state and the people of New Hampshire. We don’t gain additional revenues through taxes and we lose by having Mt. Sunapee forever altered and its beauty scarred.
We urge Gov. Maggie Hassan to exercise responsible stewardship of this treasured state park and table this shortsighted and flawed proposal which sacrifices that which is irreplaceable to perpetuate an industry in decline.
Steve and Sue Russell
Newbury, N.H.
What Biden Said in 1992
The left-wing editorial in Tuesday’s Valley News about the Supreme Court nomination and Kelly Ayotte did not mention Joe Biden’s name once. So for the record, let me quote what the editor chose not to mention, from the Congressional Record, S. 16317, June 25, 1992: Biden: “It is my view that if the President goes the way of Presidents Fillmore and Johnson and presses an election-year nomination, the Senate Judiciary Committee should seriously consider not scheduling confirmation hearings on the nomination until after the political campaign season is over.”
Larry Brodeur
Claremont