PUBLIC POLICY UPDATES
An angler casts a line from a canoe on the Ashuelot River Headwaters Forest’s Sand Pond, a property that was protected with funds from the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program.
A Catch Phrase that Still Matters By Matt Leahy
A
ll politics is local” is one of the most oft-repeated phrases in political history. Although it has become a cliché since former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Thomas Phillip “Tip” O’Neill first said it back in 1982, its meaning, that local concerns and interests can drive the development of public policy, is still a timely reminder of how people can influence the direction of government if they believe they have a stake in the outcome. Take, for example, what happened during this year’s New Hampshire Legislative session. The Ways and Means Committee
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22 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2021
in the House of Representatives considered, and then ultimately retained, House Bill 621, legislation that would have allowed the County Registers of Deeds to keep up to 10 percent of the dedicated $25 fee charged which supports the mission of the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP). Retaining a bill means the committee will reconvene at some point later this year to review, debate and then vote on it. In effect, the Committee has put it on the legislative backburner. Because of the benefits the program brings to our state, the Forest Society
joined with other LCHIP stakeholders to oppose HB 621. We argued the bill would have diverted $468,000 away from the program, thereby undermining its mission. We therefore were pleased with the Ways and Means Committee’s decision to retain the bill. While the better outcome, of course, would have been for the Committee to simply vote to reject the bill, the members acknowledged the serious flaws with HB 621. There was other positive news for LCHIP this year. The Governor’s proposal to increase LCHIP’s yearly funding from $3.5 million to $5 million in the Fiscal
