Lawmakers hear from hikers and Fish & Game on $200,000 search-and-rescue funding proposal

Representative David Love (Rockingham 13) introduced HB573, asking the committee to appropriate $200,000 into Fish and Game’s search-and-rescue account and to authorize point-of-sale donation collection. Love said the funds would provide a safety net if federal support or other resources were cut.

Several witnesses told personal stories about rescues to illustrate need. Representative Tony Weinstein described his own fall and how Fish and Game personnel and volunteers carried an injured hiker on a litter to waiting transport; he said “I can’t imagine what would have happened if I called and there is no one there to help.” Colonel Kevin Jordan, Fish and Game, described the operational costs of search-and-rescue activity and the value of federal aviation support; he said the department performs roughly 80 missions a year and that a growing HikeSafe card program has helped fill funding gaps.

Jordan told the committee the department now receives about $180,000 annually from a $1 fee for certain registrations and that HikeSafe brought in about $363,000 last year; he said spending varied but that the agency spent about $400,000 on search-and-rescue operations in the most recent year. He cautioned that federal aviation help can be rescinded and that without some steady fund the state could lose access to critical helicopter rescue support. He said the search-and-rescue account is nonlapsing and requires quarterly/annual reporting.

Conservation organizations and recreation partners—including the Nature Conservancy, Appalachian Mountain Club and New Hampshire Farm Bureau—supported the proposal as a stable funding source for life-saving work. Some committee members asked whether the appropriation should be structured differently in a tight budget year (increase HikeSafe fee, or smaller appropriation); Jordan said the department has discretion to change HikeSafe fees but has been cautious because the program is voluntary.

The committee considered the bill in executive session and voted to recommend ITL (inexpedient to legislate) by roll call (outcome: 14 yes). The committee noted the department’s current revenue streams and said they preferred pursuing funding options that do not add recurring general-fund expenditures at this time.

Why it matters: Search-and-rescue operations are costly and rely on a mix of user fees, donations and federal support. The proposal would have created an additional nonlapsing state funding source; the committee’s ITL recommendation signals reluctance to create the recurring appropriation while not precluding future, targeted funding changes.