Committee adopts Fish and Game rule 25‑48 amid dispute over wildlife data and new fur‑bearing registration requirement

The Joint Administrative Rules Committee approved New Hampshire Fish and Game rule 25‑48, which revises licensing and permit requirements for deer, bear, moose, turkey and fur‑bearing animals and adds a new requirement to register taken fur‑bearing animals. The vote followed public testimony and a substantive exchange over which data sources the department should use to set seasons and limits.

Office of Legislative Services noted the agency filed a conditional approval and highlighted that public comments — including a submission from the New Hampshire Wildlife Coalition and 65 pages of written testimony — disagree with the agency about which data series should drive decisions. OLS said statutes require the executive director to investigate wildlife supply and commission scientific studies as necessary, language that gives the agency discretion but does not prescribe a single…