Committee hears support and privacy concerns for bill adding 'habitat strongholds' and corridors to conservation inventories

Sen. David Waters presented SB 592, which adds habitat strongholds and wildlife corridors (as defined in statute) to the responsibilities of municipal conservation commissions and regional planning commissions.

Sponsor and rationale Waters said the bill builds on previous work, including definitions adopted in a 2019 statute (noted as Senate Bill 200) and the recently released state wildlife action plan. The amendment clarifies language (replacing 'index' with 'inventory') and removes an item about designating transmission corridors that raised property-rights issues.

State agency and conservation support New Hampshire Fish and Game (Michael Marchand) and conservation organizations (The Nature Conservancy and NH Association of Conservation Commissions) testified they already conduct mapping and outreach, welcome clearer statutory authority for integrating corridors into planning, and stressed that participation and land-protection efforts are voluntary and often depend on federal funding.

Landowner and timberland concerns Jason Stock of the New Hampshire Timberland Owners Association raised privacy and practical questions: publicizing specific 'special areas' could attract unwanted attention to sensitive sites and the bill risks redundancy with existing 'ecological areas.' He and others urged protections to prevent mapping from becoming de facto regulation of private land use.

Committee response and clarifications Committee members repeatedly asked whether the bill abridges private property rights; witnesses and the sponsor answered it does not and that any conservation acquisition or easement would be voluntary. The committee and stakeholders discussed possible drafting tweaks (narrowing language to habitat strongholds or clarifying inventory procedures) to address privacy and redundancy concerns.

Ending Witnesses recommended minor technical edits (inventory terminology and scope language) and the chair indicated the committee would continue work on clarifying language before executive action.