Bad News - House Bill 559 Not Dead Yet

In last week’s column, I thanked everyone who helped to defeat House Bill 559, thinking the job was over. However, it’s being resurrected. We must continue the fight and kill this bill permanently.

I just received a forwarded e-mail letter from friend and former Fish and Game Commissioner, Bill Carney, concerning House Bill 559. The e-mail letter, dated February 24, 2009, was sent to New Hampshire Representatives from: Suzanne L. Fournier, “Specialist on Fish and Game Issues”. The letter from Fournier reads as follows:

"Dear Honorable Representative:

The recommendations in the NH Fish and Game Performance Audit Report, published more than a year ago in January 2008 and aimed at improving the Fish & Game Department, needs your help. House Bill 559 would begin to implement Audit Recommendation #1, the first and single most important recommendation that resulted from the audit. HB-559 would also begin to implement recommendation #3, to open up F & G to F & G’s other, largely unheard constituencies, that is people who care about wild places and wild animals, though they do not hunt or fish them.

Because of major problems identified by the auditors with the functioning of the exclusive Commission of hunters and anglers, Audit Recommendation #1 would change the all-volunteer, non-professional Fish and Game Commission from a policy-making body, that currently rules over the F & G Department, to an advisory body. With this change, the voices of traditional users of F & G services, the hunters and anglers, would no longer have excessive influence over decision-making at the Department that more and more is involved in Non-game issues as exemplified in F & G’s statewide “Wildlife Action Plan”.

With Audit Recommendation #1 implemented, the overbearing pressure of hunters and anglers on the Fish and Game Department would be lessened so as to allow a balance of policy to meet the needs of wildlife and other stakeholders like hikers and wildlife watchers.
However, the House Fish and Game and Marine Resources Committee voted HB-559 as Inexpedient To Legislate (15 to 0) the same day as the hearing on HB-559 in a knee-jerk reaction to the intense pressure placed upon Committee members by hunters and anglers fearful of any
change that might reduce their “ownership” and “control” of the F & G Department. The Committee also placed HB-559 on the Con sent Calendar for March 4th in an attempt to prevent the Full House from considering the merits of HB-559. The prime Sponsor, Rep. Carla Skinder, would actually like HB-559 to be retained in Committee to be worked on for the best ways to implement the audit’s recommendations.

If you agree that HB-559 at least deserves to be discussed by the full House on March 4th, would you consider requesting removing it from the Consent Calendar and consider talking in favor of sending this bill for retention for further work to the Fish & Game & Marine Resources Committee, or to the second committee to consider such audit bills, the Executive Departments & Administration Committee? If you do want to play a role, please contact Rep. Carla Skinder directly.
Sincerely, 

Suzanne L. Fournier"

Following are the first four Performance Audit Recommendations paraphrased for brevity:  1. The policy-making body of F & G, the F & G Commission, is a mess of inconsistent powers and duties and the fix is to remove the policy-making powers of the Commission and allow it to be an advisory-body only.  2. The name “Fish and Game” Department no longer reflects all the duties and responsibilities of Fish and Game, such as non-game wildlife and servi ng non-game activity enthusiasts, like, like wildlife watchers, and the fix is to change the name possibly to “Fish and Wildlife Department”.  3. Fish and Game would benefit from inclusion on the Fish and Game Commission of other groups who have vested interest in Fish and Game policy, in addition to the traditional fish and game enthusiasts.  4. New user groups have been poorly represented on the Commission and in policy decisions, even though their number is much higher now than that of the traditional user groups. The fixes are to conduct a stakeholder analysis of the expanded constituency in order to consider their needs when setting priorities and when establishing and managing programs and to have a study commission to evaluate the future, long term direction of Fish and Game. 

The complete Audit Observations can be found at: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/lba/performance_audit_list.html:

Commenting on Suzanne Fournier’s letter to New Hampshire Representatives concerning HB-559, Bill Carney said:  "Here is another attempt by the anti-hunting community in New Hampshire and one of their drum-beating New Hampshire leaders, Ms. Suzanne Fournier, to pass HB-559.  The anti-hunters were quick to point out that HB-559 is not anti-hunting legislation, but legislation for an administrative change at the Fish and Game Department. If Suzanne Fournier is a “specialist on Fish and Game issues", as she refers to herself in this e-mail, then her credentials and “expertise” on this subject should be called into question. They should be examined for authenticity by a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives. As she now represented this specialty to the membership of the New Hampshire House of Representatives as a specialist for this bill.  Does she have educational, practical or special training experience in Fish and Game administrative management, etc.?  Perhaps Representative Carla Skinder, as the prime sponsor of this legislation and who claims not to be an anti-hunter, could question Ms. Fournier’s credentials for authenticity and make her findings known to the House membership and the public."

Alan Glassman, Co-Chairman of the Barnstead-Alton Republican Committee, also received this e-mail from Suzanne Fournier.  Mr. Glassman says, “To paraphrase Mark Twain, ‘reports of HB-559’s death have been greatly exaggerated’! You may recall that HB-559 calls for, among other things, changing the authority and membership qualifications of the Fish and Game Commission, etc. Suffice it to say that whatever your opinion of HB-559, I encourage you to contact your State Representatives and State Senators to voice your opinion so that they will know where their constituents stand on this matter.”

This is indeed a very important issue and our Reps and Senators need to hear from us concerning the issue of HB-559 as soon as possible.

Bob Harris can be reached via e-mail at: outwriter2@aol.com

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DISCLAIMER:  The opinions expressed by Mr. Harris are not necessarily those of the Goffstown Residents Association or its members

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