The rescheduled North Country hearing on proposed new rules for wetlands issued by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) will be held on Thursday, March 15. The rescheduled hearing, which will be held at the North Country Resource Center at 629B Main Street in Lancaster, will begin at 5:30 p.m.
As reported in previous editions of the Forest Fax, the draft proposal is a major disappointment, and if adopted would severely impact any forestry project with a wetland or stream crossing. The proposal is a complicated, overly burdensome, and, in places, impenetrable document. The NHTOA’s full comment on the proposal can be read here.
The NHTOA urges members to attend Thursday’s hearing and let DES know the draft proposal needs to be scrapped and a new proposal drafted from scratch.
The previous hearing on the draft proposal, held in Keene on March 5, was well covered by the local newspaper, the Keene Sentinel, and the report can be read here.
Written comments on the draft proposal are due April 20 and should be addressed to: Attention: Mary Ann Tilton, 29 Hazen Drive, Concord, NH 03302. Or email maryann.tilton@des.nh.gov.
Here is a link to more information on the rulemaking process: