Around New England

NH Congressional Delegation Urges Feds Compensate State For Rescues In White Mountains

January 4, 2019

Citing changes in population and the recreational use of federal lands in New Hampshire, the state’s four-member congressional delegation has sent a letter to federal agencies requesting they meet with NH Fish & Game (NHF&G) officials to consider ways the feds can compensate the state for “rising costs” associated with expensive search and rescue operations in the White Mountain National Forest (WMNF). The 750,000-acre forest comprises nearly 14 percent of NH’s land and is a popular destination for adventurers, hikers, snowmobilers, skiers and other recreational tourists.

The letter, written by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, Sen. Maggie Hassan, Rep. Carol Shea-Porter and Rep. Ann Kuster, was sent in December to Vicki Christiansen, acting chief of the US Forest Service (UFS), and Margaret Everson, acting director of US Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS). The USF is part of the US Dept. of Agriculture; the FWS, part of the US Dept. of the Interior. 

A 2018 report drafted by the NH Commission to Study the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Fish and Game Department Operations (NHCSEEF) was included in the delegation’s letter.

A release from Sen. Shaheen’s office summarizing the letter says “the delegation notes that USFS and FWS manage approximately 13.8 percent of the entire land mass of New Hampshire, but much of the responsibility for daily activities on this land, including outdoor recreation, law enforcement and search and rescue operations, falls to state and local agencies like the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. According to the Department, 47 percent of all search and rescue operations in the state take place on federally owned lands, placing a significant burden on the self-funding agency.”

The release also notes that the UFS “already provides reimbursements to the Coos and Grafton county sheriff’s [sic] departments in New Hampshire for patrols of the WMNF during the summer season and encourages the agencies to evaluate the feasibility of making similar arrangements with the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.”

The Conway Daily Sun reports that the chief of the Conway Village Fire Department, which provides some of the rescue services in the WMNF that are coordinated and overseen by NHF&G, has been talking “for a while”  about the need for federal assistance “in paying for rescues in the national forest.”

“It is unfair to expect Fish and Game, or Conway Fire […] or any of the other groups that provide search and rescue to perform these duties without supplying us with the resources necessary to do so,” Chief Steve Solomon told the Daily Sun.

According to the Daily Sun, a single rescue in the White Mountains may require 20 people to carry a person to safety.

In claiming that “47 percent of all search and rescue operations” occur in the WMNF, the delegation cites the NHCSEEF report. However, the Post notes the NHCSEEF actually said search and rescue operations in the WMNF took about 47 percent of the NHF&G’s rescue budget, amounting to nearly $150,000 a year.

Unlike other departments in the NH state government, Fish & Game is not funded from the state’s general budget but mostly through licensing and registration fees, and fines, collected throughout the year.

The Daily Sun reports that UFS spokesman Evan Burks sent the paper a “fact sheet” which stated there “is no precedent for the USDA Forest Service reimbursing state and local agencies for search/rescue missions on National Forest System lands.”