Mark Hounsell: A Call to Action

Among my most meaningful political accomplishments has been protecting God's sacred creation — our natural world. In 1987, while serving as chair of the N.H. state Senate Environment Committee, I helped guide several major conservation measures through the legislative process. That year, the state created the N.H. Department of Environmental Services and the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Revolving Loan Fund. We banned jet skis and petroleum-powered boats on many smaller lakes and ponds and approved construction of a new Fish and Game headquarters on Hazen Drive in Concord.

Over the past 39 years, each of these programs has greatly benefited the Granite State. Yet my proudest achievement was navigating the contentious political process to establish the Land Conservation Investment Program (LCIP) and secure the initial $20 million needed to purchase land and conservation easements. Since 1993, the program — now administered by the Conservation Land Stewardship Program in partnership with the private Trust for New Hampshire Lands — has permanently protected approximately 100,000 acres from development. I am therefore deeply troubled by reports that the iconic view of the Little White Church across Crystal Lake may soon be destroyed by a logging and clear-cutting operation undertaken by Tom Fadden and Harold Whitaker.