The Balsams Landscape Has Been Saved!

Every once in a while the good guys win one.

The Society for the Preservation of New Hampshire Forests has reached its goal of raising $850,000 to buy a 5,800-acre parcel of land near the famous Balsams Grand Hotel in Dixville Notch, NH. They made the announcement in a statement yesterday on their website.

The land was considered a key piece on the proposed route of the controversial Northern Pass transmission line project. Developers of the $1.2 billion project – a joint venture of NSTAR and Northeast Utilities   have already spent $4 million buying up land for the project, even though it has yet to be approved.

As an indication of just how important this parcel is to the project, the developers had offered $3 million for this one piece alone. offered $3 million for the same piece of land, but the Tillotson Corporation, owners of The Balsams Grand Hotel and the parcel in question, offered to sell it as conservation land for the lesser amount if the amount could be raised by today (Jan. 15).

The project would bring electricity from HydroQuebec in Canada to southern New Hampshire, where it would then be sold on the open market. The transmission line would cut a wide swath through parts of the White Mountain National Forest, replacing the famously picturesque landscape with tall steel pylons laced with high-power lines.

Even Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich has checked in on the project, suggesting that the lines should be buried, a notion the developers reject as being prohibitively expensive.

Will the developers have to abandon their plans? They had to abandon an earlier proposed route in the face of heavy local opposition.

Northern Pass officials have not made any comment yet on this latest setback. However, they have been supporting efforts to broaden eminent domain laws to allow land-taking for private projects. There was also an earlier suggestion by company officials that the Tillotson Corporation was obligated to choose their higher bid in the interests of their stockholders.

Stay tuned.                         

Greed Trumps Conservation in Connecticut

Connecticut Gov. Daniel P. Malloy has signed into law a bill that paves the way for swapping an ecologically-significant state-owned wildlife sanctuary along the Connecticut River for a developer’s unwanted and relatively worthless parcel elsewhere in the state.

Beyond the loss of an important habitat, Gov. Mallory’s thoughtless acceptance of the claim that a developer’s desire to enhance his business interests outweighs the broader but less monetarily quantifiable need to preserve an ecologically important parcel of land, puts all conservation efforts in jeopardy.

The parcel in question is a 17 acre wildlife refuge along the Connecticut River in Haddam, Conn., purchased – with taxpayer money – for $1.3 million in 2003 by the state under a program meant to preserve open space. That would have seemed to ensure that the land would have remained undeveloped. Not so!

The land sits next door to the Riverhouse banquet facility owned by a group of developers who believe a small inn or something similar would help their business. They just happen to have a parcel of land in another part of town which they bought as part of a previously failed business venture. They paid about $400,000 two years ago for the property. They have been unable to sell it or do anything with it since then.

Then they got the bright idea that they could unload it on the state for the far more desirable property next to their restaurant. They have the backing of the local business community and at least one powerful state legislator. The governor apparently agreed with them.

There may be a few bumps along the way before the deal is done. For one, independent appraisers need to verify that the swap is a fair deal. At first glance it wouldn't seem so, given the difference in value, but given Connecticut’s well-deserved reputation for political corruption and its abysmal record on environmental issues, I’m not holding out much hope.

Fight over Haddam wildlife sanctuary makes a mockery of conservation effort

The Clark Creek Wildlife Management Area in Haddam, Conn., sits on a sandy bluff overlooking the Connecticut River. It’s not very large, just 17 acres, but it’s a valuable riverine habitat, home to a wide array of plant and animal life, some of which may be endangered or protected species.

The parcel was considered so significant that the state of Connecticut determined it was worth preserving, and paid $1.3 million in 2003 to purchase it.

Adjacent to the parcel is the Riverhouse banquet facility. They would like to build a hotel and retail complex on the land. They’re chanting the jobs and boosting the local economy mantra.

To accomplish this, they propose to swap 87 acres of nearly worthless land they own in Higganum. It was land they had purchased for $450,000 in 2009 for a housing development that never materialized. Their plan is backed by the local business community, and they have a powerful political ally, state Sen. Eileen Daly (D-Westbrook) who chairs a legislative finance committee.

Sen. Daly plans has attached the land swap as part of a larger state property conveyance bill. The attempt has failed twice before.

And there’s a new threat on the horizon. The incoming state commissioner for energy and the environment has said he supports the swap, and may approve the swap administratively, with no legislative approval needed.

Meanwhile, conservationists are once again rallying support for saving the sanctuary.

The implications of this deal go way beyond preserving one small parcel. The land was purchased with public money for the purpose of preserving it. To give it up at the whim of a private development makes a mockery of whole notion of land conservation.