Revision: Feb. 19, 2026, 2:30 p.m.
HB 1603-FN - AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
2026 SESSION
19Feb2026...0518h 26-3192
08/06
HOUSE BILL 1603-FN
SPONSORS: Rep. DeVito, Rock. 8; Rep. Beaulier, Graf. 1; Rep. Litchfield, Rock. 32; Rep. Tom Mannion, Hills. 1; Rep. Mazur, Hills. 44; Rep. McGrath, Rock. 40; Rep. Sabourin dit Choiniere, Rock. 30; Rep. Harvey-Bolia, Belk. 3; Rep. DeRoy, Straf. 3; Rep. Mary Murphy, Hills. 27; Sen. Murphy, Dist 16
COMMITTEE: Resources, Recreation and Development
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AMENDED ANALYSIS
This bill requires the executive director of the department of fish and game to adopt rules relative to procedures for verifying accuracy of records collected relative to threatened and endangered wildlife and ensures landowner permission is granted for the gathering of such record.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
19Feb2026... 0518h 26-3192
08/06
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty-Six
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Conservation Programs. Amend RSA 212-A:9, III to read as follows:
III.(a) All other state departments and agencies, to the extent possible, consistent with their authorities and responsibilities, shall take such action as is reasonable and prudent to ensure that actions authorized, funded, or carried out by them do not appreciably jeopardize the continued existence of such species or result in the destruction or modification of habitat of such species which is determined by the executive director to be critical, by requiring that all such action is designed to avoid, minimize, and mitigate harm to such species and habitat designated as critical. Other departments and agencies may consult with the executive director or hire their own internal wildlife biologists to carry out the requirements of this paragraph. The executive director shall assist other departments and agencies in carrying out this paragraph.
(1) The executive director shall adopt rules pursuant to RSA 541-A, not later than one year after the effective date of this chapter, to establish procedures to verify the accuracy of records for threatened and endangered wildlife records under this paragraph, including but not limited to the age of the data.
(2) The executive director shall adopt rules pursuant to RSA 541-A not later than one year after the effective date of this chapter, to establish procedures to ensure landowner permission is granted for the gathering of site-specific species location.
(b) For the purpose of this statute, "appreciably jeopardize the continued existence of such species" shall be defined in rules adopted by the executive director pursuant to RSA 541-A. The provisions of RSA 212-A or any rule promulgated under this chapter shall not be applicable to a state department or agency when that state department or agency, in the process of undertaking an action, is required by federal law or regulation to address the environmental impact on wildlife or wildlife habitat, of that action.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
26-3192
12/5/25
HB 1603-FN- FISCAL NOTE
AS INTRODUCED
FISCAL IMPACT: This bill does not provide funding, nor does it authorize new positions.
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Estimated State Impact | ||||||
| FY 2026 | FY 2027 | FY 2028 | FY 2029 | ||
Revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | ||
Revenue Fund(s) | None | |||||
Expenditures* | $0 | Indeterminable - $1,000,000+ Per Year | ||||
Funding Source(s) | Fish and Game Fund | |||||
Appropriations* | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | ||
Funding Source(s) | None | |||||
*Expenditure = Cost of bill *Appropriation = Authorized funding to cover cost of bill | ||||||
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Estimated Political Subdivision Impact | ||||||
| FY 2026 | FY 2027 | FY 2028 | FY 2029 | ||
Local Revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | ||
Local Expenditures | $0 | Indeterminable | ||||
METHODOLOGY:
This bill requires any agency or municipal official that is considering a restriction on the use of land because of the presence of an endangered or threatened species to provide current, verifiable evidence of the species’ presence to the landowner before proposing or requiring any land use restrictions. The proposed evidence includes four requirements: (a) Written landowner permission to search for specific data or an administrative warrant detailing the critical necessity of data collection, (b) name and credentials of the observing official or biologist, (c), GPS coordinates of the sighting, (d) Date-and time-stamped photographs of the species on the property. Section III would prohibit agencies from requiring new biodiversity searches as a precondition of application or as a condition of subsequent approval.
State Impact
The Fish and Game Department states there is an existing process to document the presence of threatened or endangered species, with information available through the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources’ (DNCR) Natural Heritage Bureau. However, this process does not specifically require documentation of written landowner permission, photographs or the observer to be a Department official/biologist, therefore it would not meet the criteria listed in the new section. The Department assumes its staff would need to review wildlife records currently in the state database to determine whether they meet criteria a-d. The Department states there are thousands of records currently in the database and it anticipates that most records would not meet all four proposed criteria. To meet the intent of RSA 212:A (Endangered Species Conservation Act) to ensure avoidance, minimization, and mitigation of harm to threatened or endangered wildlife, much of the state would need to be resurveyed for threatened and endangered species to create records that meet all criteria. Although staff currently survey populations, the work is done over a longer time-period and on a broader spatial scale, as staff and resources do not allow regular surveying of all species across the state on an individual landowner scale. Photographs and other associated information for sightings of threatened and endangered wildlife received from the public are currently reviewed and verified by qualified wildlife biologists. However, the photographs are not stored in the state database used for project screening. From its initial assessment, the Department states that the state database currently used to store verified locations of threatened and endangered wildlife does not have the ability to store photographs and does not include documentation of written landowner permission. As such, the Department would likely need to create a new database to store this information so that it could be efficiently utilized and available.
The Department states it isn’t clear whether the ‘observing official/biologist’ listed under criteria (b) would need to visually observe the actual animal or whether verifying photographic evidence provided by others would be acceptable. Many wildlife species are highly cryptic or mobile, and it would be extremely difficult to confirm a species record with a biologist follow-up survey given wildlife are mobile in nature. The Department states it would require extensive additional staff and resources and would still not guarantee being able to observe the animal.
Finally, although it is impossible to estimate the direct fiscal impact, the Department states the restrictions imposed through this bill would significantly impair the state’s ability to recover threatened or endangered wildlife, which will substantially increase the costs to recover such species and likely result in more species being listed over time. Ultimately, this could increase the likelihood of additional species becoming federally listed under the Endangered Species Act, resulting in additional federal restrictions.
The Department states additional staff would be required to manage and create a new database, review existing records, and survey wildlife populations statewide continuously to ensure compliance with the proposed criteria. Additional contracts for specialized surveys would also likely be required. The Department has not provided any specific personnel needs or cost details, however, believes the impact on state expenditures could be more than $1,000,000 per year.
Municipal Impact
The New Hampshire Municipal Associations states RSA 212-A, as it currently exists, does not assign any responsibilities to municipalities and vests enforcement of the statute with the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department and the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. The Association is not aware of any municipalities conducting the functions referenced in RSA 212-A, however, if any municipalities conduct such activities, this bill could create new financial obligations:
AGENCIES CONTACTED:
Fish and Game Department and New Hampshire Municipal Association