Gail Coffey

I have worked for The Nature Conservancy in NH, NH Audubon and Beaver Brook Association in Hollis,NH. I have been involved in environmental protection for wildlife habitat for the 21 years I have lived in NH. I am aware of the serious decline in bird populations in North America and NH (Cornell Lab meta-analysis 2019) and the severe decline in insects in NH. All of our native bumblebee populations are severely dropping. Swallows, swifts, common nighthawks and whip-poor-wills are rapidly declining in NH because of the lack of insects like moths and flies. Habitat loss is the greatest reason why many species are declining and we are at the sixth extinction. Moose and fisher populations have continued to plummet (UNH-Vet Lab--Dr. David Needle-2025 studies on fisher). We must stop destroying their habitat if we want to have effective functioning ecosystems, reproduction of plants, oxygen, clean water and on and on. Need I say more. Check out NH Fish and Game's Wildlife Action Plans which state over and over the impact of loss of habitat has on species. This is the most important aspect of protecting ecological integrity in NH. What are you doing to public health, biodiversity and water quality in NH ? This bill must not pass. Enough of business partisanship. Think about the people and wildlife in our state.