CONCORD, N.H. -- The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department’s public hearing on proposed rules to establish a bobcat hunting and trapping season in New Hampshire will take place in two locations:
• The first part of the hearing will take place on Monday, February 1, 2016, at 6:00 p.m. at Representatives Hall in the N.H. State House in Concord, N.H.
• The public hearing will be continued on Tuesday, February 2, 2016, at 6:00 p.m. at Fish and Game’s Region 1 Office at 629B Main Street in Lancaster, N.H.
The hearing is being continued on the second day to ensure that North Country citizens have an adequate chance to participate.
The N.H. Fish and Game Commission is proposing to issue a total of 50 bobcat permits through a lottery process. The timing and attributes of the draft season would be similar to New Hampshire’s fisher season, with December trapping and January hunting. If adopted, the proposal would take effect in December of 2016.
States and provinces neighboring New Hampshire all have bobcat seasons, including Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts and Quebec, although none limit their take using a permit system as proposed by N.H. Fish and Game.
Following a multi-year collaborative bobcat research study carried out by Fish and Game with the University of New Hampshire, the N.H. Fish and Game Commission directed the Department to assess whether the state’s bobcat population could sustain harvest without adverse impact to the population. Fish and Game concluded that the population could sustain modest harvest while still accommodating slow growth. The Commission subsequently asked the Department to formulate a conservative season proposal consistent with those findings. A draft framework was presented to the Commission in April and a final proposal was adopted by the Commission in December of 2015.
The complete rulemaking notice, with proposed rule language for this proposal, can be viewed at www.wildnh.com/legislative/proposed-rules.html.
Written comments regarding this proposal must be received by the Department by February 10, 2016. Send comments to: comments@wildlife.nh.gov (use the rule name in your subject line”); or write to Executive Director, N.H. Fish and Game Department, 11 Hazen Drive, Concord, NH 03301; or fax to 603-271-5829.Learn more about New Hampshire’s bobcat season proposal at www.wildnh.com/wildlife/bobcat-season-proposal.html#faqs.
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