Looking Back on 50 Years of Current Use

By Matt Leahy

July 1, 2023, marks the 50th anniversar y of the New Hampshire General Court’s enactment of RSA 79-A, our state’s current use taxation law. As stakeholders celebrate this milestone, we should also reflect on the question of whether New Hampshire benefitted from this law

A good way to begin to answer this question is to first remember the law’s Declaration of Purpose:

“It is hereby declared to be in the public interest to encourage the preservation of open space, thus providing a healthful and attractive outdoor environment for work and recreation of the state’s citizens, maintaining the character of the state’s landscape, and conserving the land, water, forest, agricultural, and wildlife resources. It is further declared to be in the public interest to prevent the loss of open space due to property taxation at values incompatible with open space usage ”

As you know, current use taxes land at its “productive capacity,” so that it is taxed at its income-producing capability as forest, farmland, or undeveloped land, rather than at its real estate value as a development site such as a shopping plaza Yet the focus of the lead question goes much deeper than the complex world of tax policy; it should be framed within the context of the Declaration of Purpose.

Admittedly, we can only speculate and imagine what New Hampshire would look like if the law did not exist. However, we can talk conclusively about the benefits to the people of New Hampshire of conserving open space, forested areas, and agricultural lands It is important to keep in mind these benefits go beyond maintaining the natural beauty of those places

For example, the protection of the state’s drinking water resources is a priority issue for both state and municipal officials Scientific evidence strongly shows that maintaining forested buffers along and on top of drinking water resources helps to reduce the costs to treat drinking water Gifford Pinchot, the first chief of the U S Forest Service, described this connection in much plainer terms when he said, “The relationship between forests and rivers is like father and son No father, no son ”

Economically, current data highlights the positive impact that land protection has on economic activity According to a report from the North East State Foresters Association, forest-based manufacturing adds to the state’s economy nearly $1 15 billion with 8,160 jobs and payroll of $384 million a year

In addition, the Outdoor Industry Association has determined that New Hampshire’s outdoor recreation economy has created 79,000 jobs statewide and generated $8 7 billion in annual consumer spending. All those people who hunt, hike, cross-country ski, and snowmobile here do so because of the amount of protected open space in the state. In short, protecting land increases local employment

As stakeholders and policy makers debate how to confront climate change the defining environmental challenge we face forested landscapes are one of the most effective natural solutions available to address this emergency. Forests remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and therefore play vital roles in mitigating the effects of climate change on the environment

That list marks a significant and diverse range of values Not coincidentally, those values are the same ones New Hampshire citizens cherish the most when they describe what makes our state special Of course, much of the literature used to promote New Hampshire as a travel and vacation destination relies on photos of our open spaces.

Fewer acres of open, undeveloped space would mean less of these benefits. For the last 50 years, current use has been one of the key tools we as a state have relied on to maintain our quality of life. While we can’t know exactly how different the landscape here would look if current use had never been created, we can affirmatively answer the question about whether New Hampshire is a better place to live because of it