### Testimony to the EPA regardingcarbonpollution impacts onNew Hampshire Fish and Wildlife. May 24, 20012. Good afternoon my name is Eric Orfffrom EpsomNewHampshire. I am a certified wildlife biologist and currently workas a consultantto the National WildlifeFederation. I am also a Fish and Game Commissioner. I serve on a voluntary board of 11 commissioners appointed by the Governor to oversee theFish and Game Department. I havehad a four decade long career as wildlife biologist, serving over 31 years as a wildlife biologist for theNew Hampshire Fish and Game Department, until my retirement in June of2007. I was the state's first black bearbiologist beginning in 1978 and soon thereafter the furbearer biologist as well. Inmy lifetime ofliving 50 ofmy 62 years inNew Hampshire I have seen winter disappear. When my family moved from Maine to NewHampshire in 1962 I soon discovered a local marsh called Little Cohas March created by the Fish and Game Department in the 1950'sto bolster duckpopulations. I also discovered duck nesting boxes placed there by the Department to bolsterthe cavity nesting ducks. By 1965 Ijoinedthe local Fish andGame Club and convinced them to fund a project to allow me to build a dozen more boxes to addto the march. I began to checkthem each winter. My parents bought me snowshoes for Christmas 1964 so I could travel to the marsh in the deep snow. I regularly checked the boxes eachwinter for signs ofnesting ducks. By the mid 1980's I also became the Regional Wildlife Biologist and one of my assigned duties was to

.... Check the Department's duck nesting boxes at Little Cohas March. I was actually paidto do what I wanted most to do as a teen! Here again the snow was deep and through the 1980's I used a snow machine or snow shoes to hike the mile long marsh. Bythemid 1990'sthe snow was gone most winters. So I used a wheeled ATV to get around the marsh. Bythe early 2000's the ice was not safe enoughto use amachine anymore. The last winter I was supposed to checkthe boxes in January 2007, there was no ice. In fact there was no safe ice thatwinter at all. In three ofthe last five winters there has beenlittle safe ice on Little Cohas Marsh. Winterhas disappeared from southernNewHampshire in my life time.

### These unusually warm winters has raised havoc on ourmoose as well. These same too warm winters are killing offourmoose with spikes inmoose winterticks. The moosepopulationhas declined some40 percent the last 6 years from about 7,500 moose to only4,500 today. Inthe mean time the Fish and Game Departmenthas hadto cut moose hunting permit numbers by 60 percent. My decades long observations have seen waterfowl populations migrating to the state latter each fall. Consequently duck seasons have hadto be adjusted later by demand oftheNewHampshire duck hunters. Wehave bears active all winter long now, something not seen in the first two decades ofmy career as a bearbiologist. Imagine insomniac bears!

The lack ofsnow and ice this past winter devastatedNewHampshire outdoorbusinesses. Ice fishing equipment sales were offsome 60 percent based on some sport shop owners I haveknown for decades. And the local snow machine dealer inmy town told me herbusiness was offover 50 percentthis past winter. Carbonpollution is impacting much ofNewHampshire's fish and wildlife and the businesses that depend on our winters. I urge youto curb carbon pollution. Eric Orff, wildlife biologist Epsom, NH eorff@aol.com 603-736-4663Dear Senator/Congressman: Clean water and air are critical for myNew Hampshire business. I own and operate the largest New Hampshire sporting goods store that caters specifically tothis state's hunters and fishermen. We have been in business for over forty years. Thankfully this state has been aggressive in reducing mercury that impacts both our freshwater and salt water fish. In 2010 twenty-five percent ofthe freshwater fish tested had such high mercury levels that it would put a young child at risk ofeating them. Now our too warm winters and subsequent high moose tick numbers have caused a dramatic decline in our moose numbers, down some forty percent from 7,000 to 4,000 in the last seven years. Moose hunter permits have dropped sixty percent from 675 in 2007 to only 275 to be issued this year. The lack ofice for our fishermen this past winter significantly impacted my business as well. I would ask that you support efforts in Congress to reduce air pollution that is impacting our fish and wildlife. Mercury pollution and a warmingclimate need to be addressed at the national level. I ask that you support legislation or EPArules that curb this pollution. Sue Wood Wildlife Sports and Taxidermy Manchester, NH

# ~~n7vJ~.Senator Kelly Ayotte: The Pointer Fish and Game Club ofBedford has over 500 members. We have long supported conservation efforts that have restored fish and wildlife populations in New Hampshire. Now, we askthat you support the EPA's efforts to clean our air. Mercury is a well known pollution affecting especially our fish. This state had moved ahead toreduce mercury by requiring the scrubber on the BowPower Plant. We have learned that this effort has reduced mercury levels by about 98 percent. We urge youto support an effort to move the whole nation forward onreducing mercury levels. Secondly we have learned that other airpollution is causing our winters to wann and this is greatly impacting our moose. Moose numbers are down about 40 percent the last six years due to too wann winters and the moose ticks that are rising in numbers killing off our moose. As it now stands the moose hunter permits have been reduced some 60 percent the last six years because ofthe moose die off. This past winter was so warm that our winter ice fishing events were difficult to hold. Businesses like our local sport shops and snow machine dealers really took a fmancial hit this winter.

Please support the EPA's effort to reduce pollution that is hurting outfish and wildlife. 

## / ·. J ./ Sincerely

.

### ~;J.'



# /

.fZI/Itj-<.**'P~** £ack elanger President ofPointer Fish and Game Club

(603) 345-4853 CELL

JACK BELANGER President www.pfgc.org (603) 472-5936 HOME

f' 0. BOX .1424 MANCHESTER. N.H. 03108------------- - -----**------------------------------------~**

Senator Kelly Ayotte: My name is Buck Mercier. I have been a New Hampshire bear and moose guide for decades. I am very concerned with the recent reports ofmoose die offs because our winters are too warm. Moose tick numbers are so high that our moose can no longer survive. Recently !learnedthat our moose population has declined from 7,000 moose in 2006 to only about 4,000 moose now. As a result moose hunter permits numbers have been reduced to only 275 for this year, which is**do\~TI** 60 percent from what they were five years ago. Iask that you support the EPA's efforts to reduce the air pollution that is cause our winters to be too warm.Senator Kelly Ayotte: My name is Karen Courchesne from Hooksett. My husband Steve and I have been a New Hampshire bear, deer and moose guides for decades. We are very concerned with the recent reports ofmoose die offs because our winters are too wam1. Moose tick numbers are so high that our moose can no longer survive. Recently I learned that our moose population has declined from 7,000 moose in 2006 to only about 4,000 moose now. As a result moose hunterpermits numbers have been reduced to only 275 for this year, which is 

### dovm 60 percent from what they were five years ago.

We also own a bait shop in Hooksett and caterto this state's ice fishermen. What a bust last winter was. There was hardly any safe ice anywhere. Our business took a beating due to ilie lack ofice. And it wasn'tjust last winter that was like that. We have been impacted bypoor ice for about halfofthe winters iliis last decade. We used to be able to count on winter ice fishermen. Now we can't. Our winters are wayto warm oflate. We ask that you support the EPA's efforts to reduce the air pollution that is causing our winters to be too warm.

Thank you.

Karen and Steve Courchesne Hooksett, NHDear Senator Shaheen: My family has owned and operated a small business nearthe shores ofGreat Bay for half a century. We are a convenience store as well as a sport shop providing services to seacoast families and sportsmen and women. Our business has come to rely on ourtraditional New Hampshire winters to supply local sportsmen and women with their needs for ice fishing, particularly for smelt fishermen on Great Bay and its tributaries. For decades ofour business we could count on our winters and ice onthe Bay and the rivers. Butthe last decade things have dramatically changed. We find that we can no longer count on winter here on the coast, orthe legions offishermen who have supported ourbusiness. Climate change is real for us and this last winter was a disaster. Our business was offby over fifty percent. During the last decade winter as usual and the ice we all depend upon hasbeen absent nearly halfthe winters with this past winter the worst ever. No one can remember a winterwhen there were not at least a few days ofsafe ice on Great Bay. But this past winter, there were none. There was not even any safe ice on the Exeter, Oyster or Lamprey Rivers. We need to order our winter ice fishing supplies well in advance ofwinter, and here, yet again, we are left with much ofour inventory, an investment that a small business like ours can ill afford. I askthat you support the EPA's efforts to curb air pollution that is causing our climate to warm as well as any other legislation supporting a reduction in carbon. Jason MacKenzie Suds N' Soda Sport Shop enland, NHIfOnly Moose Could Vote. Ifonly a moose couldvote. I would vote for clean air andthe new Carbon Rule which is part ofthe Clean Air Act. You see NewHampshire moose are introuble, real trouble. In fact we have been for some time now. Airpollution is delivering a one-two pu,nch to us. This all started back sometwenty years ago when humans first realized that theirair pollution, including acid rain and airpollution like mercury and cadmium, was accumulating in our bodies. Youknowthe stuffyou shoot up into the atmosphere from coal fired powerplants and similardirty factories. Itdidn'ttake you long to fmd out that me and my cousin, whitetail deer, had accumulated this toxic brewin our livers and other organs. Yes, you have poisoned us enoughto make us too toxic for youto eat partofus. You humans have depended onmoose and deerfor food and clothing since the beginning oftime. Andthis is howyourepay us? Nowthis same pollution is causing the earth'stemperature to rise. You call it climate change or global warming. We call it the kiss ofdeath. To put this all into perspective lets lookback a few decades. We moose were practically gone by 190I whenwe first received protection from unregulated hunting. And from fewer than 50 moose by the mid 1900's we thrived and grew in numbers. By 1988 the first hunting season was established with only 75 huntingpermits allocated. And still we thrived and grew in numbers. Moose hunting permits numbers followed us up as ournumbers grew. By 1991 100 permits were issued. Our numbers grew evenmore, and by 1997, 570 permits were then issued. Butthe earth was warming, increasing on average one degree each decade since 1970. Yet our numbers continuedto grow as didthe moose permit numbers. Yetthings were changing as ourwinters warmed. Ournemesis the moose ticks were growing in numbers with ever warmer winters. By 2005 moose numbers grewto some 7,000 inNewHampshire. And hunting permits swelledto 675 by 2006. Butthen came even warmer winters which really caused moose tick numbers to thrive. Most years a moose like me can live with upwards of30,000 ofthese winterticks biting, itching and burrowing into myflesh as they suckmyblood. But given the extremely warm winters oflate, due to all that air pollution, tick numbers have swelledto sometimes 160,000 ticks ona moose like me. This is a number that kills us, slowly as we scratch andrub ourselves against trees to try to scrap the tens ofthousands ofticks off along with ourprotective 

### fur. Thenwe slowly suffer and die ofhypothermia. By2007, anotherunusually 

### warm winter, moose numbers beganto fall to an estimated population ofonly 5,500. And withthat downturn in our numbers the moose hunting permit numbers were reduced to only 515 for 2008 and 2009 hunting seasons. This was followed bymore declines in moose numbers and permits the following two years ofonly 395 permits. NewHampshire Fish and Game moose biologist Kristine Rines figures that upwards of 40percent ofmoose mortality is from winterticks on average. But a winter like 2010, whichwas extremely mild, Kristine estimated over 20percent ofus adult moose and all our calves died the following winter, 2Oil, from winter ticks.Now going into the 2012 season Kristine estimates that our moose population is closerto 4,000. And hunters will see a much further reduction in moose permits to only 275 permits to be issuedfor 2012 and 2013. So thanks to a warming climate, especiallytoo warm winters resulting in a scourge of winterticks, our moose numbershave fallen from 7,000 moose to fewer than 4,000 today, a 40 percent decline. Moose hunterpermits will have fallen 60 percent from 675 to 275 for the 2012 season. A recent quote inthe Northern Woodlands magazine byKristine Rines said "Moose are facing a triple threat in our changing climate. Increasing temperatures, changing forest species and increasedmortality due to parasites maymake it very hard to maintain a viable moose population in New Hampshire inthe future." And it is notjust in NewHampshirethatmoose populations are being affected by too warm winters. In northernMinnesota moose numbers are down some 90 percent as the winters there have warmedabout four degrees on average over the last three decades. Maine moose too seemto be taking a hit from high wintertick numbers. Maine shed hunters reported discoveringhundreds ofdeadmoose there last spring as well. Could NewHqampshire's moose be essentially gone within another decade? Ifonly moose could vote. I wouldvote to support the Environmental Protection Agencies efforts to curb airpollution like mercury, cadmium, arsenic and carbon. I would vote for our senators and congressmenwho support the new Carbon Rule part ofthe Clean AirAct. I wouldcall them to ask for their support. Until you see my stubby tail sticking out ofthe votingbooth nextto you, can I count on you? Can I count onyour votes and calls to support the CleanAirAct? I'm counting onyou. (To learn more go to: http://www.nwf.org/cleanair) Eric Orff Wildlife biologist Epsom,NH