Parks Agency to Support SB217

The agency that oversees state parks and Cannon Mountain will testify in support of SB217, the amended Cannon lease bill, during tomorrow's House committee hearing.

The Department of Resources and Economic Development (DRED) worked with the Senate to amend SB217 into something it can support.

While we still have concerns about the bill and its potential impact on Cannon and Franconia Notch State Park, it at least pushes off lease discussions until the middle of 2013.


Specifically, the amended bill:

• Calls on DRED to develop a master plan for Cannon Mountain and Franconia Notch State Park, including an analysis of whether it is in the public interest to lease the ski area to a private operator.
• The master plan would be submitted to the State Park System Advisory Council before being submitted to the governor and Executive Council by July 1, 2013.
• Calls on DRED to develop a plan to ensure that ski operations of Cannon Mountain will become "self-funded" and "self-sufficient." This plan must be completed by Nov. 1, 2012.

The bill also would establish a veterans memorial and create hiking trails over Mittersill and on to the summit of Cannon.


In the past, DRED and the State Park System Advisory Council have opposed bills that called for leasing Cannon to a private operator.