Producer/Host: Amy Browne
A public hearing was held in Augusta yesterday for a bill that would decrease protection for the habitat areas around vernal pools and require that property owners be reimbursed if required to protect habitat on land they own. The hearing, held by the Joint Standing Committee on Environmental and Natural Resources, drew a standing room only crowd of supporters and opponents. Today we have the voices of some of the supporters of the bill, and tomorrow at this time we’ll follow up with some of the opponents. Notice how Chandler Woodcock, Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, and Daryl Brown, Commissioner of the DEP respond when asked to back up their testimony with facts. We’ll start with State Senator Ron Collins, sponsor of the bill, reading the bill to the committee