We are disappointed to read Governor Lynch’s statement in support of the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP) on his campaign website.

We are disappointed because it is not accurate.

The Environment section of Lynch’s campaign website features the following:

“Protecting NH’s  Unique Character

As Governor, John Lynch made a commitment to preserving what is special about New Hampshire by fully funding the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program. This highly successful program allows the state to partner with local communities to preserve open space and historic places.”

We wonder if by “Protecting NH’s Unique Character,” Gov. Lynch really means “Raiding NH’s Conservation Funding.”

While we also question other statements made on his campaign page, the Governor’s LCHIP assertion is especially insulting to those who have supported the program and tried unsuccessfully to protect it from his consistent plundering over the years.

The disappointing fact is that the Lynch administration and the Democrat controlled legislature have taken 68% of the funds supposedly dedicated to LCHIP over the past 2 years, all for “one-time” fixes to the state’s general fund. This means the Governor sapped LCHIP of 2/3rds of the money raised for land conservation, and used it for other purposes.

Apparently the Governor’s commitment to LCHIP translates into a constant assault on its budget.

If Governor Lynch would like to support the LCHIP program, we hope that he will not only pledge publicly to stop using the LCHIP fund as a piggy bank, but will also commit to returning all the money he has taken from this dedicated fund over the past two years.  That would show a real commitment on the Governor’s part to preserving what is special about NH.

While we don’t expect this to happen, we do expect that the Lynch team will remove the LCHIP statement from the campaign site and replace it with something a bit more accurate.