Okay ... you all know by now that I'm a journalist by trade. I work for one of the most read papers in the state of New Hampshire, The Hippo Press, as well as acting as the main contributor for their motorcycle magazine, OXX Cycle. Part of working for the Hippo is creating interesting content to keep our readership up to date about their community- we cover news and lifestyle issues pertinent to the Southern New Hampshire area. You can't be an active citizen in S. NH with out reading the Hippo at least once a week (it's out on Thursdays).
I'm getting to a point, I swear ...
Right now I'm working on a cover story pertaining to conservation in the area- often times the topic is left to private land owners and hush-hush town meetings. Lots of folks rarely know what's going on with the properties surrounding them. In order to keep the subject interesting, I'm devising a way for the information to be digestible, educational and sexy, all at the same time. This task is proving to be much harder than I had planned. At the moment, I'm proposing a look at the dichotomy that exists in the aftermath of putting easements on property. They lower a property owner's taxes and still allows them to harvest their land- so long as they don't develop. Normally, land owners who buy in to this option have a considerable amount of land. For example ... Manchester Water Works uses Lake Massabesic as a reservoir for the greater Manchester area. In an effort to protect the water quality there, Water Works put an easement on several hundred acres surrounding the Lake in the town of Auburn.
Because Water Works "owns" the property, they pay taxes on it. By removing the ability to develop that property, Water Works' taxes drop. To compensate for the loss of funds that ultimately aid the town of Auburn, Auburn residents have to pay higher property taxes. You can see where a line can be drawn.
This kind of face-off exists every time people are faced with paying more for anything, even if it is directly related to a town's quality of life through maintaining wild places.
At any rate, I'm developing the story as we speak. I'll be sure to keep all of you posted in regards to my progress and I'll eventually let you know about the print date.
Hooray for writing. I'm seriously having one of the best days ever.
Hugs for trees and smooches for the wild-things.
Love,
Say
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
When it comes to going green sacrifices need to be made, the problem is everyone wants to have their cake and eat it too.
Some one has to "suffer".
Post a Comment