The Balsams’ partners at The Nature Conservancy are welcoming a new face onto their team…a face familiar in the halls of New Hampshire government. The Conservancy’s website at Nature.org reports that as of August 15th, Jim O’Brien of Hopkinton will be at the Conservancy’s Concord office as Director of Government Relations.
O’Brien’s background includes serving as director of Conservation New Hampshire and also of the Granite State Conservation Voters Alliance. O’Brien also managed Gordon Humphrey’s 2002 campaign for governor and has also served as development director for Concord’s branch of the Red Cross. He’s used his legislative and PR skills to appeal for state funding of conservation programs such as LCHIP, the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program.
O’Brien replaces the organization’s former director of government relations, Joel Harrington, who departed TNC for Vermont Law School.
The New Hampshire Sustainable Energy Association (NHSEA) lists some of O’Brien’s other achievements as of around 2008:
“Jim is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, where he studied political science, history and economics. Jim is a selectman in Hopkinton and was past chair of Leadership Greater Concord. In 2007, Jim was named one of New Hampshire’s forty leaders under 40 by the Manchester Union Leader.”
Writing in the Union Leader during a funding fight over LCHIP around 2008…he used his knowledge of New Hampshire’s history and political landscape to make his case for underwriting the program.
“To put into context where funding for LCHIP resides,” he writes, “if the Senate budget passed the state would dedicate just one-half of one tenth of 1 percent (0.05 percent) of its entire $10.2 billion budget to protecting our state’s most important natural and historic resources. Is this the priority funding that senators campaigned on last fall?”
O’Brien takes charge of TNC’s government relations as economic stresses and political changes make government funding more difficult to come by than it was two years ago. But his new boss Daryl Burtnett expresses confidence in him:
“Jim possesses extensive knowledge of legislative and rulemaking process, and has earned respect from all points on the political spectrum,” he writes. “We are thrilled to have Jim on board at this critical time for environmental issues in our state.”
Dave Ridley
The Balsams Blogging Team
Image courtesy of Dave Ridley
While the East Coast begins to recover from the flooding, fallen trees, and power outages caused by Hurricane Irene, businesses in the travel and hospitality industry are counting their losses, which are unlikely to be recouped in the coming weeks as travelers cut their summer vacations short across New Hampshire and all of New England.
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