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Civil rights training for conservation workers proposed

CONCORD (AP) — Some state lawmakers have introduced a bill that would codify civil rights and anti-discrimination training for conservation officers and create a publicly accessible database to document civil rights infringements on public lands.

The Senate Natural Resources Committee considered the Inclusive Outdoor Act at a hearing on Tuesday, New Hampshire Public Radio reported.

The bill would require that conservation officers receive ethics, diversity and de-escalation training and enforce anti-discrimination policies.

Gov. Chris Sununu has already issued an executive order extending those training requirements to conservation officers following the recommendations of a police accountability commission.

The bill would also create a publicly accessible database of instances where people’s access to publicly maintained areas “without fear or threat of verbal or physical violence,” were violated.

State Rep. Maria Perez, a Democrat from Milford who emigrated to the U.S. from El Salvador more than 30 years ago, spoke in favor of the bill. She told the committee she felt unsafe following an announcement by New Hampshire Audubon that they had found stickers on their Concord trails with “images of hatred, racism and white supremacy” in the fall.

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