Zoning › State preemptions › New Hampshire

Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest — USFS Research Watershed Carve-Out (NH)

Tracked preemption from the New Hampshire overlay bundle.

Overview

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Effective
1955-01-01
Sunset
—
Authority
federal
Scope
state:NH
Other New Hampshire preemptions
NH HB 631 / Chapter 201 (2025) — Multifamily / Mixed-Use By Right on Commercial LandNH RSA 674:72 — Accessory Dwelling Units (HB 577 / Chapter 197 Rewrite)NH RSA 674:71 / 674:58–61 — Workforce Housing Reasonable Opportunity MandateNH RSA 483-B — Shoreland Water Quality Protection ActPease ANG (Air National Guard) AICUZ — Federal Airspace and Noise OverlayNH RSA 674:32 — Manufactured Housing Anti-Exclusionary MandateNH RSA 675 — Procedure for Adoption of Zoning, Subdivision, and Site-Plan RegulationsWhite Mountain National Forest — Federal Land Carve-Out (USFS)

Trigger predicate

When this evaluates true for a parcel, the law's preempted fields take precedence over base zoning.

parcel.within_hubbard_brook_research_watershed == True

Preempted fields

1 field on the base district schema is rewritten when the trigger fires.

FieldOpValueNote
base_districts[*].allowed_usesoverrideusfs_experimental_forest_research_onlyHubbard Brook Experimental Forest (~8,000 acres in Grafton County) is managed exclusively for long-term ecological research by USFS Northern Research Station — no general public development access

Citation

Authority source
USFS Northern Research Station designation (1955); within WMNF boundaries; 16 USC §1641
§ USFS Experimental Forest designation
https://hubbardbrook.org/

Research notes

Iconic long-term ecological research site (acid rain, watershed-ecosystem science). Federal land within WMNF — full preemption of state and local zoning under the Supremacy Clause. Listed separately from the broader WMNF entry because the research-watershed designation carries additional management restrictions (no extractive uses, restricted public access, research-station infrastructure only) that go beyond the general WMNF Forest Plan. Tracked here so North Woodstock / Thornton / Ellsworth area records flag the research-watershed boundary.