AH, NEW YEAR’S — out with the old, in with the new, turning over a new leaf and all that.

Here are some things I would like to see happen as 2012 rolls into view.

-- The Barry Conservation Camp in the Kilkenny Basin northwest of Berlin was hauled back from the brink of extinction by a tremendous effort at restoration by a consortium of hunting and fishing clubs around the state. That effort was led by the Belknap County Sportsmen’s Association and its fearless leader, Mike Normandin.

Raising money to keep the camp going will be an ongoing struggle, but it’s a matter of pride. Why should New Hampshire send its kids out of state to attend an outdoor-oriented camp? We should be too proud for that.

During the restoration effort, many people wrote me about fond memories of attending Barry Camp. One way to assure its continuity would be an endowment fund. If you loved camp, write something into your will and obituary.

So I’m planting the seed. And I’ll follow this up with a conversation with Mike on the details for a future column. Time to step up, folks.

-- Speaking of stepping up, when are the so-called “non-consumptive” (a term I hate) outdoor recreators going to pay their fair share on search and rescue and habitat protection? Right now, hunters, fishermen, ATVers and snowmobilers do the heavy lifting.

The fact is that hunters and fishermen are seldom objects of search and rescue efforts, but hey, about those other outdoor users …

The hiking, climbing and canoeing crowd has made mewing sounds for decades about supporting an excise tax on equipment (same as the taxes on hunting and fishing gear) to shoulder their fair share. What a wonderful thing if an initiative could at least be started in 2012.

-- It would be nice if the Fish and Game Commission issued a directive to its employees that when an earnest citizen reports a cougar sighting, they should say something diplomatic, such as, “It sure seems that people are seeing big animals with long tails that could be mountain lions, but if so, we have no solid proof and have no idea where they would be coming from.”

And staffers should be instructed not to insult people’s intelligence. Raccoons, fisher cats, bobcats? Come on — an animal bigger than a big dog, with an extremely long tail? What else could it be? As for “escaped pet,” that’s baloney. If anyone was harboring a pet cougar, the entire town would know.

-- As a veteran of cutting, tying, trucking and selling Christmas trees, I have an admitted soft spot for the real-tree industry. I’m sick and tired of “officialdom” scare-mongering people into thinking that they aren’t “allowed” to put up real trees in myriad places. The New Hampshire Christmas Tree Association should rear back on its hind legs, confront the “safety at any price” extremists, and demand, “Show us the law.”

John Harrigan’s address: Box 39, Colebrook NH 03576, or e-mail at hooligan@ncia.net.