CONCORD — State and federal agencies whose work is to identify important habitats and historic or cultural resources will be getting some data from the proposed Northern Pass project.

In its June 2012 project newsletter, Northern Pass officials said there are as many as 60 experts looking for rare plants, vernal pools and other habitats of importance in the communities where the high-voltage transmission line is proposed.

“This data will provide valuable information to the federal and state agencies tasked with both evaluating the Northern Pass project and protecting New Hampshire's natural and cultural resources,” the newsletter stated.

But Christophe Courchesne, staff attorney for the New Hampshire office of the Conservation Law Foundation and a leading critic of the project, said Northern Pass is not doing the studies to benefit the agencies, but because it is required to. And the work needs to be verified to be sure it is accurate, he said.

“It's critical that these agencies develop their own independent data collection and it should be provided to the public as it is being collected, and it's not,” Courchesne said. “It's also unclear what information they are developing.”

The $1.1 billion project proposed by Hydro Quebec and Northeast Utilities would convey 1,200 megawatts of power to the New England grid.

It seeks to develop an 180-mile transmission line from Pittsburg to Deerfield, about 140 miles of which is on an existing right-of-way.

Martin Murray, spokesman for the Northern Pass, said the Department of Energy hired consultants to do an environmental impact statement. Northern Pass is hiring another set of specialists to work on the state permit.

The data will be shared with the New Hampshire Natural Heritage Bureau, Fish and Game Department and the Division of Historic Resources as well as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of Interior and Forest Service.

The project's federal application is on hold right now while the developers identify and secure a 40-mile route through the state's far north, where there are currently no transmission lines.

In addition to the presidential permit to bring the power from Canada over the border, the project needs a separate-use permit to cross about 11 miles of White Mountain National Forest lands. Both will rely heavily on the data being collected.

Murray called Courchesne's criticisms “nonsensical.”

“Of course the work we're doing is required as part of the project's permitting process,” he said.

“It should be just as clear that the data collected will be beneficial to others; it will be a very useful trove of information to any agency or organization that has an interest in our landscape.”

Any agency or organization will have the ability to challenge the project's data or present its own. It is a very open and transparent process,” Murray said of state licensing.

- - - - - - - -

Paula Tracy may be reached at ptracy@unionleader.com.