To the Editor:
Opposers of Maine bear hunting reform think snare trapping, dog chasing and baiting bears is okay. The reason why they think it’s okay? “Because the Maine Inland Fish & Game biologists say so.”
Similarly, that is the reason given by Gov. LePage and some of his closer supporters. “Our professional biologists tell us our forests are thick. We need our current methods of hunting. They are the top guys in the U.S. We stand by their advice.” Not so fast. The states with the most successful bear management are Oregon and Washington, not Maine.
Washington, Oregon and Maine are three of the four top U.S. lumber producing states. All have thick forests. Washington and Oregon do not allow baiting, trapping and hounding. They have gained more hunters and higher revenues from sport bear hunting since they abandoned all inhumane hunting practices many years ago.
Their bear populations are in check now. Maine’s has gone up.
Noticeably, our Maine biologists’ Ph.Ds are broken. I think they should ask for advice from Washington and Oregon’s biologists; an easy fix, kind of like second and third doctors’ opinions. Clearly, there are different ways to hunt bear. Maine should get educated on the more successful, more humane ones.
David Trahan tried to launch argument number two last week in this newspaper… that The Humane Society has unscrupulous motives for supporting the demise of inhumane hunting of bears in Maine. The Humane Society! Are you laughing as hard as I am?
There is yet a third argument offered: If inhuman hunting is stopped, bears will be busting through our front doors: another absurd knee slapper.
The three arguments, 1. The biologists said we have to use inhumane hunting practices; 2. The Humane Society is shady; 3. Bears will be breaking into our homes.
These arguments are an insult to our intelligence. The real issue is simple: do you want inhumane hunting or humane hunting? Period.
