According to the Vote No campaign website, the state’s bear population has increased over 67 percent since the 1990s, requiring the use of the current “state of the art” program to control the bear population and reduce bear/human interactions. This is in fact their main argument! However, data collected within Maine and other states provide evidence that baiting/feeding bears has caused their population to increase. What they consider “state of the art” (GPS-collared dogs, video cameras at dump sites) has nothing to do with actual science. I suppose scare tactics and false information must be an easier sell than the truth.

And as far as bear hunting being part of Maine’s outdoor heritage (another quote from their website), this may also be true. However, what is definitely not part of Maine’s outdoor heritage are these unsporting practices of baiting, hounding and trapping. Bear baiting began in the 1970s after people decided that shooting bears at the town garbage dump might not appear so sporting. They just moved the dumps into the woods and now this practice is called part of “Maine’s outdoor heritage.”

As the last of the 50 states to allow all three of these practices, it’s time for Maine decide what are its true values and heritage.

Eric Heinrich

South Portland

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