It was Mike Look Day at the IFW Committee last Thursday. Mike’s a Washington County sportsman activist, known principally for his advocacy of antler restrictions on deer. Mike is President of the Downeast Branch of the Quality Deer Management Association. And even though the committee had already heard one bill on antler restrictions, they hosted […]
Moose permits have been cut in half and nothing is being done to save moose that are being killed in big numbers by ticks, but the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife says it needs no more money for moose research and management. That was their testimony against LD 1065, a bill sponsored at my […]
Members of the legislature’s Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Department have sent us mixed messages on the many moose hunting bills considered this session. In divided votes, the following moose bills were rejected by the committee: A bill to double the number of moose permits auctioned by DIF&W for conservation camp scholarships for kids from 10 […]
A bag limit of Sunday hunting bills got shot down this week by the legislature’s Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee. The various bills would have: Allowed each Maine town to determine if it wanted to allow Sunday hunting; Allowed bird hunting on Sundays with shotguns only; Allowed Sunday hunting for migratory birds; Allowed Sunday […]
The debate has been brutal. And we’ve learned a lot. Turns out it’s already illegal to forage on private land without permission. So Senator Tom Saviello pulled the bill he sponsored at my request. LD 128 would have required landowner permission before we pick their mushrooms, fiddleheads, or other crops. The bill drew a strong […]
Maine sporting camps and outfitters may get 20% of the moose hunting permits currently going to nonresidents in the annual drawing. The legislature’s Inland Fisheries and Wildlife endorsed a bill to give 20 percent of the nonresident moose permits to outfitters and sporting camps licensed by Maine’s Department of Health and Human Resources in a […]
The effort at the legislature to extend protection of Heritage brook trout continues to stir debate, focused on disappointment with the opposition and testimony of Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Today I’m sharing testimony that Gary Corson provided to the IFW Committee after the hearing. Gary was listening to the hearing online and […]
Jenn Burns Gray has done a terrific job lobbying for Maine Audubon for the last 20 years, and I’ve enjoyed working with her. She’s a strong and calm presence in the Capitol, and we have worked together on many issues and initiatives over the years. So I was very disappointed to learn that Jenn was […]
A collaboration between the Maine State Museum and the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine promises a fascinating evening on May 20 in Augusta. They have created a historic documentary about sportsmen and the Maine Sporting Camp tradition, which will be seen in a 3D historic experience. Here’s the announcement that includes information on how to reserve […]
The State of Maine Sportsman’s Show last weekend was once again a fantastic event, cosponsored by The Maine Sportsman magazine and the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine. It took Harry Vanderweide, the TMS editor at that time, two years to convince the SAM Board that this would be a good partnership, and for our first years […]
