Hearings scheduled on fish and wildlife legislation

The legislature’s Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has scheduled hearings on eight bills on February 4 and 6.

You can access these bills and read the details on the legislature’s website. You can also listen to the hearings online, through the legislature’s website.

On February 4 at 1 pm, these are the bills that will be heard:

LD 175, An Act to Extend the Deer Hunting Season by Two Saturdays, sponsored by Representative McCrea of Fort Fairfield

LD 188, An Act to Provide for an Expanded Muzzle-Loading-Only Deer Hunting Season presented by Representative Tuell of East Machias

LD 190, An Act to Provide Antlerless Deer Permits to Senior Resident Lifetime Hunting License Holders, sponsored by Representative Hutchins of Penobscot County

LD 265, An Act to Increase Opportunities for Hunters, Anglers, and Sporting Camps by Extending the Seasons on Upland Game, sponsored by Senator Black of Franklin County

On February 6 at 9 am, these are the bills that will be heard:

LD 74, An Act to Reform Maine’s Fish and Wildlife Management System, sponsored by Senator Pouliot of Kennebec County

LD 79, An Act to Protect Shooting Ranges, sponsored by Representative Corey of Windham

LD 121, An Act to Require the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to Implement a Firearm Safety and Firearm Violence Prevention Program, sponsored by Representative Fecteau of Biddeford

LD 258, An Act to Establish and Coordinate a Volunteer Corps of Search and Rescue Specialists Within the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, sponsored by Senator Miramant of Knox County

George Smith

About George Smith

George stepped down at the end of 2010 after 18 years as the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine to write full time. He writes a weekly editorial page column in the Kennebec Journal and Waterville Morning Sentinel, a weekly travel column in those same newspapers (with his wife Linda), monthly columns in The Maine Sportsman magazine, two outdoor news blogs (one on his website, georgesmithmaine.com, and one on the website of the Bangor Daily News), and special columns for many publications and newsletters. Islandport Press published a book of George's favorite columns, "A Life Lived Outdoors" in 2014. In 2014, George also won a Maine Press Association award for writing the state's bet sports blog. In 2016, Down East Books published George's book, Maine Sporting Camps, and Islandport Press published George and his wife Linda's travel book, Take It From ME, about their favorite Maine inns and restaurants.