DIFW Wants Your Thoughts on New Furbearers Plan

The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife wants to hear from you about their new management plan for furbearers including fox, raccoon, beaver, and lots more, including skunks.

Here’s what this is all about: The meetings and online forum are part of a larger study designed to assess priorities for furbearer management, including the issues residents see as important; their attitudes toward the current and desired population levels of various species; management techniques for these species; and any ideas for potential changes to the current management programs. Input from the public will help MDIFW create the best management plans possible.

You can share your thoughts with them at public meetings or online. Here’s their announcement.

Department Seeks Public Input On Maine’s Furbearers At Public Meetings And Online Forum

AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife wants to hear your ideas and opinions about the management of Maine’s furbearers – a diverse group of mammals that includes coyote, red and gray fox, bobcat, fisher, marten, raccoon, skunk, short and long-tailed weasels, mink, otter, beaver, muskrat, and opossum.

During the first week of December, the Department will hold a series of statewide public meetings that will focus on furbearers. The meetings are designed to gather ideas and information from the public that will help shape management of these species over the next fifteen years.

“We are looking for input from the public that will help guide our furbearer management efforts over the next fifteen years,” said Nate Webb, “We’ve already conducted extensive public surveys, but this is your chance to provide additional input on the management of these species for years to come”.

In addition to public meetings, IFW is creating a dedicated online forum at https://www.mainefurbearerforum.org/ to provide a further opportunity for residents to voice their opinions on furbearer issues.

Starting November 7, residents will be able to access the online forum website and leave comments and suggestions at https://www.mainefurbearerforum.org/. The website will stay live until December 7, at which point comments will be reviewed. Residents are encouraged to log onto the website during the month of November to submit responses to prepared questions as well as interact with one another in an exchange of opinions and ideas.

There will also be a series of public meetings around the state to hear people’s thoughts and ideas regarding species management. A list of locations and time and date are listed below.

Furbearer Management Public Meetings

  • Portland: Tuesday, December 3 at 6:30 p.m.; Fireside Inn and Suites
    81 Riverside Street, Portland, ME 04103
  • Orono: Tuesday, December 3 at 6:30 p.m; Black Bear Inn, 4 Godfrey Drive, Orono, ME 04473
  • Augusta: Wednesday, December 4 at 6:30 p.m.; Augusta Civic Center, 76 Community Drive, Augusta, ME 04330
  • Presque Isle: Thursday, December 5 at 6:30 p.m.; Northeastland Hotel, 436 Maine Street, Presque Isle, ME 04769

The meetings and online forum are part of a larger study designed to assess priorities for furbearer management, including the issues residents see as important; their attitudes toward the current and desired population levels of various species; management techniques for these species; and any ideas for potential changes to the current management programs. Input from the public will help MDIFW create the best management plans possible.

MDIFW contracted with Responsive Management, an internationally recognized public opinion research firm, to conduct the research for the state. Responsive Management is handling the facilitation of the public meetings as well as the administration of the online forum. The firm has also conducted focus groups and surveys with Maine residents, hunters, trappers, and landowners as part of the research.

Maine residents may have received a call, email, or letter in recent weeks inviting them to participate in one of the scientific surveys conducted for the project. The next phase of the project calls for a wider opportunity for residents to submit comments and suggestions in an open-ended manner via the public meetings and online forum.

For more information about Responsive Management, please visit www.ResponsiveManagement.com.

For further information about the research study, please contact Nate Webb, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, at nathan.webb@maine.gov.

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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.