Comments on: Balance Needed In The Maine Woods http://www.skinnymoose.com/bbb/2007/11/20/balance-needed-in-the-maine-woods/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=balance-needed-in-the-maine-woods Black Bear Blog - The Politics of Hunting, Fishing and the Outdoors. Protecting our American Heritage. Fri, 25 May 2012 20:26:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Tom Remington http://www.skinnymoose.com/bbb/2007/11/20/balance-needed-in-the-maine-woods/#comment-6235 Tom Remington Wed, 21 Nov 2007 13:55:31 +0000 http://www.skinnymoose.com/bbb/2007/11/20/balance-needed-in-the-maine-woods/#comment-6235 Thanks, Richard for your comments and honesty. I agree with you in the direction Maine is headed for land access and I don't like it either. I must say however that not everyone agrees with me on this. As a matter of fact many are anxious for this to happen. They say it will make for BETTER hunting. I guess I'm too old to see how that will be. Thanks, Richard for your comments and honesty. I agree with you in the direction Maine is headed for land access and I don’t like it either. I must say however that not everyone agrees with me on this. As a matter of fact many are anxious for this to happen. They say it will make for BETTER hunting.
I guess I’m too old to see how that will be.

]]> By: Richard Paradis http://www.skinnymoose.com/bbb/2007/11/20/balance-needed-in-the-maine-woods/#comment-6234 Richard Paradis Wed, 21 Nov 2007 13:40:11 +0000 http://www.skinnymoose.com/bbb/2007/11/20/balance-needed-in-the-maine-woods/#comment-6234 The deer wintering issue has been around for quite some time now - since the clearcutting of large tracts of land in the 1970's. That practice has been stopped by Maine State law. I was at a meeting a few years ago (SAM's Deer Task Force?) where Gerry Levine (IF&W Chief Deer Biologist at the time) explained that the deer wintering area issue was gone - long gone. The problem was predation by coyotes (they harvest roughly the same number of deer as hunters) and others (bear?) that kept the population from coming back to use the now adequate deer wintering areas. Yes, even in the northwoods. The problem of land access and the future of hunting in Maine (and everywhere) is far removed from the deer wintering issue. The question is how we can find areas to hunt and roam freely - the answer is we can't. I was at LL Bean's a decade ago and Jim Zumbo said Maine was the last place where hunters can roam freely on private land. That will end soon. Get used to owning, leasing or otherwise paying for the land you hunt. The KJ this week had a letter to the editor from George Smith's (Ex Dir of SAM) father saying the time was now to change Maine's law regarding paying for hunting areas. That is now illegal. Pay to hunt is the way to keep land areas open. Charles Schumer (yeah, the anti-hunting and anti-gun guy) has sponsored federal legislation that will help farmers defray the cost of opening their farms to hunters: Taxpayer funding of hunting areas. That will likely lead to SAPPI, Plum Creek and everyone else in Maine to post their land so they can open it to hunters with a government subsidy. I only have a couple years of useful hunting left in me and I will never pay to hunt anywhere. The new folks coming along (and they will not know the difference) may well gladly pay. The deer wintering issue has been around for quite some time now – since the clearcutting of large tracts of land in the 1970′s. That practice has been stopped by Maine State law.

I was at a meeting a few years ago (SAM’s Deer Task Force?) where Gerry Levine (IF&W Chief Deer Biologist at the time) explained that the deer wintering area issue was gone – long gone. The problem was predation by coyotes (they harvest roughly the same number of deer as hunters) and others (bear?) that kept the population from coming back to use the now adequate deer wintering areas. Yes, even in the northwoods.

The problem of land access and the future of hunting in Maine (and everywhere) is far removed from the deer wintering issue.

The question is how we can find areas to hunt and roam freely – the answer is we can’t. I was at LL Bean’s a decade ago and Jim Zumbo said Maine was the last place where hunters can roam freely on private land. That will end soon. Get used to owning, leasing or otherwise paying for the land you hunt. The KJ this week had a letter to the editor from George Smith’s (Ex Dir of SAM) father saying the time was now to change Maine’s law regarding paying for hunting areas. That is now illegal. Pay to hunt is the way to keep land areas open.

Charles Schumer (yeah, the anti-hunting and anti-gun guy) has sponsored federal legislation that will help farmers defray the cost of opening their farms to hunters: Taxpayer funding of hunting areas. That will likely lead to SAPPI, Plum Creek and everyone else in Maine to post their land so they can open it to hunters with a government subsidy.

I only have a couple years of useful hunting left in me and I will never pay to hunt anywhere. The new folks coming along (and they will not know the difference) may well gladly pay.

]]> By: Tom Remington http://www.skinnymoose.com/bbb/2007/11/20/balance-needed-in-the-maine-woods/#comment-6233 Tom Remington Tue, 20 Nov 2007 21:34:06 +0000 http://www.skinnymoose.com/bbb/2007/11/20/balance-needed-in-the-maine-woods/#comment-6233 I suppose Fish Geek that if you/I/we could find the answer to that problem, we may be set for life. Thanks for taking a moment to respond. I do respect you opinion greatly. I wish I had the right answer. I suppose Fish Geek that if you/I/we could find the answer to that problem, we may be set for life.

Thanks for taking a moment to respond. I do respect you opinion greatly. I wish I had the right answer.

]]> By: fish geek http://www.skinnymoose.com/bbb/2007/11/20/balance-needed-in-the-maine-woods/#comment-6232 fish geek Tue, 20 Nov 2007 19:49:57 +0000 http://www.skinnymoose.com/bbb/2007/11/20/balance-needed-in-the-maine-woods/#comment-6232 I think the key is finding financial incentives that will encourage landowners to manage for deer habitat without losing business. My friend works for Irving Woodlands and they are doing a lot of voluntary protection of deer yards, but they can only go so far, some wood has to be cut to pay the bills and make money. There is an incentive for large landowners to manage land for deer partially for public relations reasons, but these incentives do not always exist for smaller landowners. One could go on and on about the problems related to Maine's economy and the state government's financial problems, but the bottom line is that we need to find ways to invest in our fish and wildlife resources. This is a wise investment that will pay off in the future. I think the key is finding financial incentives that will encourage landowners to manage for deer habitat without losing business. My friend works for Irving Woodlands and they are doing a lot of voluntary protection of deer yards, but they can only go so far, some wood has to be cut to pay the bills and make money. There is an incentive for large landowners to manage land for deer partially for public relations reasons, but these incentives do not always exist for smaller landowners.
One could go on and on about the problems related to Maine’s economy and the state government’s financial problems, but the bottom line is that we need to find ways to invest in our fish and wildlife resources. This is a wise investment that will pay off in the future.

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