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SAM Enjoys Successful Legislative Session

            SAM’s aggressive legislative agenda found a strong measure of support in the session which ended in late-June.  In addition to SAM’s bills, our lobbying team tracked and worked on more than 200 other bills.  SAM’s contractual lobbyists, Ed and Cate Pineau of Pineau Policy Associates, joined SAM’s executive director George Smith to assure that SAM was represented every day of the legislative session.

            Smith is responsible for all of SAM’s bills and testimony and spends most of his time with the Joint Standing Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.  The Pineaus screen all bills for SAM, prepare weekly tracking reports on all bills of interest to SAM, attend hearings and work sessions, and work the House and Senate as bills are debated and voted on by the full legislature.  They have been particularly effective in working with the House and Senate leadership on behalf of SAM.

            SAM’s Board of Directors establishes SAM’s position on all legislation and devotes a substantial portion of each meeting during the legislative session to discussion of legislative bills and issues.  The Board creates our legislative agenda prior to the session, and SAM members get an opportunity to express their opinions on agenda issues in the annual membership survey.  Results of that survey are provided to legislators and printed in SAM News.

            The issues in SAM’s 2007 legislative agenda were diverse and included recommendations from SAM’s Deer Task Force chaired by DIF&W’s retired deer biologist Gerry Lavigne, who very effectively presented SAM’s legislative testimony on the Task Force bills.  Some Task Force members also turned out to support the legislation.

            SAM’s Fishing Initiative Committee took the lead on our fishing bills.  Some of the session’s liveliest debates resulted from these fishing bills.

            Although all of our bills were not enacted, it must be understood that some were submitted to prod the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to act, and in most cases, that goal was achieved even though the bills that were not enacted into law.

            In addition to the bills submitted directly by SAM, we offered proposals cooperatively with our partners and legislative friends on many topics, achieving success on most of these, ranging from a fall turkey hunt to expansion of the opportunities offered by the super pack license.

            As usual, much of our lobbying effort was spent defeating bad bills, and we are pleased to report that we were 100 percent successful in that effort.  No gun bills were enacted.  The ban on bear trapping was defeated (certainly one of our greatest challenges this session).  No opportunities to hunt, fish, trap, or ride snowmobiles and ATVs, were lost.  And we solidly defeated the salt water fishing license.

            Here’s a report on all of the proposals submitted as SAM’s 2007 Legislative Agenda.

Access to Public Lands

            Concerned about growing conflicts with other users of public lands, SAM focused a great deal of its agenda on issues of public access and use of public lands.   Right now, sportsmen are blessed with good access and use of both parks and public lands managed by the Departments of Conservation and Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, but disagreements over the Allagash Waterway and the ugly battle over the Katahdin Lake purchase for Baxter Park, as well as concerns over the establishment of ecological reserves, led SAM to take these issues to the legislature.

            Governor John Baldacci stepped up quickly with a positive response to SAM’s legislation.  By executive order, the Governor created the Task Force Regarding the Management of Public Lands and Publicly-Held Easements in Maine.  Karin Tilberg of the Governor’s staff and SAM’s executive director worked closely on the language of the order and the potential membership of the task force.

SAM was very pleased when Governor Baldacci named Paul Jacques to chair his Task Force Regarding the Management of Public Lands and Publicly-Held Easements in Maine.  Jacques is the Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, has extensive knowledge of access issues, and is a skilled group leader. 

            Also named by the Governor to the Task Force  were Al Cowperthwaite, North Maine Woods, Jon Fitzgerald, Western Mountains Foundation, Walter Graff, Appalachian Mountain Club, Mac Hunter, University of Maine Department of Wildlife Ecology, Al Hutchinson, Forest Society of Maine, Bruce Kidman, The Nature Conservancy, Jon Lund, The Maine Sportsman publisher, Marcia McKeague, Katahdin Timberlands Group, Bob Meyers, Maine Snowmobile Association, Dan Mitchell, ATV Maine, John Rust, Maine Professional Guides Association, Greg Shute, Chewonki Foundation/Maine Sierra Club, Sally Stockwell, Maine Audubon Society, Karen Woodsum, Maine Sierra Club, Ray Wotton, small landowner, Pat McGowan, Commissioner of the Department of Conservation, Tim Glidden, Land for Maine’s Future Program, Senators Kevin Raye and Bruce Bryant, and Representatives Thomas Watson, Don Marean, and Jackie Lundeen, and SAM’s executive director.

            SAM’s bill would have established a task force with similar membership and goals.  Senate President Beth Edmonds had agreed to sponsor SAM’s bill, which was withdrawn once the Governor acted favorably.

            SAM’s bill called for a task force to study management plans and legal documents governing public lands to determine the opportunities available for motorized access, including snowmobiling and ATV riding, and traditional uses including hunting, fishing and trapping, looking specifically at all management plans for public lots, eco-reserves, and land encumbered by state-owned easements.

            The task force is expected to address growing concerns – especially from people in northern Maine – that their access to and uses of public lands are being reduced. 

First, the task force will get the facts by creating a baseline inventory of the existing management and recreational uses and types of access on public lands.  Then it will find out what we can do and where we can do it.  Then the group will try to identify strategies and resources necessary to reduce conflicts and competition between recreational users of public lands.

Two other SAM bills on access were withdrawn so that the Governor’s task force could address those issues.  Republican House Leader Josh Tardy had agreed to sponsor a SAM bill titled “An Act to Limit the Loss of Public Hunting Land.”  The bill would have established the principle of “no net loss” of public land open to hunting, by prohibiting the closing of public lands to hunting unless an equal amount of public land was newly opened to hunting.

The final SAM bill on access was to be sponsored by Representative Pat Flood.  It would have required a vote of 2/3 in the House and Senate for state acceptance of new donated land.  That bill proved difficult to draft, and SAM and Flood agreed that the issue could best be addressed by the task force.

Apprentice Hunters

            Building on a national effort called “Families Afield,” Representatives Wes Richardson and Steve Hanley proposed SAM’s legislation authorizing new hunters to hunt for one year under the direct supervision of an experienced hunter, without taking the hunter safety course.

            The legislature enacted this bill, as amended by the Fish and Wildlife Committee.  In addition to SAM, the Maine Bowhunters Association and Maine Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation actively supported the bill.  The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife remained neutral, offering clarifying language that improved the bill.

            The apprentice hunting license will cost $21 for residents.  Nonresidents may purchase a big game apprentice license for $102 or a small game apprentice license for $67.  The supervisor of the apprentice must have held a hunting license for the prior 5 years, and is responsible for ensuring that the apprentice hunter follows safe hunting protocol and hunting laws.  The apprentice may hunt only in the presence of the supervisor.  Hunters may purchase the apprentice license only once.

            Apprentice hunter programs in other states have been very successful in recruiting new adult hunters into the sport, and we hope Maine will be blessed with the same experience.  The steady downward trend in hunter numbers in our state is alarming.  At the hearing on SAM’s bill, we distributed a graph prepared by SAM volunteer statistician Jeff Levesque showing a decrease in resident hunters from about 182,000 in 1993 to 171,000 in 2005.

Maine was the thirteenth state to adopt Families Afield legislation..  Michigan and Ohio are two major hunting states that have established apprentice hunting programs.  More than 17,500 apprentice licenses were sold in Michigan and 9,500 in Ohio in the first year of the program, 2006. 

Hunter Safety Course

            Senator Bruce Bryant sponsored SAM’s bill directing DIF&W to design and implement a new hunter safety course that includes options for study at home as well as classroom learning, followed by a day at the range when written tests and shooting will be accomplished.

            The bill asked that the new course include options so that all requirements could be met for firearm, bow, and crossbow licenses, in a single course at the student’s option.

            In addition to SAM, the Maine Bowhunters Association and the Maine Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation supported the bill.  Don Kleiner, lobbyist for those two organizations, took the lead for his groups and SAM and offered very effective testimony.  Kleiner tried to move DIF&W in this direction during his very successful tenure as the department’s Director of Information and Education in the King Administration.

Some hunter safety course instructors opposed the bill, concerned primarily that the home-option would not be sufficient training for new hunters.

            The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife supported SAM’s bill, but offered testimony that could have been interpreted as opposing the bill.  DIF&W reported that it is already moving in the direction called for by the legislation, and has created a home study course that is “growing in popularity,” even though it is not available in all areas of the state.  In 2006, 32 home study courses were offered with 568 students participating.

            DIF&W reported that Maine lacks enough certified ranges for all hunter safety course students to actually shoot, so they could not achieve that part of SAM’s bill.  The department also raised concerns about the development of a single safety course for firearms, bows and crossbows, and said current efforts to offer combination courses have generated “minimal interest.”

            Because the department made a commitment to continue to move toward the goals of SAM’s bill, especially home-based courses and more firearms handling, the Fish and Wildlife Committee killed the bill, while requesting a report next year from DIF&W on the implementation of its new initiatives for the hunter safety course.

Landowner Relations

            Representative Jeremy Fischer worked tirelessly and successfully for SAM’s bill calling for the creation of a full-time landowner relations coordinator position.  This was one of several recommendations from SAM’s Deer Task Force that were enacted this session.

As the House chair of the powerful Appropriations Committee, Fischer, of Presque Isle,  was in a key position to push for his bill, and he did.

            Fischer overcame long odds.  Both the Fish and Wildlife Department and the legislature’s Fish and Wildlife Committee opposed the bill, but the committee reversed itself and gave the bill a divided ought-to-pass recommendation after reconsideration.  It was tough sledding all the way through the process, especially when the funds for the position were not included in the new two-year state budget.

            The Appropriations Committee did fund the bill in the final days of the session however, with 60 percent of the funds coming from DIF&W and 40 percent coming from the Department of Conservation.  Ironically, because DIF&W did not want the position, it went to the Conservation Department.

Deer Bills

            Representative Steve Hanley sponsored bills on two critical recommendations from SAM’s Deer Task Force.

            The most significant bill called for changing the any-deer permit system to an antlerless deer permit system.  All firearms hunters would be allowed to take one antlered deer.  And those who won antlerless deer permits could also take a doe or fawn.   The buck and doe or fawn could be taken in any season in any order. The original bill also applied a $10 fee to the antlerless permit dedicated to landowner relations programs.

            Gerry Lavigne presented compelling arguments for the bill, noting that he recommended this change prior to retiring from DIF&W as one of the nation’s most respected deer biologists.  He described the lengthy 2-year process that led to the Deer Task Force’s recommendations, and testified to the failure of the current any-deer system to accurately predict doe harvests.

            Lavigne’s reports on this and other deer issues have appeared in previous issues of SAM News and he will continue to work on these issues as a SAM volunteer.

            Several members of the Deer Task Force also testified for the bill.  DIF&W testified against the bill, calling the changes “unnecessary.”

            In earlier discussions between SAM and DIF&W, it was clear that the department’s wildlife staff recognizes the inaccuracy of the current system and understands that someday a change such as that proposed by SAM will be necessary.   SAM argued that it made better sense to make the change now, while DIF&W remains unconvinced.

            Our work with DIF&W on all deer issues – including the important topic of deer yard management – will continue, and we remain committed to achieving all of the recommendations of SAM’s Deer Task Force eventually.

            Hanley’s second SAM bill seemed initially to be the easiest to achieve.  It called for starting the firearms season on deer in southern and central Maine one week later than the current season.  Many hunters have complained about the warm weather now experienced at the start of most firearms seasons on deer and would prefer to hunt in colder weather when the deer are more active.

            Although there was substantial support for the bill from Fish and Wildlife Committee members, DIF&W was successful in convincing the committee to kill the bill.  The department did testify that it “had no issue” with the proposal as long as we stay with a four-week five-Saturday season, which was SAM’s intent.

            A third bill from the Deer Task Force, sponsored by Rep. Rich Cebra, called for an increase in the number of any-deer permits allocated to landowners who allow hunting on their property.  Currently landowners get 20 percent of the permits.  SAM’s bill proposed raising that percentage to 30 percent. 

The Fish and Wildlife Department opposed SAM’s bill, stating that “most people applying for a landowner any-deer permit are receiving one,” and “the current allocation of any-deer permits to landowners is adequate.”

The Department distributed a very interesting analysis of the landowner any-deer lottery, showing that 93% of landowner applicants received permits last year.  But as former Senator Leo Keiffer noted in his testimony for the bill, northern Maine applicants fare much more poorly.  The unsuccessful applicants are in districts in northern and eastern Maine where few permits are distributed.

Fish and Wildlife Committee members Tom Saviello and Everett McLeod supported SAM’s bill, amended to increase to 40 percent the permits available to landowners, but that was insufficient to give the bill any traction and it failed to be enacted.

Thanks to Lavigne’s work and the effort of our Deer Task Force, SAM has been able to launch these recommendations in a very positive way, and the respectful hearing and consideration we received at the legislature gave us encouragement as we continue to pursue these goals. 

Coyotes

            SAM’s legislation aimed at addressing the problem of coyote predation on deer received favorable action by the legislature.  These bills were also recommendations from SAM’s Deer Task Force.  Both bills were sponsored by Rep. Herb Clark.

            An Act to Encourage the Harvest of Coyotes called for extending the opportunity to hunt coyotes at night.  The legislature did that, adding the month of May to the current season which goes from January 1 to April 30. 

            This is a significant improvement giving coyote hunters an opportunity to reduce populations during the critical spring period.

            SAM’s Resolve to Create an Effective Coyote Control Program was the more important bill, and it won the strong support of the Fish and Wildlife Committee.  A very detailed report on this bill and the public hearing was presented in the last issue of SAM News.

            Animal rights groups fought the bill while DIF&W remained neutral. But SAM presented a compelling case, led by the testimony of Gerry Lavigne.

            The F&W Committee strengthened SAM’s bill by adding the issue of deer yard management.

            The resolve that was enacted by the full legislature requires DIF&W to establish a working group to “review existing programs and efforts for creating, enhancing and maintaining critical deer habitat in the State and reducing predation of deer by coyotes.”

            Commissioner Martin named the group and got to work even before the legislature finished its work on SAM’s resolve.  The group appears to be working on a fast track, having held three meetings already.

            Lavigne represents SAM on the committee and will continue to present reports on the committee’s work in SAM News.

Youth Bills

            Over the years, SAM has had little success with its package of bills on behalf of young sportsmen.  This session’s bills also fared poorly, to our great disappointment.

            Rep. Tim Carter sponsored SAM’s bill, An Act to Encourage Youth Hunting. It would have allowed young hunters who are successful in harvesting either a deer or turkey on the youth hunting days to continue hunting in the regular seasons and harvest an additional deer or turkey.

            At the work session on the bill, we suggested that the extra opportunity be limited to turkeys, after getting strong resistance to the suggestion that a young hunter could take two deer.

            Although no one opposed the bill and DIF&W remained neutral, the Fish and Wildlife Committee, after lengthy discussion, failed to give it support.

            Even though youth hunters tagged only 412 turkeys in 2006, indicating only a very limited impact on the turkey population should those few hundred young hunters get an opportunity to hunt in the regular season, the bill couldn’t muster enough support to get out of committee.

            That was particularly disappointing because the committee did vote, in response to another bill, to give free turkey permits to senior hunters.  SAM also supported that bill, but felt that young hunters deserved consideration as well.

            Rep. Ben Pratt, the legislator’s second youngest member and an avid sportsman, sponsored SAM’s bill to eliminate fees for young sportsmen.  Specifically, the bill would have given free hunting licenses to junior hunters up to the age of 16. 

            During the work sessions, we suggested that junior hunters also be given free turkey permits after learning that they are now forced to pay the adult fee to hunt turkeys.

            Pratt presented very good testimony and Gerry Lavigne offered a good package of information along with his testimony on behalf of SAM.  The Maine Bowhunters Association also supported the bill.  And Evan Franklin, a Unity College student, presented a very well researched paper on the issue of youth hunting in Maine.

            Unfortunately it was all for naught, as DIF&W’s opposition to the bill, based on the fact the department would lose an estimated $111,000, overwhelmed our positive testimony and convinced the committee to kill the bill.

            Someday DIF&W may learn that it can’t always be about money – especially when it comes to the kids who will be the ones to carry on our heritage.

Fishing

            Nothing stirred the legislative waters like SAM’s fishing bills which brought out the troops – both proponents and opponents – and caused a significant and lengthy battle in the House and Senate.  This issue of SAM news provides in-depth coverage of these battles.

            The good news is that we did move forward the ideas our bills sought to enact. 

            Rep. Thom Watson sponsored SAM’s bill to create the Maine Fishery Infrastructure Tax Credit Program (MEFISH).  A member of the Taxation Committee that had jurisdiction over this bill (and former House chair of the Fish and Wildlife Committee), Watson has been a SAM ally and strong supporter of the sportsmen’s cause, and he worked very had to keep this bill alive, with lots of interest by committee members.

            The Taxation Committee was consumed this session with major tax reform legislation and just didn’t get time to fully tackle SAM’s bill, so it was carried over to the next session beginning in January of 2008.

            Essentially, we are trying establish a state program that would designate critical fishery projects (habitat, access, infrastructure, hatcheries), and offer tax credits to those who step up to pay for those projects. 

            Next session we hope the legislature will establish a pilot project to demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach, and SAM is working with Watson to select the project and refine the available tax credit.

            Rep. Ted Koffman sponsored SAM’s two other fisheries bills and probably had no idea when he stepped up that these would be so difficult.  Both resulted in long contentious fights, one of which went right to the final day of the legislative session.

            The first bill was designed to advance protection of wild brook trout, building on SAM’s successful legislation last session that designated the native brook trout as a state Heritage Fish, and protected those fish by banning stocking and the use of live fish as bait in the waters that contain native brookies and have never been stocked in the past.

            This session’s bill advanced that same approach to waters where wild trout are the principle fishery and where stocking of any species has not occurred in at least 25 years.  DIF&W fought the bill and distributed misleading information that caused us a great deal of grief.

            The department did agree to pursue the issue with a brook trout working group and the F&W Committee issued a letter to the department asking them to address the elements in SAM’s bill and report back in January.

            Ed Courtenay currently represents SAM on the department’s brook trout working group and we will report on the progress of that group – if any – as the year goes on.

            SAM’s other bill surprised us in the vehement opposition led by DIF&W.  It would have prohibited splake from being stocked in waters where they can spread to wild trout waters, and directed DIF&W to create a list of waters suitable for splake stocking.

            Although the Fish and Wildlife Committee gave the bill a strong ought-not-to-pass recommendation, the full legislature overturned that recommendation.  Unfortunately, different versions of the bill passed in the House and Senate, and the Senate refused to work with the House in ironing out the minor differences in the two versions.  So the bill died.

            Nevertheless, the issue of splake was well debated and we made considerable progress in moving DIF&W toward a new policy that will limit splake to suitable waters.  In fact, at one of the work sessions on the bill, the department produced a new splake stocking policy which comes close to what SAM was asking for.

            This will give us the tool to evaluate how the department is doing on this issue, and SAM’s Fishing Initiative Committee will use the policy to do just that.

            Our final fishing bill was sponsored by our good friend, Representative Abby Holman, who died tragically in a skiing accident during the legislative session.  Abby was an avid sportswoman who loved fly fishing and bird hunting and who harvested a moose one year that she was very proud of.  Abby was working on her testimony for this bill in the week before she died.  Her death was a shocking, terrible and tragic loss.

            This bill would have opened all stocked moving waters to fall catch-and-release fishing in October and November. Again, DIF&W opposed the bill, basically stating that anglers didn’t want this opportunity and it would be too much work to change the rule book. 

            The department did offer an opportunity to SAM to suggest specific moving waters we wanted opened to fall fishing, and we have opened that opportunity to our members (see opportunities list on page 3).

            SAM’s Fishing Initiative Committee will compile a list of waters and submit them to DIF&W later this year.