No new rules set for bear hunting High kill numbers no cause for alarm

AUGUSTA – Several bills to further regulate black bear hunting, including bans on the use of dogs and baiting, have been killed by the Legislature.

And a proposal that could increase bear hunting fees is being set aside while state officials take an in-depth look at all of Maine’s fishing and hunting fees during the next several months.

The bills were introduced after Maine’s bear-hunting tallies rose sharply for two consecutive seasons, raising concerns over whether bears are being over-harvested. Maine has the largest black bear population east of the Mississippi.

Hunters killed 3,483 bears in 1999, a 33 percent increase from the previous year. The total was up another 13 percent in 2000 to 3,951.

State biologists say the figures shouldn’t cause alarm, and that Maine’s estimated black bear population of 23,000 can be sustained with hunting totals in the 3,500-4,000 range.

But lawmakers still intend to keep an eye on the numbers to make sure bears are not being over-hunted, said Rep. Matthew Dunlap, House chairman of the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee.

“We’re watching it closely,” the Old Town Democrat said Thursday.

Committee members decided to devise a response plan rather than react now. They voted unanimously to kill proposals to outlaw the use of dogs and bait in bear hunting, to restrict the number of baits that guides can set and to bar the sale of bear parts.

But the panel also wants to keep alive a bill that could raise new fees for bear hunting so lawmakers can give the issue another look next year.

The committee is likely to ask the state Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Department to study its entire fee structure in the meantime and come back with recommendations, said Dunlap.

George Smith, executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, said additional fees may be needed if the game department encounters new cash shortfalls, as he expects, in two years. SAM opposed the bear bills brought before the committee.

If lawmakers do anything to manage the annual bear tally, it is more likely to be through raising fees and changing licensing rules than by outlawing or curtailing hunting methods, Dunlap said.