Last fall, wildlife watchers and tourism boosters complained that hunters had killed too many of Maine’s moose.

State biologists countered that there were plenty of moose left in the woods, but 20-year-old clear-cuts had grown in, shielding the big-game animal from view.

This year, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife isn’t taking any chances. Following in the steps of New Hampshire Fish and Game, the DIF&W just finished a $40,000 infrared aerial survey between Greenville and Baxter State Park. If the high-tech photographs taken by a Florida company provide data that are statistically meaningful, it will be the first time the DIF&W has had an accurate count of moose anywhere in Maine, say officials.

It is critical now more than ever for the DIF&W to understand the extent of the moose population, because there have been demands from the public to reduce the herd in some areas and cries to let it grow in others.

More than 15 years ago the DIF&W conducted an aerial survey of moose. It was not very precise because it was done with the naked eye, said Mark Stadler, wildlife division director.

Since then the department has determined the size of the herd by counting moose-related road accidents, hunter sightings and harvest numbers. The population currently is believed to be around 30,000.

While wildlife watchers have decried a decline in the moose herd in recent years, the number of moose-related automobile accidents has risen dramatically. That number has gone from an average of 103 a year in the 1970s, when reports were taken only by wardens, to 628 a year in the 1990s, when they were taken by all law enforcement officers.

As a result, public opinion of the number of moose in some areas of the state has plummeted. In 1998 a group of citizens circulated a petition asking for a reduction in the moose population by a third to help decrease accidents.

When a committee representing the public met last year to establish a new set of moose-management goals for the state – a process that is conducted every 15 years – it didn’t surprise state biologists to see some new priorities.

In 1985, the group said the number of moose should be kept the same. In 2000, its members concluded the number should be lowered along the southern coast to reduce accidents, while in the northern two-thirds of the state it should be allowed to increase as long as it did not hinder the animal’s health or the environment.

At the same time, the Legislature turned over to the DIF&W the task of regulating moose hunt permit numbers, making the department’s need for an accurate assessment of the herd even more of a concern.

What the company that did the study, AirScan Inc., will help determine with its infrared photographs is how many moose there are in 38 randomly selected blocks that make up an area of 245 square miles between Greenville and Baxter State Park, a region popular with moose watchers and hunters alike. Maine has about 27,000 square miles of moose habitat, according to the DIF&W.

“We picked that area because of the debate that occurred about moose there. There were a lot of conflicting ideas from a lot of different groups. It seemed like a good place to start,” Stadler said.

The results of the survey are not expected back for several weeks.

To help measure the moose population in the future, the DIF&W also has created a deer-hunter survey, asking hunters how many moose they’ve seen during deer-hunting season.

Stadler said the hope is that the results from the infrared moose survey will correlate with the data from the hunter survey. A correlation between the two, he said, would mean the DIF&W can rely on the hunter survey to assess the moose population and would need to conduct infrared surveys less often.

During the past three years, the infrared survey has been done in northern New Hampshire, an area where the public wanted the herd thinned, said Kris Bontaites, New Hampshire Fish and Game moose biologist.

“We didn’t have the large clear-cuts you guys did,” Bontaites said. “Our cutting remained stable. We continue to get good numbers of moose. The habitat hasn’t changed from the first set of hunter observations.”

New Hampshire Fish and Game also has been working on developing a deer-hunter survey, and it will compare its findings with Maine’s.

The question Maine biologists are faced with right now is whether the infrared survey that was finished last week will provide meaningful data.

“It may or may not,” Stadler said.

Maine moose study leader Karen Morris said AirScan could fly only in the morning when it was cool enough for the moose to be moving and for the temperature-sensitive infrared equipment to pick up the body heat of the large animals. But late in the day, when the sun warmed the ground, it would pick up other objects.

“It becomes difficult when you’re looking for a hot spot. Once the sun hits the rocks, there are a lot of hot spots,” Morris said.

If conditions in Maine were not right when the flyover was done, if there was too much snow, or if unseasonably high temperatures sent moose into the shade, Stadler said the survey could prove to be an expensive bust.

Funding the $40,000 operation was a patchwork effort using grant money from Safari Club International, and money from the DIF&W’s wildlife division budget and the commissioner and wildlife director’s budgets, Stadler said.

“In the coming fiscal year, we’ll scramble to find out where we go from here,” Stadler said of future infrared surveys.

The moose hunt was reintroduced to Maine in 1980 after a 45-year absence. Since the Legislature passed a law establishing an annual moose season in 1982, the hunt has gone from 700 hunters to 3,000.

Deirdre Fleming covers outdoor sports and recreation for the NEWS. She can be reached at 990-8250 or at dfleming@bangordailynews.net.