Sportsmen’s group opens Maine chapter

PORTLAND – A group of outdoors enthusiasts has formed a Maine chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America, saying it is a much-needed alternative to the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine.

The Izaak Walton League, established in 1922 and named after a 17th-century English angler, is one of the country’s oldest conservation organizations. Nationally there are 50,000 members, known as “Ikes.”

While there are sportsmen in the new group, it will focus on more than just hunting and fishing.

The group will emphasize outdoor ethics and wildlife conservation, and it plans to develop a lot of hands-on activities, such as helping state biologists survey and restore local streams.

David Lovejoy, a carpenter and Maine Guide from Oakland, is already a member of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, but he jumped at the chance to join the new Izaak Walton chapter.

“I’m a hunter and a fisherman,” he said, “but I’m also a whitewater canoeist and kayaker. I fish off the coast in boats, I go snowshoeing in the winter, and I mountain bike.”

The Maine chapter was the idea of Debra Davidson, a wildlife biologist from Kents Hill who has been active in the wolf recovery and coyote snaring debates, and who has often gone head-to-head with the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine over wildlife and sporting issues.

“I’ve heard for so long that a lot of the sportsmen out there aren’t feeling represented correctly, and they would really like another organization that would be aligned with their points of view,” Davidson said.

The group has 68 members so far, including sportsmen, two legislators, an outdoors writer, and about a dozen fisheries and wildlife biologists.

This weekend the group was having a get-together in the Allagash.

George Smith, executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, says there’s a place in Maine for an Izaak Walton chapter, but he doesn’t think the group will be able to grow large enough to become “a major political factor.”

A lot will depend, he says, on how much help the Maine group gets from the national organization.

“It’s a great group nationally,” Smith said. “They’re first-rate. So I hope that they evolve away from the ‘anti-SAM’ and become something positive for people. We always need that.”

Davidson says she doesn’t want the group to be competitive with SAM, but complementary.

The chapter has already started its stream work by helping the state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife conduct surveys of Sunday River and the Dead River. It put out its first newsletter in August.

In September, hunters in the group will begin work on a “Master Hunter Program” modeled after one in Washington.

Participants in the program sharpen their shooting skills, become well-versed in outdoor ethics, and get intimately familiar with the biology and habits of the animals they’re hunting.

Lovejoy envisions developing ethics programs for people who use ATVs, snowmobiles and personal watercraft, and who participate in other outdoor activities.