Maine Audubon to remain neutral on bear-baiting issue

Maine Audubon has announced that it will not take sides in the November referendum vote on whether to ban bear baiting, trapping and hunting with dogs.

According to a press release issued Monday afternoon, Audubon biologists have reviewed scientific data about Maine’s bear hunt and decided that the voting public would be best served if they remained “a neutral voice during a contentious and confusing debate.”

“There is great potential for misuse of information in this campaign, by all sides,” Maine Audubon wildlife biologist Jody Jones said Monday.

Biologically speaking, the bear hunt – baiting and all- is “sustainable,” meaning that it does not pose a risk of harm to the bear population as a whole, according to Audubon’s research.

“Our role is going to be being there to circulate unbiased information, and evaluating the scientific claims made by both sides,” Jones said.

However, the group has chosen not to make value judgments on whether baiting is “fair” – a major argument of those who support the referendum.

“Those kinds of decisions are going to be based on people’s personal values – people shouldn’t be told what their values are,” Jones said.

One of the state’s largest environmental groups, Maine Audubon’s goal is wildlife conservation. The group does not oppose hunting, fishing or trapping. In fact, Maine Audubon often has worked with sportsmen to improve wildlife habitat.

But in other instances, such as last year’s legislative attempt to ban coyote snaring, Maine Audubon sided with animal advocacy groups to face off against the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine and many of the other organizations that compose Maine’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Council, the political action committee fighting the referendum.

Several months ago, the state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, too, announced that it would serve as a source of unbiased information. DIF&W, however, believes that the science indicates that bear baiting is necessary in Maine.

Maine Audubon will play a similar role but “from a different perspective,” Jones said.

Monday’s announcement did not come as a total surprise to the leaders of the two bear referendum camps.

Even when they’re serving as an ally of animal advocates, Maine Audubon typically avoids the “humaneness” question that is a major argument of Maine Citizens for Fair Bear Hunting’s effort, spokesman Robert Fisk said Monday.

Fisk said, however, that he has confidence in Maine Audubon’s ability to be impartial; adding that he can’t imagine the group speaking out in support of baiting.

“Putting legalized dumps out into the woods is not something that I believe Maine Audubon would support,” Fisk said Monday.

George Smith, executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, agreed that Maine Audubon can be unbiased.

“I think it’s fantastic news,” Smith said Monday. “If DIF&W was doing a bad job of managing bears, Maine Audubon would be in the lead trying to correct that.”

Within the next month, a summary of Maine Audubon’s findings and a list of resources will be posted on its Web site at www.maineaudubon.org.