The state of Maine is not required by law to snare coyotes, according to the Maine Attorney General’s Office.

Until last winter, the state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife had paid trappers to kill coyotes using a lethal wire loop trap known as a snare in hopes of protecting deer from predation in areas of northern and far eastern Maine where herds are struggling because of a shortage of habitat.

But snaring became controversial three years ago, when a research project on coyote genetics found that many of its study animals, snared coyotes acquired from the state program, had not died swiftly and easily as was believed. A number of animal advocacy groups attempted unsuccessfully to end the snaring program.

Advocates of the snaring program argued that the department had no choice – that snaring was required by the language in state law that permitted the coyote control program.

Near the end of this spring’s legislative session, Rep. Linda McKee, D-Wayne, posed precisely that question to Maine Attorney General Steven Rowe: Is snaring required?

In a June 21 letter, Rowe responded that the state is not required to carry out “a particular coyote snaring program.” McKee asked for clarification, and in a July 6 letter, Rowe replied, “The relevant statutes … confer upon the [DIF&W] Commissioner discretionary authority to maintain coyote control programs. They do not, however, require that the Commissioner maintain a particular coyote snaring program, or for that matter, any coyote snaring program at all.”

McKee could not be reached for comment Tuesday. However, Daryl DeJoy, a Penobscot resident and spokesman for the NoSnare Task Force – which seeks to end state-sponsored snaring, and has threatened to use a lawsuit to do so – said Monday that the opinion validates his interpretation of the law.

“We continue to maintain that the coyote snaring program is ineffective and is a waste of the state’s already stretched dollars,” he said.

The state paid trappers $40,608 for coyote snaring in 2001, the last year complete figures were available.

Since DIF&W Commissioner Roland “Dan” Martin has discretion over snaring, DeJoy said that his group will ask the commissioner to “do the right thing and stop spending all this money to kill a few coyotes.”

If Martin does not do so, the group is prepared to go to court, DeJoy said.

DIF&W spokesman Mark Latti said Tuesday that Martin intends to continue the snaring program so long as the state receives a pending federal permit that would absolve the state of liability if a federally threatened or endangered animal is accidentally snared.

Though he isn’t legally bound to snare, Martin is following what he believes to be the intent of the legislative DIF&W committee in maintaining the program, Latti said.

A final draft of the federal permit, known as an incidental take permit, could be completed as soon as this summer, DIF&W biologists have said.

However, the required public hearing process before such a permit gets final approval will take at least six months, according to federal biologists, which leaves the fate of the 2004-2005 coyote snaring program very much in limbo.

Martin suspended the program for winter of 2003-2004, saying that it would not be reinstated until DIF&W had the federal permit in hand.