Bear-baiting ad riles ban backers DIF&W biologist urges ‘no’ vote

New advertising on Question 2, the November referendum to ban bear trapping and bear hunting with bait and dogs, Tuesday sparked old arguments about the proper role of state employees in political campaigns.

Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife bear biologist Jennifer Vashon is featured in an advertisement urging voters not to support the bear referendum. In the 30-second spot, Vashon identifies herself as a state biologist and states that the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife “strongly opposes” the ban.

The ad began running Tuesday on stations statewide.

As soon as it appeared, Maine Citizens for Fair Bear Hunting, the group advocating a ban, asked stations to pull the ad, calling it “misleading and possibly illegal advertising.”

“What we’re talking about is the integrity of the electoral process,” spokesman Bob Fisk said Tuesday, repeating his accusation that DIF&W is in bed with Maine’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Council, the group advocating against the referendum and which paid for the Vashon ad.

“These advertisements featuring state employees engaging in naked[ly] political activities should be taken off the air immediately,” the group’s Portland-based attorney, Bruce Merrill, said in a statement released Tuesday.

Vashon was not available for comment Tuesday. However, DIF&W spokesman Mark Latti said that the biologist made the advertisement on her own time and was not paid.

DIF&W has asked its employees to limit their involvement to activities deemed legal in a memo sent by the governor’s office last July – namely that the department’s role is to provide information, Latti said.

However, department staff members are specifically permitted to speak at campaign events, even in advertisements, so long as they do not appear in uniform, according to the memo.

Dick Davies of the governor’s office, author of the original memo, said Tuesday that the ad is no more than Vashon asserting her right to free speech.

“We can’t tell her to do it, we can’t tell her not to do it,” Davies said.

Edie Leary, spokeswoman for Maine’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Council, said Tuesday that the group asked Vashon to participate, as an individual, because of her scientific credentials. No further ads featuring state biologists are planned at this time.

“The bear biologists are the experts on the bear population in Maine. Of course it makes sense for them to speak out on what the impacts of the bear referendum will be,” Leary said.

However, Fisk argued that Vashon clearly identifies herself as a state employee and that the ad states the department’s position, not just her personal opinion.

“She’s not out there as an individual citizen. She’s out there representing the department, and that clearly crosses the line,” he said.

Fisk also cited last week’s statement by the Attorney General’s Office that state officials can play only a limited role in referendum campaigns.

But Chuck Dow, spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office, said Tuesday that Attorney General Steven Rowe stopped short of saying where state and local officials had overstepped their rights in advocating against the tax cap.

“It’s not our job to referee referendum campaigns and decide who crossed the line,” Dow said. “We didn’t do it with the tax cap, and we’re not going to do it with the bear campaign, either.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, no Bangor network television affiliates reported having pulled the ad. In fact, station managers said that the request hadn’t even arrived.

“It would be highly unlikely that I’d pull a spot,” said Mike Palmer, vice president and general manager for WVII-ABC 7 and WFVX-Fox 22.

“It’s election time and everyone has a viewpoint,” he said. “Unless something is really outrageous, we wouldn’t pull it off the air.”