Baldacci spending plan includes Sunday hunt

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AUGUSTA – Gov. John Baldacci’s budget proposal released Friday includes a provision to allow Sunday hunting for all but the deer firearm season.

Dan Martin, commissioner of the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, announced the Sunday hunting provision Friday morning at the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine’s 10th annual Sportsman’s Congress at the Augusta Elks Lodge.

The Sunday hunting proposal, which is subject to legislative approval, was pitched as a concession to hunters in exchange for making permanent a $3 increase in the hunting license fee.

“Not a bad deal for $3 a year,” Martin said of the plan.

If the provision is approved, those hunting moose, bear, turkey, waterfowl and small game as well as those hunting deer by bow and muzzle-loading guns, could hunt on Sundays within the respective designated season.

Sunday hunting during the open firearm season for deer – typically from the last Saturday in October to the last Saturday in November – would not be allowed, Martin said, to avoid conflicts with landowners.

About 170,000 of Maine’s 213,000 hunters are deer hunters, said Mark Latti, spokesman for the Maine Warden Service.

Martin said allowing Sunday hunting has become an economic development issue in Maine, since New Hampshire, Vermont and many other states already allow hunting on Sundays and are able to attract vacationing, nonresident hunters and their spending. “I think the time has come,” Martin said.

Another provision would allow nonresident deer hunters to hunt on the first Saturday of the firearms season, a recent practice known as Maine Day on which only Maine hunters are allowed to hunt.

In his lunchtime remarks to the gathering, Baldacci remembered opposing the referendum that allowed retail stores to open on Sundays, but said he now understands the need to accommodate the wishes of the majority.

With many people working more days of the week, he said, Sunday provides an opportunity for many to hunt who otherwise could not.

A legislative proposal to allow Sunday hunting in parts of the state failed to win approval in 2003.

Outside the meeting, Baldacci said there are no plans to allow hunting on Sundays during the regular deer season, in part because the deer herd numbers don’t call for it.

SAM director George Smith praised Baldacci for his support of hunting and fishing, for his allowing Inland Fisheries and Wildlife staff to work to defeat the referendum in November that would have banned bear baiting and for proposing Sunday hunting.

“This is a very bold move by the governor,” he said, and called Baldacci a friend of sportsmen.

Martin said he also was on hand to deliver good news about his department’s budget for the two-year cycle that begins July 1.

Unlike the budget it developed during the fiscal crisis the Baldacci administration faced upon taking office two years ago, the 2006-07 biennial budget calls for no layoffs, he said.

Inland Fisheries and Wildlife spends about $30 million each year, Martin said; about $7 million comes from dedicated revenues, with the bulk from fees and the state’s General Fund.

The state funding portion will increase in the proposed budget, he said.

By making permanent what had been approved as the temporary $3 license fee increase, the department projected an additional $2.4 million in revenue in fiscal year 2006 and $2.9 million in fiscal year 2007, Martin said.

Another change proposed in the department’s budget is to revise the boat registration fee schedule. Currently, the fees correspond to motor size, ranging from $9 to $25. The new plan calls for a flat $23 registration fee for all powerboats. A $10 milfoil fee will also remain.

Martin also reported that the department is considering eliminating the lottery for turkey hunting licenses in favor of an open season in a year or two. The department also is considering proposing the registration of kayaks, canoes and sailboats.

SAM members and supporters used part of the Friday session to savor their defeat of the November referendum that would have banned using bait in bear hunting.

Edie Leary of the law firm Eaton Peabody, who spearheaded the effort to defeat the referendum, rejected what she called the “media spin” that the vote was close.

“Don’t you believe it,” she said, noting that 13 of 16 counties shot down the referendum. “A victory in 13 of 16 Maine counties is decisive.”

The “vote no” effort raised $1.6 million, Leary said, with 65 percent of that coming from 15,000 groups and individual donors within Maine. Those favoring the bear baiting ban raised 90 percent of their money from out of state, she said.

“Ours was a sweet victory, but it will be a short-lived victory if we don’t stay active politically,” Leary said. “We must continue the good fight.”

She and others urged those attending to talk to people who don’t hunt – especially those in southern and urban areas of Maine – to help them learn about the sport.

“We discovered a significant percentage of Maine residents know little about hunting and trapping,” Smith said.

“Don’t be shy,” Leary said. “Be vocal and be visible.”