DIF&W leader promises changes

BANGOR – Changes are afoot for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Commissioner Roland Martin said Friday morning to the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce.

“We need to spend more money promoting and marketing our way of life,” Martin said. “The demographics of this state are changing rapidly. You go to York and Cumberland counties and you don’t see your traditional individuals who grew up fishing and hunting and enjoying the great outdoors.”

Nonresident hunting fees will rise “dramatically” next year, Martin said, but he would not give a dollar amount.

Hunting, fishing, snowmobiling and other outdoor activities create revenue and jobs for Mainers, he said. Hunting and fishing alone generate $1.5 billion annually for the state.

“That doesn’t include the ATV and snowmobile industry,” he said. “They shop in your retail facilities, sleep in your lodging facilities and eat in your restaurants.”

Despite the money created by outdoor pursuits, the state has been hard-pressed to fund the DIF&W in recent years.

The department’s annual budget of $31 million pays for 322 full-time employees, funds search-and-rescue missions, supports the state’s fish hatcheries and maintains 200 dams and other structures.

A need for more money led the department to propose the recent, ill-fated Sunday hunting and canoe and kayak tax initiatives.

“We didn’t realize we were going to have such an outpouring of opposition to both initiatives,” Martin said.

The commissioner said that he hopes to find a way to have what he calls “nonconsumptive” wilderness users, or those who do not hunt and fish, help fund the warden service.

“In southern Maine, you see a lot more nonconsumptive users. We need to work more closely with them,” he said.

He cited as one example of such a user draining the department’s resources the search-and-rescue missions for older people who get into trouble in the woods, incidents that are becoming more common.

“You’ll probably see this canoe-kayak-sailboat initiative again,” Martin said. “We’ll probably do it a little differently.”