Once a year, Bob Mushrall, a life member of the Bucksmills Rod and Gun Club, happily plays the role of thorn in the side of Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife personnel.

The yearly sportsman’s forum hosted by the membership at the Bucksport club allows Mushrall – and others – the chance to quiz DIF&W staffers and offer suggestions.

Mushrall is full of questions … and suggestions.

A year ago, after the boisterous Mushrall pointed out (again) that the state’s Wildlife Management Districts needed some retooling, DIF&W Commissioner Danny Martin jokingly “deputized” his once-a-year nemesis with a Junior Game Warden badge.

On Wednesday, Mushrall returned to Bucksmills for another sportsman’s forum. He proudly wore the badge Martin had awarded him the year before.

And as Martin repeatedly pointed out, Mushrall was on his best behavior.

“My only complaint is, my fellow game wardens are underpaid,” Mushrall quipped midway through an informative meeting.

One big reason for Mushrall’s (more or less) calm demeanor: After a few years of promising to look into the man’s biggest complaint, the state did more than that.

They acted on it.

While the proposal still has to go through the department’s rule-making process, it appears that some of the state’s Wildlife Management Districts will be realigned beginning in the spring, reflecting a change Mushrall has long said was overdue.

One of Mushrall’s complaints: Bucksport and the surrounding towns to the east should be included in WMD 26, rather than WMD 27, which stretches along the coast all the way to East Machias.

According to DIF&W staffers, WMD 26 will likely be expanded in the near future, while WMD 27 will contain only the eastern tip of the state and the coastal islands north of Egypt Stream.

Few doubted that Bucksport, Holden, and Otis had far more deer than the Down East towns where the herd has shrunk over the years.

But when it came time to allot any-deer permits, the fact that a healthy herd in some parts of WMD 27 was lumped in with the decimated herd in other parts rankled many hunters.

This year only 50 any-deer permits were awarded in WMD 27, mainly because the herd farther Down East dictated that the number remain small.

Gene Dumont, DIF&W’s regional wildlife management supervisor, said that game management becomes complicated in situations like this one.

“When you have a district where one-third of it isn’t of the same quality, you almost tend to manage to the lowest common denominator,” Dumont said.

In this case, it meant that the towns where deer thrive were managed in the same way as towns where deer numbers were much lower.

If the DIF&W (and Mushrall) get their way, that discrepancy will end beginning with turkey season in 2006.

Other highlights of the Bucksmills sportsman’s forum:

. CWD problem a concern for Maine. According to Dumont and Deputy Commissioner Paul Jacques, chronic wasting disease is a major nationwide problem and Maine officials are making plans that would react to the threat.

“We have initiated rule-making that would regulate the transportation of carcasses, heads for mounting, taxidermy specimens, from states that have [tested] positive for CWD,” Dumont said. “These are appropriate steps. We can’t be too careful. This is a very serious disease that jeopardizes both our moose and deer herd. It’s been found now in New York state and West Virginia on the east coast.”

CWD is a fatal disease of the nervous system that afflicts deer and elk. It belongs to a family of diseases that includes “mad cow disease.”

Jacques said a task force has been organized and is examining a number of options, some of them quite severe.

“Understand, when we start talking about really, seriously doing something, we’re talking about everything from no feeding of whitetail [deer] by anybody, anywhere, and how you deal with cervids coming in across the borders,” Jacques said.

“We’re talking about bans on importation of deer urine lures that are [produced] outside the state of Maine. Some other states have done that,” he said.

Jacques said a no-feeding policy might bother some, but the task force may decide it’s necessary.

“You’ve got some real resistance from people who think feeding whitetails is a good thing to do, they like to do it, so they want to continue to do it,” he said. “But as [Dumont] has said, when you bring more deer together, it’s like rabies or any of those other diseases, you increase the odds [of transmission].”

. Branch Lake still a sore spot. For several years Branch Lake in Ellsworth hasn’t had a public boat landing, and attempts to build one have been thwarted by the city of Ellsworth and residents of the lake. As a result, according to its policy, the DIF&W no longer stocks fish in the lake.

“The Department of Conservation is still trying to get a public access site on their 1,200 acres,” said Greg Burr, fishery biology specialist. “They are continuing to talk with the city of Ellsworth. The city of Ellsworth recently put out an ordinance that prohibits any construction of boat launches on the lake, so that’s just another barrier.”

Burr said the DOC, DIF&W, and the Department of Transportation are working with the Legislature to find a solution.

“[They’re] trying to … work that out and try to change things so that municipalities can’t limit state projects like this,” Burr said. “As you folks know, public access benefits all of us and that water is owned by the people of the state of Maine.”

Penobscot salmon session set

The Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission is moving forward with its plan to allow anglers to fish for Atlantic salmon in the Penobscot River next fall.

And the ASC is looking for your help.

The commission will hold a public scoping session to gather additional public input before drafting any new recreational rules.

The meeting is scheduled for Nov. 14 at the Penobscot County Conservation Association clubhouse in Brewer.

The meeting will run from 6:30-9 p.m. A joint technical and policy report on recreational Atlantic salmon fishing on the Penobscot will be presented and a question-and-answer session will follow.

The ASC plans to gather information, both pro and con, that will be passed along to the ASC board.

Two months ago the commission announced that it hoped to reopen the Penobscot, which has been closed to salmon fishing since 1999.

While many people think of spring fishing on the Penobscot as the “traditional” salmon season, the proposed season would be held in the fall, perhaps beginning in 2006.

ASC biologists pointed out that a fall season would put the least amount of pressure on the resource while still providing a fishing opportunity to anglers.

If you’d like copies of the reports before the scoping session, contact Kathleen Brosnan at 287-9972 or e-mail her at kathleen.brosnan@maine.gov.

John Holyoke can be reached at jholyoke@bangordailynews.net or by calling 990-8214 or 1-800-310-8600.