Thank you very much for your informative and timely editorial, “A bear of a trap” (BDN, Feb. 1). According to Dr. Ken Elowe of DIF&W, bear trapping is not necessary in Maine’s management program and has “no ecological impact on their population.” In other words, trapping is not being done for the health of nor does it in any way benefit black bears in Maine.

Seven out of 10 readers of The Maine Sportsman disapproved of trapping, and according to recent polls, most of the general population would have voted for a trapping ban had the referendum been solely about that issue. Doesn’t that mean that most Mainers, including a large number of hunters, disapprove of trapping black bears? So who is DIF&W representing here, anyway?

Every other state has recognized that trapping bears is incredibly cruel and, humanely, has banned trapping of their bears.

What I can’t understand for the life of me is why DIF&W is still lobbying the legislature to allow more than 130 animals to suffer the horrible pain, fear and indignity of being trapped in these cruel, barbaric and inhumane devices! Is it because they are so beholden to hunting and trapping groups that they will do anything to keep them happy? It can’t be to protect Maine’s traditions because any reasonable person understands that some traditions are bad and need to be banned.

Are they simply so paranoid that they think that to ban bear trapping is the beginning of the end of all hunting and that eventually their guns will be taken away? I have been hearing this argument for more than 40 years and everybody who wants a gun in Maine still has one.

This is a no-brainer! Trapping bears has to go.

Bob Brooks

Montville