AUGUSTA – Ten hunters this week won the privilege to hunt moose in Maine during the upcoming season by bidding a total of $109,111 in the 2008 Maine Moose Permit Auction, which benefits youth conservation education scholarships.

More than 30 people took part in the auction. The 10 successful bids ranged from $8,500 to $12,650.

All of the money derived from the 2008 Maine Moose Permit Auction goes to partial scholarships that will help send Maine youngsters to the Maine Conservation School in Bryant Pond and Conservation Camp at the Greenland Point Center in Princeton.

At these five-day camps, boys and girls ages 10 through 14 take part in an array of outdoor and classroom activities. Students work with experienced instructors and counselors, as well as staff from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and other state and private conservation agencies.

“The 10 successful hunters are doing more than bidding on the opportunity to participate in the hunt of their lifetime in the outdoors that they love,” said Roland D. Martin, Commissioner of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife. “They are giving children a chance to learn valuable outdoor skills and gain a greater appreciation for the Maine outdoors as well.”

The annual Maine Moose Permit Auction was created by the Legislature, which authorized the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to publicly auction permits as a way to raise funds for youth conservation education programs.

Since the first auction in 1995, five permits were auctioned annually. In 2007, the Legislature voted to double the number to 10.

The 10 hunters have one month to pay their bid. The successful bidders who will join this year’s moose permit holders in the annual moose hunt are: Daniel Braden, Shelby, Ala., Richard Sands, Wilsonville, Ala., Scott Verrill, Cumberland, Eric Lindfeldt, Nazareth, Pa., John Baumstark, Peapack, N.J., Robert Roach, Bellefontaine, Ohio, Howard Ludington, Portsmouth, N.H., Henry Moree, Society Hill, S.C., John Barto, Schnecksville, Pa., Stephen Ruffkamp, Wilton, Conn.