The topics were varied, the program fast-paced, and the audience entertained Friday as the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine hosted its 12th annual Sportsmen’s Congress in Augusta.

The event, which serves as an annual preview of what SAM considers the top issues facing outdoor enthusiasts, took place in the group’s brand-new Maine Sportsmen’s Conference Center and was attended by more than 100 policy makers, state staffers, outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen, and members of the media.

Over a five-hour span, five panel discussions were held, and speakers talked about everything from fish and wildlife to pending legislation. Land access issues remain a hot issue, as did a lawsuit that seeks to end trapping in areas of Maine where the practice could impact populations of gray wolves, bald eagles and lynx.

Here then, are a few sound bites, observations and comments on the day’s events:

. Think ahead. SAM executive director George Smith, setting the tone for the day by explaining what attendees could expect to learn: “We don’t want to hear what happened in 2006. We want to hear what’s going to happen in 2007.”

For the most part, Smith’s prediction came true. But as you can expect, there was still more than a bit of rehashing old issues and accomplishments.

. Maine’s fight is the nation’s fight. Tony Celebrezze of the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance told attendees that Thursday his organization asked U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock Jr. for permission to join the lawsuit as a representative for the state’s sportsmen.

“We can’t afford them even an inch, and that’s one of the reasons I’m here today,” Celebrezze said, referring to the animal rights group that filed suit.

Celebrezze said an U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance attorney with 30 years of wildlife law experience is joining the fight, and will offer his assistance to the Maine Attorney General’s office as it contests the lawsuit in court.

“Every single time the sportsmen have had to give up something, the animal rights groups come back a year or two years later to take what they gave up [in a compromise],” Celebrezze said.

. Deer-kill predictions likely close. Lee Kantar, the state’s deer biologist, said he expects the state’s hunters bagged about 29,000 deer this year, which is close to the preseason estimate prepared by the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife.

Official results of the hunting season have not yet been compiled, but Kantar said the 20-year average is about 28,000 deer killed per year by hunters.

“It will be interesting to see because, as you all know, opening day of firearms [season], which is a really large harvest day, was just a really difficult day [due to harsh weather] and that really sets the tone for the rest of the season.”

. Cashwell’s traveling road show. John Cashwell, the president of Seven Islands Land Company and the former mayor of Bangor, brought down the house with his presentation on deer wintering areas and what large landowners can do to help the state’s herd.

Cashwell’s company, Smith pointed out, has a good reputation when it comes to protecting deer wintering habitat.

And Cashwell? He has a well-earned reputation as a public speaker.

Cashwell recounted the days of the state’s ill-fated caribou reintroduction project while illustrating the problems that faced wildlife managers during the 1980s.

“We gave [the caribou] a map and said, ‘This is Baxter State Park. Stay here.'” Cashwell said to widespread laughter.

There’s a parallel today, Cashwell said, that wildlife managers and land owners must recognize: Identifying potential deer-wintering areas once and not viewing habitat protection as an ongoing process can have dire consequences.

“Just because you draw [a deer wintering area] on the map, it doesn’t mean they will come,” he said.

And there are other problems facing the state’s deer, he said.

“We can provide the habitat. We can produce all the maps you want. We can provide the logic that goes into [us determining] deer wintering areas and deer management. But we can’t control predation, human or otherwise,” Cashwell said. “That’s the state’s job.”

. Where are all the suits? Maybe the fact Gov. John Baldacci released his budget Friday morning had a lot to do with the relatively low turnout of legislators, who generally flock to the Sportsmen’s Congress each year.

Call me cynical, but I found it hard not to wonder how the turnout would have been had it been an election year.

. Give us land, lots of land. Bob Meyers, the executive director of the Maine Snowmobile Association, was just one speaker who told the audience how important continued land access would be.

“If we lose access to land, that’s like having no snow every year,” Meyers said, referring to the nearly snow-free winter conditions that have plagued the state thus far this year.

. There will be no merger … except for the merger. Both DIF&W commissioner Dan Martin and deputy commissioner Paul Jacques made a point of stressing that a rumored merger between natural resource-related state agencies would not be taking place.

Well, the rumor that had been flying around Augusta about the Department of Conservation joining forces with the DIF&W was wrong.

But Pat Keliher, the executive director of the Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission, confirmed there is a plan for the ASC to move under the Department of Marine Resources umbrella, with Keliher reporting to the DMR commissioner.

For the record, Keliher enthusiastically endorsed that new plan, which he said has been talked about for years.

. Where’s the fire? SAM’s new conference center is a showpiece for the state’s outdoor community, but its unveiling Friday didn’t come without a few tense moments.

The good news: The fire alarms work.

Boy, do they work.

Attendees were left holding their ears after the alarms went off at around 11:30. Because there was no odor of smoke in the air, Smith and SAM staffer Kelly Cochara were able to turn them off and the meeting continued … briefly.

Several more times, the alarms kicked in, to increasing laughter each time.

“OK. Lunch is now coming from Quiznos,” Smith told the crowd at one juncture.

At another point, former DIF&W deer biologist Gerry Lavigne stepped to the podium and told speaker Don Kleiner of the Maine Bowhunters Association the alarms were for his benefit.

“It’s a lie detector,” Lavigne whispered.

Shortly after that, a sheepish Smith took the microphone and told the crowd, “Well, we actually did have a little fire. Don’t worry. It’s all out.”

It was … and lunch didn’t have to come from Quiznos.

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