Timothy Bean’s punishment fits his crime.

Bean pleaded guilty last week to manslaughter in the death of Megan Ripley, who was shot in her Paris backyard in early December with a bullet from Bean’s muzzle-loader. Bean, hunting in the waning days of the blackpowder season, mistook Ripley for a deer.

In return for his plea, Bean was sentenced to 30 days in jail and two years probation. Part of his agreement requires Bean to speak at hunter safety courses about his experience, and how to avoid the mistake he made.

Bean does more as an example for other hunters than as an inmate. Juries in Maine have been reluctant to convict errant hunters in similar accidents, leaving prosecutors in a precarious position, out of which the state wisely negotiated a plea that is both punitive and rehabilitative.

Ripley’s family forgave Bean, and now has a plea of their own: forcing hunters to receive written permission before hunting on private land. Legislation to this effect has been blocked in the State House, because it contradicts Maine traditions of open access, and promises questionable effectiveness.

Since simply giving permission to shoot won’t prevent people from being shot in error, and hunting, compared to other outdoor recreations, is still remarkably safe. More people have been killed, for example, in canoing, kayaking, snowmobiling and all-terrain vehicle accidents – separately, not total – in the past year.

One isolated tragedy won’t change tradition, which opposition to the Ripleys’ emotional plea for legislation exemplifies. Yet this conflict shouldn’t prevent good-faith efforts into making hunting safer for hunters and non-hunters alike, including strengthening landowner protections.

Educating and enforcing safe hunting practices has been successful, as evidenced by the decline in accidents. Equal emphasis should now turn to non-hunters, given something as simple as clothing color is of utmost importance.

It was with Megan Ripley.

Further aligning disjointed hunting seasons, and increasing the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s profile as the primary educator for the public about hunting, also have a place in this debate. Balancing the responsibility of private landowners, versus open access traditions, is a conversation that should never cease.

Mandating written permission is the logical reaction to what happened along Christian Ridge Road in Paris on Dec. 7. It’s not practical, however, especially for a state like Maine, which has a high percentage of forested wilderness and nonresident ownership.

Yet the common goal of the Ripleys, and hunting advocates, makes all safeguards eligible for review. Both want hunting to be as safe as possible, without eliminating access to hunting grounds.

One man, Timothy Bean, is now an object lesson for failing to be a “reasonable and prudent” hunter, which cost the life of an innocent girl.

All should learn from him, and leave nothing unturned in working to prevent this from happening again.