The new year is almost always a welcome event, even if we all are a year older. The slate is clean. As we look ahead it’s a lot like a field of virgin snow. As we move on, the tracks we leave will take us to unseen ground. This is especially sweet for outdoor people who have an affinity for exploration, for finding what is just beyond the hill, or on the other side of the cedar swamp.

Move on, yes. But don’t forget to check your backtrack! Animals do it for survival. For the rest of us contemplative bipods, who struggle for understanding and perspective, a check of what already took place can often divulge clues or insights into what lies ahead. Let’s check that backtrack for the Maine outdoors, circa 2007.

Spring fishing was exceptionally good, thanks to the weather and wise fish management. In fact, Maine trout fishing is getting better and better. Thanks to a comparatively mild winter, most of our wildlife resources fared well. Our turkey populations continued to expand and disburse. Our deer, bear and moose remain healthy in most areas of the state and, as far as we know, free of chronic wasting disease. Best of all, there were no hunting fatalities in Maine this past November. Grouse numbers, especially up north, were a lot better than the previous upland season. Crossbows became legal for use during the November firearms season for deer and, surprise, the sky didn’t come crashing down after all.

There was other good news on the outdoor front. The anti-trapping suit being brought against the state by the Animal Protection Institute was settled out of court. Trappers lost some ground, but it could have been a lot worse. Coyote trapping took another hit because of the settlement. Maine saw its first fall turkey hunt with shotguns. Perhaps most significant, Plum Creek signed a deer yard wintering agreement with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. The agreement protects 20 major deer yards (32,000 acres of deer wintering habitat) within Plum Creek’s timberland holdings. This ensuing year, we can only hope that other large Maine landowners demonstrate the same corporate cooperativeness demonstrated by Plum Creek.

There were disappointments for sportsmen in 2007. The 10-year quest to open Marsh Island to deer hunting folded when University of Maine President Robert Kennedy nixed the deal, which had been agreed to by the municipal leadership in Orono and Old Town. Kennedy said that “bow hunters would pose a serious threat to the safety and welfare of UMO’s students.”

It was a year of contrasts for the Maine Warden Service. Chief Warden Tom Santaguida resigned his post after being accused by Marine Patrol Officers of possessing nine short lobsters on his Harpswell lobster boat. As is the case more often than not, Santaguida’s mistake directed public attention away from all of the hardwork and personal sacrifices made by Maine’s 100 dedicated district wardens. One game warden who comes to mind is warden pilot Dan Dufault, who risked his neck flying in a snow squall to save two Maine kids adrift on the Kennebec River.

The politics of the Maine outdoors stayed about the same – confusing, conflicting and confounding. After four years, there is still no reinstitution of the much-needed coyote-control program. More task forces were assembled to study dwindling deer numbers in the North Woods and downeast and the increasing loss of access to the woods by hunters and other traditional users.

According to SAM spokesman George Smith, Gov. Baldacci has pledged to consolidate MDIF&W within a new super department as a measure of governmental streamlining. Smith says that this consolidation has been a disaster for sportsmen when tried in other states. SAM will fight this one, and remind the governor that he promised as a gubernatorial candidate not to consolidate Maine’s natural resource departments.

Anti-hunting preservationist Roxanne Quimby has reportedly put her name to a “sweetheart deal” with the state so that she can buy a tract of land east of Baxter Park. This land, so-called Valley Lands, was supposed to be purchased by the state to show good faith to sportsmen in the bitter aftermath of the Katahdin Lake land deal that shut out hunters and other traditional users. State officials are calling this latest Quimby deal “an unprecedented win-win situation.” When you hear this term from Augusta, grab your wallets and cast a critical eye at the fine print.

The biggest loss for the Maine outdoor community in 2007 was the passing of a good, gentle friend and fellow outdoorsman. Millinocket’s legendary guide Wiggie Robinson died at age 85 while working in his garden at his camp on the West Branch of the Penobscot River.

For those of us still treking Maine’s temporal ground, 2008 is poised at the starting block with promise and opportunity. May your year be one worth remembering, one of peace, health and the fulfillment found in hunting and fishing the woods and waters of Maine.

V. Paul Reynolds is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. He is also a Maine Guide, co-host of a weekly radio program “Maine Outdoors” heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network (WVOM-FM 103.9, WCME-FM 96.7) and former information officer for the Maine Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. His e-mail address is [email protected].