My friend Paul Reynolds wrote a provocative and insightful column (May 10).

His premise is that sportsmen are “more likely to get a fair shake from Augusta policymakers,” if the governor is a sportsman. In fact, the last Maine governor who hunted was Ed Muskie, more than a half-century ago.

While I agree with Reynolds’ premise, he did a disservice to former Gov. Angus King. Reynolds reported that King was seen in a television ad in a canoe “facing the stern and paddling the wrong way.”

King taped that ad on Hopkins Pond behind my Mount Vernon house. When I am alone in a canoe, I often sit in the front seat, facing the stern, because it distributes my weight better, gives me more leg room, and makes it easier to cast to those eager brook trout. King does the same.

As governor, King paid close attention to sportsmen’s issues, supported a strong and well-funded Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, hired exceptional staff, who were responsible for natural resource issues and agencies, and made sure sportsmen had access to the conservation lands that grew substantially during his tenure.

When my Dad, Ezra Smith, a lifelong sportsman, endorsed King in a television ad, he was also paddling the right way.

Because it isn’t enough to simply be a Maine sportsman, the next governor has to have the heart of a Maine sportsman, too.

Angus King did. Let’s hope the next governor does, too.

George A. Smith, Mt. Vernon

Executive director, Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine