Soon we’ll be casting our ballots for the next governor of Maine. Who should Maine sportsmen support for governor?

The combination of Maine’s profound economic difficulties, crumbling infrastructure, and struggling fish and wildlife operation is just too serious for sportsmen to stay home on election day, or simply vote the party line. There is just too much at stake.

Although there are a number of gubernatorial candidates in the field, there are, in all probability, just two choices: Republican candidate Paul LePage and Democratic candidate Libby Mitchell. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Libby Mitchell, a seasoned politician, is probably more experienced with the inner workings of state government than her rival, Paul LePage. When Mitchell responded to a sportsmen’s questionnaire published in the June issue of the Northwoods Sporting Journal, her responses seemed reasonable and informed.

Back in August, Paul LePage took the time to spend a couple of hours talking with me and the staff at our Northwoods Sporting Journal offices in West Enfield. We got to know him. Like Mitchell, LePage is not a sportsman. But he is an uncompromising proponent of gun rights and the Second Amendment. He is a self-made man who knows how to run a business, lead people, and meet a payroll. A highly successful mayor in Waterville, we found Mr. LePage to be an exceptional listener. He respects our hunting heritage and is intensely interested in fish and wildlife and conservation issues and assured us that, if elected, he will reach across party lines if need be to find a highly qualified fish and wildlife commissioner, who has the support of Maine sportsmen.

According to George Smith, the former director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine (SAM), LePage says he wants to “brand Maine as a place to hunt and fish.” LePage has the right idea. If we can get Maine to reconstitute itself as a hunting and fishing destination, the benefits will flow. Not only will jobs be created and the state’s rural economy be revitalized, a needed boost in non-resident hunting and fishing license sales will provide desperately needed cash for Maine’s badly strapped fish and wildlife department.

Mitchell, even if she is genuinely pro-sportsman, comes with far too much “incumbent baggage.” Her party has a checkered track record when it comes to gun rights. It has been calling the shots in Augusta for 40 years and look what it has gotten us, a governor who has alienated Maine sportsmen at every juncture and plundered the Fish and Wildlife Department coffers to balance his general budget. In all probability Mitchell, as a Democratic governor, would be beholden, as Governor John Baldacci has been, to the enviro-extremists and professional preservationists who are pushing for a National Park, and who oppose hunting and many other traditional uses of the Maine woods.

Most sportsmen agree that if there ever was a time in Maine history that is ripe for strong, capable, innovative leaders in Augusta, it is now. It will take a bold, courageous and independent-minded governor to turn things around, to rescue the anemic Maine economy and pick a Fish and Wildlife commissioner who has the ability to get Maine’s Fish and Wildlife Department back on track.

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The author is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal and has written his first book, A Maine Deer Hunter’s Logbook. 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].