Norway author C. A. Stevens, 1844-1931, wrote in one of his books about Old Sloo Foot, a great bear that once roamed the hills of North Norway. The bear got its name from its limping gait — it had sacrificed a foot to escape a leg trap — the kind of trap no longer legal in Maine.

I hear about bear hunters getting away from Maine’s hunting tradition. Baiting, dogs and traps have always been part of that tradition — it is the tradition.

If Question 1 passes, the math indicates that some 1,000 bears will not be taken in 2015 that would have been taken if the present laws stand. It can be expected that many of them will have cubs.

Just as the state controls the population of deer and moose, and we control mice in our basement, squirrels in our attic, bats in our belfry, rats in our barn and woodchucks in our garden, so must state officials effectively control bear populations.

The present system is the best available. People need to do the math.

Henry Hamilton, Otisfield

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