Remember Maine’s bear referendum? It has been almost a decade since the animal rights acolytes tried to shut down Maine’s annual black bear hunt. Spearheaded by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the bear referendum required Mainers to decide whether they favored a ban on bear baiting by hunters. To do so would have, in effect, outlawed bear hunting as we know it in Maine.

That was a monumental battle in the court of public opinion. On the front lines were the animal rights extremists, on one side and, on the other, Maine sporting camps, outfitters, guides and sporting organizations like the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine (SAM), state fish and game clubs, and the Maine Professional Guides Association (MPGA). The challenge for the sporting community was to marshal facts, to educate the average non-hunting voter who could have easily been swayed by the seductive emotional appeals advanced by the proponents of the bear hunting ban.

That was no easy task. Like any statewide referendum, it was a money fight, as well as a political contest. With so much at stake, the sporting community, including the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIF&W), really turned to and pulled out all the stops. When it was over, when the smoke cleared, the citizen voters demonstrated some common sense and rejected the bear hunting ban by a small majority. Some lessons were learned — by both sides. The animal rights advocates discovered a chink in the armor, an area of vulnerability: post election polls showed that had the referendum been limited to strictly bear trapping the outcome of the vote might have been different. The sporting community learned that these statewide referendum contests are expensive. Bear guides, sporting camp operators and outfitters don’t have deep pockets. They have just so many of these fights left in them. The opposition, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), on the other hand, is rolling in money.

The fear was that in time, when conditions warranted, the HSUS would launch another assault against Maine’s black bear hunt. It has happened. HSUS is back. According to SAM, this anti-hunting group has hired the high-powered law firm of Verrill Dana to lobby a bill in this legislative session that will, if passed, do the following:

• End the trapping of black bear.

• End the hunting of black bear with hounds.

• Eliminate the sales of bear galls.

• Make a second poaching offence involving bears a felony.

• Change the statute to prohibit a spring bear hunt.

When it comes to the pros and cons of Maine’s traditional bear hunt, the facts have not materially changed since the bear referendum of a decade ago. The various methods of harvesting black bears are all a vital part part of the mix that add up to the proper management of Maine’s robust black bear population. In fact, our total bear numbers are higher than they have been in decades. Even with our annual fall trapping, hunting with hounds and hunting over bait, our bear numbers continue to grow. In truth, Maine should be adding a spring bear hunt to the annual harvest efforts. It is estimated that black bears each spring take as many young deer as coyotes. Predation on deer by coyotes and bears is a factor in the inability of Maine’s struggling deer population to recover.

Of course, HSUS, in its efforts to pull at heart strings, will ignore the science in its lobbying efforts in Augusta. It is critical that state lawmakers see this new HSUS initiative for what it is and nip it in the bud. Maine’s sporting community can’t afford another bear referendum.

The author is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. He isalso 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, WQVM-FM  101.3) and former information officer for the Maine Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. His e-mail address is [email protected] and his new book is “A Maine Deer Hunter’s Logbook.”