I am writing in regard to the TV ads on Question 2. It is appalling how misleading and false they are. Never mind that it is unethical for state employees to take sides in a political issue; the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is talking out of both sides of its mouth. All year DIF&W stresses proper storage of food to prevent the dreaded man-bear confrontation. Then, for one season a year, DIF&W promotes feeding bears through baiting.

Jennifer Vachon, DIF&W biologist, states in the ads that baiting and hounding are necessary to manage Maine’s bear population. Last year, Vachon told Safari Club International that if baiting is outlawed “[w]e will not get a population explosion, especially in the span of a few years, as bears do not have the capacity to reproduce that quickly.”

She continued, “[m]any have said that our nuisance complaints will go through the roof, but nuisance bear activity depends more on year to year variations in natural food crops and less on total numbers of bears in an area, especially since most bears in Maine live in areas with low population densities.”

Moreover, the political ads masquerading as science denounce allowing “out-of-staters” to decide how Maine conducts wildlife management. Yet 80 percent of bears shot in Maine are felled by trophy hunters from out of state.

It is time that DIF&W is exposed for what it is – a disguised PAC for the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine.

Chris Fedorka, New Gloucester