AUGUSTA – State Rep. Peter Edgecomb (R-Caribou) recently presented Gov. Baldacci with petitions calling for a predator management program to save Maine’s dwindling northern whitetail deer herd from being decimated by coyotes.
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Rep. Peter Edgecomb (R-Caribou) recently presented petitions, urging action to protect Maine’s whitetail deer population from coyotes, to Gov. John Baldacci at his State House office.
More than 4,000 Mainers, mostly residents of Aroostook County, signed the petitions, including guides, trappers and hunting camp operators. State Rep. Bernard Ayotte (R-Caswell) collected the signatures but was unable to attend the meeting at the governor’s office.
The petition calls on the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IFW) to institute, without delay, an effective predator management program including, but not limited to, filing an incidental take permit in order to reactivate the winter coyote snaring program. The “incidental take permit” (ITP) refers to the snaring of lynx. Lynx, which are listed as “threatened” in Maine under the Endangered Species Act, cover much of the area in northern Maine where there is great concern for deer.
The governor stated he will make sure the IFW commissioner receives the petitions.
An IFW official said the department applied for an ITP from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in August 2008, while it was still fighting lawsuits from animal rights groups seeking to block the permit. The FWS has not acted on the ITP application to date; but Ken Elowe, the director of IFW’s Bureau of Resource Management, says action may be imminent. “I have had recent communications with FWS stating that they are nearing the point of (required) advertising in the Federal Register for 60 days of public comment before they can act on the application,” he reported. “IFW continues to work on this, with the help of Maine Trappers Association, to get a solution for Maine’s people.”
IFW set up a task force in 2007 to study the problem of a declining deer herd. The final report said, in part: “Deer populations in northern and eastern Maine are very low; in many areas, the deer population is less than five deer per square mile. This is compared with deer densities of between 15 and 20 deer per square mile in central and southern Maine. Such population densities are greatly below the desires and expectations of resident and non-resident deer hunters, guides and outfitters, business owners located in rural Maine, and those who enjoy watching deer. The public is frustrated by low deer numbers and is demanding an upturn in the population.”
The petitions to the governor were accompanied by a letter from Jerry McLaughlin, president of the Aroostook County Conservation Association, in New Sweden. In his letter McLaughlin stated, “It is terribly apparent that past policies have failed miserably, resulting in a devastated whitetail deer herd throughout much of northern Maine. The social and economic impact that has occurred as a result of these flawed policies should not be acceptable nor overlooked. Our outdoor heritage is at stake, and millions of dollars in revenue have been lost. We do not have time for more task forces and study groups that take years on end with no results.”
