The crooked, radical and misleading Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) (not to be confused with your local humane society in which HSUS gives no money), along with another fringe, lying, group called Wildlife Alliance of Maine, are collecting signatures in the beginning process of establishing a citizens’ referendum come November of 2014. The coalition is called the Mainers for Fair Bear Hunting. They need 57,000 signatures and intend to get 80,000. When these crooks come asking for your signature, tell them no.

Maine has a very serious deer management problem and a record number of bears are part of the problem. Bears kill new deer fawns in the spring and early summer. Too many bears are killing too many deer. The only way this can be stopped, in order to save a deer herd, and the herd does need saving, is to kill bears and kill bears in whatever fashion is needed to accomplish the task of population management.

Should a referendum to end baiting, trapping and hounding for bears pass, there will virtually be no more bear harvesting. The result will, more than likely, be a huge bear population, an extinct deer herd and increased human/bear encounters, among other ecosystem problems.

HSUS and Wildlife Alliance of Maine are lying and misleading the public when they say baiting, hounding and trapping are not needed to manage the bear population.

While such citizen initiatives are a legal part of the governing process, this is the second time groups have tried to end bear hunting. This is a complete waste of time and resources. The money and human effort could be much better spent with actual wildlife management and enhancement of habitat.