Re: “Letter to the editor: Proposed bear hunting bills fly in the face of recent vote” (March 10):

“Resounding” is hardly how I would describe the outcome of the November vote on bear hunting practices in Maine.

In his letter, Chuck Fagone fails to acknowledge the facts regarding the recent vote, not the least of which is the fact that a difference in the “yes” and “no” percentages of only 2 points would have resulted in a dead heat on this issue.

He neglects to mention that voters “resoundingly” agreed that two practices, namely the use of dogs and snares, are cruel and unnecessary methods in hunting bear.

The editorial boards of the Portland Press Herald and Bangor Daily News admitted that snaring and hounding practices are cruel, even as they supported the “no” vote.

A divided outcome, that is clear.

The sponsor of the two new bills, Rep. Denise Harlow, is simply listening to her constituents, a “resounding” majority of whom voted for the ban. In fact, close to 60 percent of voters in Rep. Harlow’s Portland district supported the ban.

That’s a significant majority, and as a Portland citizen and voter, I’m pleased that Rep. Harlow has taken this matter seriously, that she understands our wildlife is a public resource, understands the value in bringing this issue to the Maine Legislature, where it belongs: for a vote at long last.

Time and again, any effort to improve the humane treatment of our wildlife has been thwarted by members of the Inland Wildlife and Fisheries Committee, acting as a virtual arm of the hunting lobby supported by outside interests from as far away as Arizona.

Voters in Maine, many who learned through only this ballot initiative about the travesty occurring in our woods, support the bill that Rep. Harlow has submitted to eliminate the most egregious hunting practices.

Gina Stoll

Portland