The Oct. 22 Times Record editorial opposing bear baiting (“Ban bear baiting,” Page A6) contains so many falsehoods it is not possible to address them all.

While the opinion page is reserved for points of view, readers should be able to depend on the accuracy of statements made in an editorial. What is sad is not that this newspaper disagrees with our position, but that they based their position on misinformation and rhetoric.

The greatest illustration of this inaccuracy is when the editorial urged readers to voters to “Vote Yes on the bear baiting ban on Nov. 5.” The required number of signatures has not been submitted to the state or been certified. That referendum obviously will not take place Nov. 5. It is likely that the proposed initiative would not be placed on the ballot until Nov. 4, 2014 — a year away.

Ten years ago, voters rejected this same attempt by out-of-state groups to dictate to Maine how bears are managed.

The editorial references that election to bolster its claim that “both sides are taking gobs of outside money to win.” The truth is that two-thirds of the money raised to defeat the anti-hunting issue in 2004 came from actual Mainers. Proponents of the ban took 88 percent of their money from outside Maine — the vast majority from two animal rights groups.

A recent report filed by the socalled Mainers for Fair Bear Hunting with the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices shows 99 percent of their money has come from national anti-hunting groups.

The paper would have readers believe these groups only oppose Maine’s methods of hunting bears. But the truth is the same Washington-based organization financing the Maine campaign also bankrolled campaigns and lawsuits to prevent all bear hunting in New Jersey and Maryland. The group opposes all hunting.

While these anti-hunting groups advocate the end of the use of bait and dogs for bear hunting in Maine, our wildlife biologists strongly believe these methods are necessary to keep the bear population in check.

While the paper portrays Maine as out of step with the rest of the nation, the truth is that, of the 32 states that have a bear season, 18 permit the use of dogs, and 12 permit the use of bait.

Maine’s bear biologists do not believe the use of bait contributes to nuisance bears. Neither do experts in the other states. To the contrary, our state’s experts believe the current regimen is the best to maintain a healthy bear population while reducing human-wildlife conflicts.

Our coalition is extremely diverse and spans a bipartisan coalition of businesses, labor unions, approximately half of the Legislature, all three major candidates for governor, congressional candidates, sporting organizations, landowner and farm organizations, and the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. We are basing our campaign on sound science and research — not emotion.

Learn about the science of managing black bears, and become educated about the real impacts of the referendum. Let science be your guide, not emotion.

JAMES COTE, of Farmington, is campaign director for Save Maine’s Bear Hunt — a coalition opposed to a proposed ban on bear baiting.