David Trahan should do his homework (“Another View: Sportsman’s Alliance’s role in bear-hunt bill misrepresented,” Aug. 10).
Our meeting was a good-faith effort in hopes of reaching an agreement on the treatment of bears. The other side refused to have that discussion and consider a reasonable compromise. Instead, they sought to silence voters.
Our April 30 meeting followed the public hearing on L.D. 1303 – an unprecedented power grab seeking to amend the Constitution to take away Mainers’ voting rights by prohibiting citizen initiatives limiting hunting practices. That voter-suppression legislation failed.
Question 1 provides Mainers an opportunity to be heard on the cruel practices of bear hounding, baiting and trapping. Voters should hear the facts from both sides, not be fed scare tactics and rhetoric.
Baiting habituates bears to human food sources and grows their population. Baiting, hounding and trapping have no place in responsible bear management or fair chase hunting.
Katie Hansberry
Maine state director, The Humane Society of the United States
Portland
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