Please vote YES to banning the unsportsmanlike and cruel baiting, trapping and hounding of your bears. I do not believe that fair-chase hunting should be banned. Maine is the only state to allow “recreational trapping.” Who finds enjoyment in such cruel behavior? Who finds enjoyment in watching their dogs get maimed by a desperate bear? The dangers placed on our beloved dogs is reason enough to approve this referendum.

Your Governor supports these activities purely for political reasons just as our New Jersey Governor Christie did.

I believe that the economic impact of a ban would be negligible. Annually, about 9,000 hunters visit Maine to hunt bear. Would they all stop coming if the hunt turned into a fair chase activity? I thought that hunters were sportsmen! Surely, more people come to Maine to enjoy the scenery and wildlife. My parents and I love Maine and visit it yearly.

Hunters complain that they can’t kill enough bears without these egregious advantages. Perhaps there aren’t as many bears as you’re being told. In fact, most wildlife biologists and Fish & Wildlife officials are hunters with obvious hunting priorities.

If these hunter/biologists determined that not enough bears were being killed, they could extend the season allowing hunters more opportunities to visit with perhaps longer stays.

Why do opponents call this thinking extremist? Why do they label these cruel hunting methods as conservation-oriented? Come on Maine, be as beautiful as your state!

Dr. Richard O’Brien

Edison, N.J.