Apparently capitalizing on the “North Woods Law” TV show, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is offering a summer camp in July for boys and girls between the ages of 8 and 12, to be held at the Bryant Pond 4-H Camp and Learning Center.

According to the brochure for this program, “Camp instructors will include: Maine Game Wardens, State Biologists, Recreational Safety Coordinators, Information & Education Staff, Learning Center Staff and Maine Outdoor Professionals.”

Will that include animal rehabilitators and veterinarians, as well as representatives from animal shelters who might offer a broader perspective about animals other than just hunting them?

Children should know that animals and humans feel many of the same emotions, and that animals want to live as much as we do and have just as much right.

The program will also offer “Hands-on instruction and training in the following activities: ATV, Boating, Paddle Sports, Turkey & Deer Hunting, Outdoor Survival, Map & Compass, Life of a Maine Game Warden, Archery, Shotgun, Rifle, Spin Fishing, Fly Fishing, Fly Tying, Trapping & more.”

Will these kids learn that trapping involves the cruelty of drowning trapped beavers or killing an animal while it struggles to free itself?

Will they observe animals in their habitat without sending an arrow or bullet their way?

Will they enjoy, for instance, the simple pleasure of feeding wild turkeys without taking a shot at them?

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with summer camps, but this one seems to have a biased agenda. In a program teaching a mix of firearms and woodland skills, impressionable young kids appear to be guided toward inhumane attitudes about animals.

Like a number of recent efforts in our Legislature, it may be yet another attempt to increase the dwindling ranks of hunters by targeting children.

Don Loprieno

Bristol

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