AUGUSTA — Turnout for a public hearing Tuesday on an effort to eliminate bear-trapping is expected to be so heavy that the Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has decided to move the proceeding to the Augusta Civic Center.
The hearing was originally planned for the Cross State Office Building to hear testimony on state Rep. James Schatz’s bill to kill bear-trapping. But growing interest in the bill means the hearing will now be held in the Androscoggin Room at the civic center, according to committee clerk Jeremy Lestage.
“An Act to Prohibit Recreational Bear Trapping” (LD 1635) would abolish the open season on trapping bears, while only allowing trapping for scientific research, animal control or public safety.
Last month, Schatz, a hunter, said he didn’t want to end bear hunting, just the trapping of the animal. He submitted the bill on behalf of a Bangor-based group, the Wildlife Alliance of Maine.
Coincidentally, last week the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife published a notice explaining it had adopted new regulations regarding bear-trapping. The rule removes foothold traps from the list of legal traps for bear, and reduces from two to one the number of traps allowed to be set for bear.
The changes evolved from department proposals following meetings of a bear management group created after a majority of state voters defeated a 2004 referendum to restrict bear hunting by eliminating the use of baiting, hounds and traps, department spokesman Mark Latti said.
Other proposals involve studying the affects of baiting on bear reproduction and health, and gathering more information on Maine bear-trapping.
“We can’t do them yet, because it will probably cost $50,000 or more to do the study on the impact of baiting,” Latti said. “You’re talking about a five-year study, for which we would have to hire a manager and get equipment, but the other one would not be as much money.
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