Department Will Hold Informational Meetings Concerning Moose Proposal
AUGUSTA, Maine -- Maine's moose hunting season could be changing. The Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife is proposing to expand the current moose hunting season to curtail moose population growth in southern Maine, and provide moose hunters with additional hunting opportunity in central Maine. A series of public informational meetings are schedule to gather input on the department's proposal for the 2006 Moose Hunting Season.
"If enacted, this proposal will allow us to address the problems associated with a growing moose population in southern Maine, as well as increase moose hunting opportunities in the central part of the state," said R. Dan Martin, Commissioner, Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
Earlier this year, the legislature directed the department to study the feasibility of a moose hunt in southern Maine. Both the Legislature and the Big Game Working Group have recommended that the Department consider a moose-hunting season in southern Maine as a means of regulating moose numbers and reducing moose vehicle collisions.
The Big Game Working Group is a stakeholder group having diverse interests in moose, including moose hunting, moose viewing, and car-moose collisions. The group met for a period of two years and recommended a series of moose population goals and objectives that covered the entire state, including reducing the moose population in southern Maine, and increasing hunting opportunities in other parts of the state.
The Department's new proposal would:
* Establish a 6-day October moose-hunting season in parts of Northern Kennebec, Southern Oxford, Southern Somerset, Southern Piscataquis and Southern Penobscot Counties (Wildlife Management Districts 15, 16 and 27). This would correspond with the October moose hunting season in other areas of western, eastern and northern Maine, and
* Establish a 6-day moose-hunting season in Eastern Kennebec, Hancok, Knox and Waldo Counties (Wildlife Management Districts 23 and 26) during either the last week of the muzzleloader deer-hunting season in December or during the last week of the regular firearms deer season in November.
Permits would be allocated among Wildlife Management Districts. Wildlife biologists anticipate that 100-300 permits will be issued in these five WMDs. To meet population goals developed by the Big Game Working Group, the Department would allocate a combination of any-moose and antlerless-only moose permits as needed.
This October, the Department will hold five public informational meetings to present the moose season proposal to the public and solicit comment and ideas.
WMD 23 6:30 PM / October 3, 2005 Mount View High School 577 Mount View Road, Thorndike
WMD 16 6:30 PM / October 4, 2005 Maranacook High School Auditorium Route 17, Readfield
WMD 15 6:30 PM / October 6, 2005 Bridgton Memorial School / cafeteria Depot St., Bridgton
WMD 26 6:00 PM / October 18, 2005 Jewett School Community Center Bridge St., Bucksport
WMD 27 6:00 PM / October 20, 2005 Room 102 Science Building University of Maine, Machias
Following the public meetings, the Department will submit a report to the Legislature in early 2006 outlining its proposals, a summary of the public comments received, and its recommendations regarding the proposed modifications to the current moose-hunting season.
If the above proposal is approved and if it is successful, the Department will propose opening Wildlife Management Districts 20, 21, 22, 24, and 25 to moose hunting in the future.
In 1999, the Maine legislature granted all responsibility for administering the moose hunt in the year 2001 and beyond to the Department.
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