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Senator Saviello Sponsors My Turkey Bill

I often hunt on the land of a blueberry farm owner who is plagued by turkeys and deer. It’s really nice to be welcomed onto someone else’s land, and I’ve found that turkeys, in particular, are opening up a lot of private land to hunters.

My Dad and I have shot turkeys on the lawn of a Fayette homeowner, and I shot one once on my front lawn during the fall either-sex season. The spring season is the best and most exciting because you can call in the males. In the fall, it’s simply stalk and shoot.

Unfortunately, Maine has lost half of its turkey hunters in the last six years, despite the fact the state offers the best turkey hunting in the nation. Our seasons, bag limits, rules, and fees have reduced the number of Maine turkey hunters, even as our population of turkeys skyrockets.

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There's been a lot of talk about my recent speech to the annual banquet of the Maine Citizens Against Handgun Violence. A Maine Sunday Telegram column by Bill Nemitz, accessed in the "In The News" section of this website, spread the speech far and wide, and generated comments both positive and negative.

Here is the entire speech, so you can make your own judgements.

Good evening. PAUSE. I bet you are wondering what I’m going to say. I wondered that too, when Dr. McAphee called to invite me to speak at your annual banquet and fundraiser.

Getting him to issue the invitation was clever, because I could not say to no to Dr. McAphee. I have tremendous respect and admiration for him. I did hesitate, but after quite a bit of discussion, agreed to speak.

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The Maine Conservation Voters, the political arm of the Maine Conservation Alliance and the only state environmental group that endorses political candidates, and the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, whose endorsements have always been highly sought and valued by candidates, got very different results in the 2012 election.

SAM took a step backward, endorsing less than half the group’s usual number of candidates and abandoning its history of nonpartisanship. The group’s endorsements heavily favored Republican candidates, a bad decision in a year when Democrats regained control of both the House and Senate.

The Maine Conservation Voters made a better bet, although that group’s long-standing bias toward Democrats continues to irritate Republican legislators and leaders and has prevented the group from broadening its appeal and standing beyond the state’s environmental activists.

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I’ll be unable to post new pieces on my website, including in this Outdoor News Blog, this week (November 12-16), although the website will still be online and available to you.

My webmaster will be updating my software and making several important changes and additions to the website. I’ll begin telling you about my new services and initiatives next week.

This week, I will be posting news reports in my Outdoor News Blog on the website of the Bangor Daily News.

There is a lot of news ahead. I’m working on a preview of the issues I expect will dominate the outdoor agenda at the upcoming 2013 legislative session, which actually begins in early December.

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The legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife will get new leaders and at least five new members in 2013. The committee consists of 13 members including a Senate and a House chair.

Both of the committee chairs will change because they were Republicans and the Democrats took decisive control of the new legislature in Tuesday’s election. It was a double hit for Senator Tom Martin, the IFW Committee’s Senate chair, because he lost his race for reelection. Representative Paul Davis, the committee’s House chair last session, will be replaced in that leadership position by a Democrat.

IFW Committee members not returning to the legislature.

Republican Senator Tom Martin, defeated for reelection.

Republican Representative Ralph Sarty, who was term limited out of the House.

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It’s a little noticed program with vastly diminished funding, but the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund percolates along, assisting with wildlife conservation and outdoor recreation projects throughout the state.

Last week the MOHF Board had just $260,000 to award, while considering $441,000 of requests. The amount of money available in this round of grants was $65,000 less than was available for grants awarded in the last round in May.

Of the four categories in which grants are awarded, Category One, Fisheries & Wildlife & Habitat Conservation, was the most brutal, with just $93,000 available for $222,323 in requests.

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I'm posting a four-part series on my 2013 moose hunting adventure, in my Bangor Daily News website "Outdoor News" blog. Parts one and two are already posted. You can get started here.