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The Main Street drops steeply into the sea, escorted by shops and restaurants that celebrate the best of Maine arts, books, food, fun, hospitality, and service.
Belfast is where it’s at!
When Commissioner Chandler Woodcock and the Fish and Wildlife Advisory Council took the very modest step in December of 2012 of banning the use of fish as live bait on 9 waters in northern Maine, it set off a stream of protests that led directly to the legislature where Senator Troy Jackson, the bait industry, and others offered legislation to reverse that decision. Troy’s bill was heard today by the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and the room was packed.
Five members of the IFW Committee cosponsored the bill, indicating a real problem on this issue for Commissioner Woodcock and his agency.
Supporters of the bill spoke for about an hour and a half, and then opponents took over, taking another hour and a half. Stalemate there. It was especially good to hear the testimony of Dave Trahan expressing SAM’s opposition to the bill.
We were packed like alewives into the small hearing room of the legislature’s Marine Resources Committee, hosting hearings this morning on a trio of contentious bills that would allow alewives to access a portion or the entire St. Croix River watershed.
I arrived almost an hour early and the room was already almost full. By the time I got to the sign up sheet for those who wished to testify, there were a couple dozen names ahead of me, most of them proponents of one of the three bills.
My testimony closely mirrored the column I posted on my outdoor news blog on the website of the Bangor Daily News on Friday. I encourage you to read that column if you have an interest in this issue.
Commissioner Chandler Woodcock has made an unprecedented effort to reach out to anglers of all interests as he tries to move forward with a fisheries agenda focused on his primary interest: native and wild brook trout.
I have fished with Chandler, consider him a friend, and know that this one means a lot to him. And while I – as well as others – are frustrated with the slow progress on recognizing this great resource and doing what is necessary to protect and enhance it – I have no doubt that the Commissioner and his top staff will continue to move in this direction. Not fast enough for me. But hey, I’m not a real patient guy.
On all fronts, we are dealing with a tide of rushing fisheries legislation, proposals, working groups, ideas, and initiatives.
As winter wanes, Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has yet to spend half of the $100,000 allocated by the legislature and governor to coyote control. And the project remains very expensive.
$241.25. That’s what each dead coyote has cost the agency. The latest report from John Pratte, Wildlife Management Section Supervisor, says that $47,282 has been paid to 46 hunters and trappers, resulting in 196 coyotes killed. Twenty-one volunteers in the program have done better, killing 261 coyotes.
Well, it’s not a debate about guns for lawyers, it’s a gun debate for lawyers.
Specifically, the Cumberland Bar Association will entertain a debate about guns between Bill Harwood and myself on Thursday (March 21). Bill is a lawyer and also the lobbyist for Maine Citizens Against Handgun Violence.
I probably should have my head examined to have accepted the invitation to debate a lawyer in front of a roomful of lawyers!
Darcy McElwee of the U.S. Attorney’s office in Portland invited Bill and I to debate at this annual meeting and luncheon of the Bar Association. The noontime event is at the Portland Regency. I am expecting a very nice lunch.
The fifth annual Argentinean Wine Dinner at the Inn by the Sea was a sell-out.
We began the adventure with a wine seminar, enjoyed an amazing dinner, and spent the night in an elegant Spa Room.
Wow!
All Episodes Can Be Seen on the Maine Audubon website. And on the Time Warner cable TV channel (channel 9 in most places) at 7 pm Wednesday, 6:30 pm Friday, 7 pm Saturday, and 8:30 pm Sunday.
