SUN JOURNAL • May 17, 2020
Maine’s bear population is exploding. This is largely a human-caused phenomenon, thanks to the State of Maine’s bear feeding program that permits the dumping of tons of food at thousands of bear feeding sites across Maine. The intent of this program is not to control Maine’s bear population but to support Maine’s bear hunting industry, primarily for out-of-state hunters, and to increase revenue for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. I submitted a petition to IFW to phase out Maine’s bear feeding program over 10 years. Both bears and the hunting industry would have time to adapt. Rather than end the feeding program, IFW proposes to extend the bear feeding season and to allow hunters to kill more bears. ~ John Glowa, South China