Archive for the ‘Legislative Alerts’ Category
Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Proposes to Exclude the Gray Wolf from the 2015 State Wildlife Action Plan
The Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) 2005 Wildlife Conservation Strategy listed the gray wolf as a Priority 2 species with occasional animals in the state but no known breeding populations. The two highest program components (Super Strategies) listed for the gray wolf were surveys/monitoring and education/outreach. To our knowledge MDIFW implemented neither component for gray wolves. Now MDIFW proposes to exclude the gray wolf from the 2015 State Wildlife Action Plan altogether because they believe it to be extirpated in the state. MDIFW is receiving public comments on their 2015 Plan during a 30 day public comment period that commenced on July 13, 2015. The DRAFT Plan can be found here: www.maine.gov/ifw/wildlife/reports/MWAP2015.html. Comments can be sent by email to: becky.orff@maine.gov. Read the rest of this entry »
MWC Testifies in Opposition to Sunday Hunting for Coyotes
On April 7, 2015, MWC president John Glowa testified before the Maine Legislature’s Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee in opposition of L.D. 691-An Act to Allow Sunday Hunting for Coyotes in Northern Maine. The committee disregarded our testimony that, in fact, Maine’s “coyotes” cannot legally be hunted or trapped because it is not a coyote, but is rather by statutory definition, a wolf hybrid. There is no legal definition for “coyote” in Maine statutes. The supporters of the legislation maligned Maine’s “coyotes” and provided no scientific evidence to support killing these animals seven days a week, instead of the six days a week currently allowed. Our testimony is shown below. Read the rest of this entry »
U.S. Fish Wildlife Service Plan to De-list Wolves Runs Into a Stumbling Block
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to de-list the gray wolf from most of the continental United States has run into a stumbling block. An independent scientific review panel unanimously concluded that the proposal to de-list gray wolves in the northeast based upon the Service’s conclusion that the eastern wolf, not the gray wolf is native to the northeast, is not based on the best available science and is not supported by sufficient scientific evidence. MWC had earlier testified to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that there is insufficient evidence that gray wolves are not native to the northeast and much evidence (prey species, proximity to existing/former gray wolf populations, etc.) that gray wolves are native to this region. Read the rest of this entry »