MDI Deer Hunting Bill Killed in Committee
Tremont Select Board Asks Town Manager to Look Into Limited Hunting Options
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TREMONT—After discussions with local legislators, a public hearing, and a state representative visiting the Tremont Select Board by request, the legislative committee that could have moved forward a proposal for deer hunting on Mount Desert Island decided to kill the bill in its committee last week.
State Representative Mike Lance (R-Paris) said, “After the meeting (May 5 Tremont Select Board) I felt the bill in its current form was unnecessary.”
The discussion in Tremont was occurring because of events in Augusta on April 3, which was when Maine House Minority Leader Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor) presented the bill, LD 1438, to the Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife that would make it legal to hunt deer on Mount Desert Island.
Representative Faulkingham represents the towns of Franklin, Gouldsboro, Hancock, Sorrento, Sullivan, Winter Harbor, and Steuben.
The bill, cosponsored by Richard Mason (R-Lisbon), James Thorne (R-Carmel), and David Woodsome of (R-Waterboro) consists of one short section. “Mount Desert Island deer hunting rulemaking. Resolved: That the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife shall adopt rules opening Mount Desert Island to deer hunting in accordance with the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 12, section 11402, subsection 4.”
It also contains a summary of substantially the same language. “This resolve directs the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to adopt rules opening Mount Desert Island to deer hunting in accordance with the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 12, section 11402, subsection 4.”
TREMONT DISCUSSION
The idea of a Maine State representative who doesn’t represent the Town of Tremont introducing a bill to legalize deer hunting on Mount Desert Island did not sit well with Tremont Select Board Chair Jamie Thurlow.
At the select board’s May 5 meeting, the Tremont board spoke with Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IFW) Regional (wildlife) Biologist Steve Dunham and Maine State Representative Mike Lance (R-Paris) via Zoom about Representative Billy Bob Faulkingham’s recently introduced bill that would legalize deer hunting on Mount desert Island, LD 1438.
Dunham is the regional wildlife biologist for IFW zone-C, which includes MDI. Representative Lance is on the IFW Legislative (advisory) Committee. They had both been invited to attend the meeting by Tremont Town Manager Jesse Dunbar.
“A (state) representative that does not represent our area proposed LD 1438 which would include opening up deer hunting on MDI. I can’t say enough about how disappointed I personally am that this representative never contacted the town, does not represent our area, did not contact our (state) representative and just went ahead and tried to push it through without even contacting the town,” Select Board Chair Jamie Thurlow said, opening the conversation.
Thurlow said that the town has talked about deer hunting at least three times in the past that he is aware of and it has never been able to come up with an idea that seemed to work or that the state seemed willing to approve.
“I think opening up the gates for people to come from off island (to hunt deer) would be catastrophic” for peoples’ safety, Thurlow said.
The select board understands that there are issues with over population, Lyme disease, vehicle crashes, and over browsing, but members feel that they have to be very careful moving forward with any possible hunting plans, according to Thurlow.
Board member Kevin Buck expressed concerns about the proximity of so much private land abutting Acadia National Park and the possibility of hunters accidentally getting accused of poaching if they are archery hunting and a deer runs a distance after being shot and ends up on federal land.
That will happen sometimes even if rifles are used, board member Eric Eaton said, but “that is the safe way to go about hunting around here is archery. Possibly shotguns, but still, with slugs they can travel quite a bit further than an arrow.”
“Is it up to us to come up with the idea, whether its archery or hiring somebody, or does the state tell us what to do?” Select Board Vice Chair McKenzie Jewett asked.
“Hunting season is the main way that we (IFW) control deer in the state,” Dunham said to answer Jewett’s question, but “we don’t want every municipality in the state to try to create some sort of residents-only boutique hunt. That’s not what we are looking for, but we do recognize that there are some places that are more difficult than others. In that case, it really is up to the town to come up with a plan, present that plan to the IFW advisory committee, and if they approve it, to move forward with that plan.”
Thurlow asked Dunham if the town wanted to have a residents-only hunt, did he think that the state would approve it.
Dunham replied that if it’s just going to be the same as a regular state hunting season but only for Tremont residents, then the state probably would not approve it.
Any hunting plan that is not part of the regular state hunting season would have to be a plan that is put together thoughtfully by the town and approved by the IFW advisory committee, Dunham reiterated.
After approximately an hour of conversation about different hunting options, the select board decided to look into some of the possible ways to thin out the deer herd in Tremont and tasked Dunbar with researching four different options. Those were:
Expanded archery—This would be part of the state’s regular hunting season and would require the least amount of work/planning on the town’s part. It would not require IFW committee approval unless it was a special hunt outside of the state’s normal deer hunting/expanded archery season.
Resident Only—This would require a plan to be put together by the town and presented to the IFW committee for possible approval.
Limited License Group—This would require a plan to be put together by the town and presented to the IFW committee for possible approval. The limited license group would most likely be some entity that has agreed to be in control of the hunt and be morally and ethically conscious and strictly follow hunting laws and private property access rules.
Hired Hunt—This would be the hiring of a private company or USDA hunters to thin out the deer herd.
According to a statement made by Dunbar at a Tremont Select Board meeting on April 22, any possible hunting approval by the Town of Tremont would have to go though the normal public hearing and town meeting (could be a special town meeting if necessary) vote approval or disapproval process. This would be in addition to any approval needed by the state and/or the IFW committee.
Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Legislative Advisory Committee
On April 16 there was a legislative public hearing on those potential changes proposed in LD 1438.
Dunbar had submitted a letter to the legislative public hearing saying that the Tremont Select Board did not have an opinion one way or the other and that the town would be holding a public hearing on the matter at a later date.
During the public hearing, Nathan Webb, wildlife division director of Maine’s Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, told the few legislators that attended their committee meeting that because of state law the commission can’t lift bans on deer hunting in Mount Desert Island towns without each town indicating that it was in favor of that ban.
Representative Lance told the Tremont Select Board at its May 5 meeting that the IFW Legislative Advisory Committee had a work session earlier that day and that they were scheduled to talk about LD 1438 but it had been automatically tabled due to a lack of information. He was attending the select board meeting that evening to gather more information to take back to the committee.
On May 7, Representative Lance took the information that he had gathered from the Tremont Select Board meeting and information that he had learned after “a few weeks researching the issue” back to the IFW committee.
The meeting with Tremont, he said, convinced him the bill was not currently necessary. State Rep. Gary Friedmann (D-Bar Harbor) has also told the Bar Harbor Story that he had spoken to committee members about it.
At that May 7 committee meeting, the committee unanimously voted that the bill ought not to pass (ONTP), which “killed the bill in committee.”
According to the path of legislation in Maine, when a bill goes before a Joint Standing or Joint Select Committee and gets voted on by that committee, “if an 'ought not to pass' report is unanimous, the bill is placed in the legislative file and the letter from the committee chairs conveying this report appears on the House and Senate calendars. When that occurs, no further action may be taken by the Legislature unless a joint order recalling the bill from the file is approved by 2/3 of the members of both houses voting in favor of recall. If they do, the bill is considered.”
As of May 7, for all intents and purposes, Representative Faulkingham’s bill has been struck down and the only legal deer hunting that will occur on MDI will be through an individual town’s actions similar to the ones that the Town of Tremont is currently considering.
OTHER TREMONT SELECT BOARD MEETING BUSINESS
The select board held public hearings on three license/permit requests, a liquor license request for Archie’s Lobster at 90 Tremont Road a special amusement permit request for Archie’s Lobster, and a special amusement permit request for Island Take Out at 21 Harbor Drive.
There were a number of comments, mostly in the form of questions regarding hours of music and level of the music-related noise in regards to Archie’s Lobster’s special amusement permit, but after the representative who was on hand for Archie’s Lobster informed the audience that the permit was only for dinner music from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m., everyone seemed satisfied.
A motion was made “to approve the application of Archie’s Lobster, located at 90 Tremont Road, for a state on-premises liquor license and special amusement permit.” The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
There was no public comment or questions in regard to the Island Take Out special amusement permit request. A motion was made “to approve the application of Island Take Out DBA Seaside Dairy Bar and Lobster Pound, located at 21 Harbor Drive, for a special amusement permit.” The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
The select board then approved two liquor license renewals which were not public hearings and which garnered no comments from the select board.
Seafood Ketch, located at 47 Shore Road, requested that its liquor license be renewed. A motion was made “to approve the application of Seafood Ketch, located at 47 Shore Road, for a state on-premises restaurant liquor license.” The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
Island Take Out, located at 21 Harbor Drive requested that its liquor license be renewed. A motion was made “to approve the application of Island Take Out LLC, DBA Seaside Dairy Bar and Lobster Pound, located at 21 Harbor Drive, for a state on-premises restaurant liquor license.” The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
FY 2024 AUDIT
James Wadman, CPA, gave the select board a brief overview presentation of the town’s financial audit for the fiscal year 2024.
Wadman explained that he gave the town an unmodified or clean opinion of its financial situation and audit results. This is a good thing according to Wadman because if a town had a modified opinion it usually means that the accountant doing the audit had trouble rectifying some of the income or expenses or other financial values.
Wadman said that for the past three years the town has maintained a “surplus” fund balance in the $1.1–1.3 million range. Comparing this fund balance to the town’s expenditures for the last three years shows that the “surplus” is in the 14-16% range of expenses.
Maine Municipal Association recommends a minimum 10-12% “surplus” to expenses ratio, so the town, while not having a huge fund balance, is in a healthy financial position when compared to overall expenses according to Wadman.
Wadman also said that the town’s percentage is on par with other nearby towns Bar Harbor and Trenton and is close to Camden who notoriously maintains a high “surplus” fund.
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