Title

"Cover Story" piece on pressure being applied to the Legislature to increase the

Authors

Ken Allen

Source

Maine Times

Date

2-4-1999

Pages

3, 4, 5, 6

Abstract

"Cover Story" piece on pressure being applied to the Legislature to increase the moose kill lottery numbers in Maine. This year at least 15 bills will be considered by lawmakers. Currently, hunters can shoot up to 2,000 of the animals. But the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine is pushing for more, and wildlife biologists say the figure could safely be raised to somewhere between 3,000 and 5,000. Others are concerned about moose-vehicle accidents and cite figures for 1997 when vehicles struck 658 moose. In 1998 five people died in moose-vehicle collisions. These statistics have prompted Cathie McBreairty of Caribou to circulate a petition calling for an increase in the annual moose kill. But ecotourism is growing in northern Maine and opportunities to watch moose attract tourists. John Cole, who founded Save Maine's Only Official State Animal (SMOOSA) in the 1980s, has long opposed moose hunting. Karen Morris, an Inland Fisheries & Wildlife biologist, believes Maine could support a moose population of between 60,000 and 90,000. Morris said the current population is about 29,000.

Subjects

Moose

Full text is not available here. Please contact the Library for a copy of the article.

Share

COinS