SWOAM Advocacy
- ADVOCACY INFORMATION
- Advocacy Home
- Natural Resource Agencies Consolidation 2008
- LD 347 An Act to Improve Landowner Relations
- LD 736 An Act to Protect Small Woodland Oweners
- LD 737 An Act to Promote Forest Management Planning and Certification
- LD 307 An Act to Enhance Land Use Opportunities for Landowners
- Sunday Hunting
Sunday Hunting
- News Release February 22 2005
- Newsletter Article
- Sunday Hunting Testimony
- News Release January 12 2005
NEWS RELEASE February 22 2005
Media Contacts:
Tom Doak, Executive Director, Small Woodland Owners of Maine. Augusta, Maine (207) 626-0005, Cell: (207) 446-4481, tom@sowam.org
John Rooks, Rooks Communications. Portland, Maine (207) 772-0066, Cell (207) 712-7498, jrooks@rookscommunications.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COALITION OF SPORTSMEN AND LANDOWNERS UNITE ON SUNDAY HUNTING
Augusta - Tuesday, February 22, 2005. A coalition of sportsmen and landowners held a press conference in Augusta today. At the press conference, members of the coalition expressed their concern regarding the Sunday hunting proposal which has been discussed in recent weeks.
In a joint testimonial from the group, the coalition's spokesperson Tom Doak read from a prepared statement: "We all come at this issue with a slightly different point-of-view. However, we are united in our concern that the issue of Sunday hunting is driving a wedge between landowners, sportsmen, recreational users and the public. This rancor is not good for sportsmen, recreational users, woodland owners or the general public," said Doak. Doak is the Executive Director of the Small Woodland Owners Association of Maine.
"We believe the real issue is respect for each other's traditions and a balance to the relationship between user and landowner. We should focus on, and build upon, what we have in common, namely Maine's outdoor heritage," Doak concluded. To that end, the coalition of sportsman and landowners offered the following position statement to help resolve and clarify the issues created by the Sunday hunting proposals:
- We support long term and fair funding for the department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IF & W). Their mission is critical to the protection and management of Maine's wildlife resource.
- Sunday hunting is an enormous issue for the citizens of Maine and should not be connected to the funding of Maine's state budget.
- The coalition does not support dividing the state into landowner categories (large and small) and imposing different hunting regulations based on the size or location of ownership.
- We urge the Maine legislature move beyond this divisive debate on Sunday Hunting and initiate a constructive dialog on improving landowner relations.
- We urge an end to any discussion of Sunday hunting this legislative session and the creation of a task force of landowners, sportsmen and others whose charge is to consider proposals to maintain and enhance cooperative outdoor recreation opportunities on private land.
Members of the coalition of sportsmen and landowners include:
- Maine Trappers Association
- Maine Bowhunters Association
- Maine Snowmobile Association
- Maine Professional Guides Association
- Small Woodland Owners Association of Maine
- Maine Farm Bureau
- The Maine Forest Products Council
- North Maine Woods
For more information, please contact:
Tom Doak, Executive Director, Small Woodland Owners Association of Maine. Augusta, Maine (207) 626-0005, Cell: (207) 446-4481; tom@swoam.org
John Rooks, Rooks Communications. Portland, Maine (207) 772-0066, Cell (207) 712-7498, jrooks@rookscommunications.com
Return to Top
Sunday Hunting Debate Re-ignites
A new attempt is being made this year to end a long-standing Maine tradition and permit hunting on Sundays.
Governor John Baldacci has proposed that hunting be allowed on Sundays during all hunting seasons except for the regular firearms season for deer, which is generally the month of November. The exception to this is that waterfowl hunting would be allowed on Sundays during the regular deer season. The Governor, some state officials and sportsmen hope that the extra days will attract more hunters, particularly hunters from out of state as a way of generating revenue for the State. The Sunday hunting proposal is a concession to hunters in exchange for fee increases, including making permanent a temporary $3.00 increase in hunting license fees initiated two years ago.
SWOAM has strongly opposed Sunday hunting for many years. In a joint press release with the Maine Farm Bureau, SWOAM indicated it has long favored working with groups and individuals to help maintain the traditions of outdoor recreation, including opportunities to hunt. As the joint statement said, the tradition of no hunting on Sunday has allowed small woodlot owners one day out of seven to enjoy their land without hunters. The proposal alters the balance that has developed over the years and threatens the long tradition of users, including hunters and landowners working together. Ultimately, Sunday hunting would result in less access for hunters and others. As a result, it would work against the interests of hunters as well as landowners and recreational users.
A much more limited Sunday hunting bill was defeated in the last Legislature. The new proposal was developed by sportsmen’s groups and state officials without the involvement of small woodland owners. At press time SWOAM, the Maine Farm Bureau and the Maine Snowmobile Association have gone on record in opposition. In addition, numerous other organizations and a number of hunters have indicated they intend to oppose Sunday hunting.
Complicating the issue is the fact that unlike all previous attempts in memory to initiate Sunday hunting, this proposal is not a separate piece of legislation but part of a several-hundred page budget bill. As a stand-alone proposal, all past attempts to implement Sunday hunting have failed. Including it as a budget item instead of a policy debate provides less opportunity for serious scrutiny or public comment.
There is nothing in the budget proposal that indicates additional revenue for the State as the result of Sunday hunting. Instead, the apparent hope is that sportsmen will accept making the temporary fee increase permanent in exchange for Sunday hunting. And that revenue from increased non residents coming to Maine to hunt will generate additional funds sometime in the future.
Several SWOAM Board Members met recently with the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and a representative of the Governor’s Office to better understand the proposal and to express concerns about the soundness of this proposed major policy shift. The Board members reaffirmed SWOAM’s interest in a positive relationship, while indicating fears that the proposal would damage landowner/sportsman relationships and ultimately lead to less access for all. The Board members urged reconsideration of the issue and an effort be made to find other ways to address sportsman’s concerns. While the discussions were cordial, in the end the administration decided to stay with their original proposal.
There will be a hearing on the proposal before the Appropriations Committee of the Legislature as part of the budget of the Department of IF&W on February 3rd at 1:00 pm in Room 228 of the State House in Augusta. This may be the only opportunity small landowners have to voice their thoughts and concerns. If you plan to attend, you may want to arrive early as seating could be limited.
What can you do to express your own opinion on this issue?
1) Testify at the hearing. 2) Attend the hearing even if you don’t testify. 3) Send a letter to the Appropriations Committee. 4) Contact your State Senator, State Representative and the Governor’s Office.
If you need help finding out how to contact your Legislators, call SWOAM at 1-877-467-9626 or go to www.maine.gov and click on Government. Then follow the links.
Return to Top
Testimony in Opposition to Sunday Hunting from the Small Woodland Owners Association of Maine (SWOAM)
Senator Rotundo, Representative Brannigan and members of the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee; and Senator Bryant, Representative Watson and Members of the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee; my name is Kilt Andrew, I am a small woodlot owner and I am testifying in opposition to Section W-31, the Sunday hunting provision, on behalf of the Small Woodland Owners Association of Maine also know as SWOAM.
SWOAM is a 501(c) 3 non-profit established thirty years ago to educate small woodlot owners and the public. It is not a trade association; we have no paid lobbyist. Our education efforts target two objectives:
First, to manage woodland following sound forest management practices, and
Second, to encourage and strengthen forest stewardship for the long term.
All told, there are some 100,000 small woodland owners responsible for approximately 5 million acres of Maine woodland. SWOAM members account for about half a million acres. We strongly support the Governor’s Forest Certification Initiative and now operate the largest pool of green certified small woodlot owners in the State. In addition, we own land as part of our rapidly growing Land Trust. All our lands are open to public use, including hunting. We support and respect the tradition of hunting.
The predominance of small woodland owners are individuals and families. These folks are a necessary source of supply to Maine ’s wood products industry. In real terms these owners have capital investments in a very sustainable Maine resource. Small woodland owners account for 35-40% of the logs and wood fiber for Maine ’s paper and wood products industry.
Now let’s get to the matter at hand. We believe that Sunday hunting is bad for landowners, is bad for hunters, is bad for recreational users and perhaps most importantly bad public policy. We are hard pressed to think of a policy change that could do more damage to landowner/user relations than Sunday hunting.
We have heard that Sunday hunting is allowed in 41 out of 50 states and that we should join the majority. To be fair, there are other comparisons which should be made. For example, we understand Maine ’s access policy is one of the most open, if not the most open access policy, in the nation. Unlike many other states where landowner permission is needed, we have a policy and laws that gives hunters and others access unless there is notification such as posting. And though in many other states sportsmen pay hunting fees or lease hunting rights, Maine ’s open access has made this unnecessary. These policies make us different from many other states. We think the differences are good and benefit landowners and sportsmen and for that matter; the public in general. In addition, any analysis of Sunday hunting should consider the impact on the goodwill of thousands of forest land owners who provide access and the value of this goodwill to the public good.
Further, let’s not overlook the significant increases in hunting opportunities over the last decade or so. We now have spring and fall turkey hunting; the muzzle loading season has been expanded; we have youth hunting days; we have an increased archery season; bonus deer permits and there may be others. Each time woodlot owners have accepted the expansion of hunting opportunities – until now. Small woodlot owners are saying this: “We willingly provide free access for hunting 6 out of 7 days a week. Isn’t that enough?”
Let’s be clear: small woodland owners provide the wildlife habitat on which, to a very sizable extent, Maine ’s hunters depend. It’s so easy to overlook the fact that the woods that surround us, and which we enjoy for recreation and for hunting, belong to someone, a real person. And we tend to forget that the person owning the habitat has the very same pride in ownership and the same feeling of responsibility for that acreage as homeowners have in their treasured residence and their plot of land. This sense of ownership is profound, it is emotional, it goes to one’s core.
Never the less, landowners have always shared their land with hunters. In earlier times, it was a simple courtesy – you can hunt on my land, I can hunt on yours. This relationship evolved over generations to the present where the landowner now accommodates city and suburban dwellers as well who, absent their own chunk of land, seek game and recreate on the property of others … the woods of small landowners throughout the state. These landowners charge no hunting fee nor do they lease land to groups or individuals.
Why would I, or any other small landowner for that matter, allow others on my land for hunting? Think about it – here is property I treasure – and pay taxes on – and work on to manage and improve the forest and wildlife resource. And keep this in mind – most small landowners are not motivated primarily by income. Aesthetics, recreation and wildlife are strong motivators. Firewood, yes; something for the kid’s education, something for retirement, but dollars are not the primary driver for small woodland ownership. Maine trees grow slowly, and an owner is looking 20 to 30 years out. I’ll be dead and gone before a commercial harvest can take place on my land.
So why is it that I and other landowners allow hunters on our land? Whether we hunt or not, and many of us do, the answer lies in that generations old, unwritten, silent contract – an extension from those early times when neighbors agreed they could hunt on one another’s property. This silent contract says “You are a hunter and I accept your hunting on my land; in return please respect my ownership.” Simple as that.
However, let’s make it clear – and this is most important – the landowner is making a choice to allow hunters on his or her land out of good will, out of regard for the other person, out of a sense of community, out of a sense of tradition, out of a willingness to share, and a sense of the golden rule.
Today, the silent contract is overlaid with some state regulation. Most particularly the regulations say no Sunday hunting. Regardless of how Maine’s regulations have come into being, they are now part of the long standing bargain inherent in the silent contract, and are part of the established long standing relationship between landowner and hunter. No Sunday hunting has been in place for about 125 years.
As a result, landowners have come to make use of Sundays to work in the woods – most aren’t supported by their forests and have regular jobs. They also use their woods for recreation. Whatever it may be, Sunday’s have become that one day during hunting when the property owner (and for that matter recreationists) are free to be in the woods without concern for their safety.
As it now stands hunters enjoy six out of seven days a week while landowners have but one day to fully use their land – not to mention restricted use for the month of November. Landowners are accustomed to this arrangement and they place inestimable value on these Sundays. And little wonder we’re saying “enough is enough”.
So, now comes the notion of Sunday hunting. Simply put, it ruptures the long-standing silent accommodation between landowner and hunter; the equilibrium struck between the two parties abruptly tilts and strips landowners of precious time to work and enjoy their woods. Faced with seven out of seven days hunting, years of landowner goodwill and accommodation are abruptly swept away and replaced by feelings of betrayal, hurt and anger. Small landowners are not abstract entities, they are human beings; the anger is real.
We of SWOAM view Sunday hunting as destructive of the hunter – landowner relationship which has thus far stood the test of time – why destroy it now?
We believe Sunday hunting will lead to more conflicts and will inevitably result in less access for all. We willingly share our woods for six days a week with hunters, but we’d like to keep that one day to enjoy worry free. Honestly, is that really too much to ask?
We urge you to defeat any consideration of Sunday hunting and let’s work to create an atmosphere of trust and respect for our shared outdoor heritage.
Return to Top
NEWS RELEASE
Augusta , January 12, 2005 – The Maine Farm Bureau and the Small Woodland Owners Association of Maine (SWOAM) expressed shock and disappointment with the recent announcement that Governor Baldacci’s budget submittal includes a proposal to allow Sunday Hunting.
Farm Bureau President Doug Blackstone and SWOAM President Jo Pierce issued a joint statement today. “While apparently others were involved in the development of the proposal, the two groups most impacted by the proposal, small landowners and farmers, were left out.”
There are more than 200,000 small woodland owners and farmers owning more than six million acres of land in Maine . Maine has a long trusting tradition of farmers and woodlot owners providing opportunities for hunting on their private land. Unlike many surrounding states, in Maine the public is assumed to have landowner permission to use the property unless the land is posted against that use. Sportsman and recreationist in other states are envious.
“The tradition of no hunting on Sunday has allowed farmers and small woodlot owners one day out of seven to enjoy their property and, in most cases, share that property with non hunters. This proposal clearly alters that balance and threatens the tradition of users and landowners working together to provide recreational opportunities,” said Pierce.
As a result of this trusting tradition, a balance has developed over decades in Maine . Despite growing pressures from sprawl, taxes and inappropriate recreational use, the majority of woodlot owners and farmers still willingly allow for public use, including hunting.
“This proposal indicates to us a disturbing lack of understanding that small woodlot owners and farmers provide the vast majority of hunting and other outdoor recreational opportunities in the southern 2/3 of the state,” said Blackstone and Pierce.
Both groups expressed interest in working with groups and individuals to help maintain the traditions of outdoor recreation including opportunities to hunt.
“Ultimately, this proposal is not good for farmers, small woodlot owners or recreational users, including hunters. It unnecessarily increases the potential for conflict between farmers or small landowners, and hunters,” concluded Blackstone.
A much more limited Sunday hunting proposal failed in the last Legislature. And since the Farm Bureau and SWOAM were not consulted regarding the current proposal, both groups are awaiting further clarification from the administration. “The proposal to allow Sunday hunting is a huge policy change. It should not be a budget item, but rather debated on its merits as a separate issue,” said Pierce.
For years, the mantra for hunters and outdoor users from government and organizations has been “Ask First”. Unfortunately, according to the Maine Farm Bureau and SWOAM, in developing this proposal, the administration did not follow its own advice and “Ask First” the people most effected by the proposal.
Top