Mainers For Fair Bear Hunting Suing Maine IFW

The group in favor of a referendum on this November's ballot to ban baiting, trapping and using dogs to hunt bears in Maine has filed a lawsuit against the state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife alleging the agency is illegally using public money to oppose the referendum.

According to reports from WABI and WCSH, Mainers for Fair Bear Hunting filed the suit in Cumberland County Superior Court on Tuesday (Sept. 30).

In an Associated Press report, Katie Hansberry from Mainers for Fair Bear Hunting said the state agency has been illegally "using staff time, equipment, and agency dollars to influence a statewide election." She also alleged the agency is dragging its feet on a request for an accounting of state resources used to fight the referendum.

State wildlife biologists have come out in support of the existing hunting practices. And IF&W Commissioner Chandler Woodcock said the lawsuit filed Tuesday "appears to be politically motivated and designed only to generate headlines."

Mainers will vote Nov. 4 on a proposal to ban the use of bait, dogs, and traps to hunt bears.

Read the full lawsuit here.

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife gave its reasons for opposing the referendum on its website recently.

Mainers for Fair Bear Hunting gave its reasons for supporting the referendum on its website.