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State Lawmakers Taking Aim at Hunting Preserves

March 03, 2009 - NEWPORT — The trail crunches below boots. Mature Eastern white pines stand majestically over cedar and birch trees. Snow flops to the ground with an echoing thud as a Canada jay flits from limb to limb in search of another meal.

Picturesque Maine woods, a working piece of land.

Mark Luce of Newport walks quietly alongside, speaking candidly about the challenges of farming rural Maine in a struggling economy. He addresses the things on everybody's minds – rising fuel prices, the difficult road ahead for small businesses, uncertainty on Wall Street and in our housing markets.

Abruptly, he stops. His words trail off. He points through a thicket.

"They've made us," he says. Two deer, their antlers rising to the sky it seems, are staring back.

It's breathtaking, this encounter with wildlife.

But behind the deer is a yellow sign, one hanging from an 8-foot-tall wire fence. The sign reads, "No hunting. Deer farm."

Between 20 and 25 times each year, Luce leads hunters into the 100-acre preserve on his farm. "Almost 100 percent" of the time, Luce said, those hunters are successful in shooting one of the deer in the Hindsite Red Deer Hunting Preserve.

There are only six such active preserves in Maine, ranging in size from 50 acres to 1,000 acres. They offer clients hunts for exotic, non-native species of game, such as red deer, fallow deer, elk and bison – affixed with price tags often reaching into the thousands of dollars, for hunting experiences lasting several days.

Luce has 100 red deer on his farm, 20 of which roam freely on the preserve.

The only preserves allowed in the state were grandfathered in back in 2000, but a bill introduced this session, on which discussion opens Wednesday, proposes to ban big-game hunting preserves like Luce's.

Luce worries that Maine would pay a hefty price if the bill passes. He and his colleagues would lose their livelihoods; sportsmen would lose hunting in the long run.

"I'm not against hunting," said Rep. Alan Casavant, D-Biddeford, who sponsored the bill. "I'm not coming from that angle at all. I don't see this as a first step in that direction. If a bill like that ever came up, I would be (strongly) against that.

"Hunting is a longtime Maine tradition. It is a sport. But this kind of hunting on a preserve, well, I don't see that as hunting or as a sport. I have major problems with that, and I think a lot of people who hunt do, too."

Among those who continue to support hunting preserves, however, is the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine.

"It's more about farming than hunting. That's what the discussion ought to be about," said George Smith, SAM's executive director. "This is something they can offer that brings them much more revenue than sending out these animals (for their meat)."

Smith said he understands that the experience offered on a preserve differs drastically from that in the open Maine woods. Still, he believes people should have that choice here, close to home.

"It's not hunting as you and I know it. These are domestic animals," Smith said. "These are not wild animals. But is there anything wrong with a Maine person having that opportunity here in Maine, instead of having to go to Texas or out West somewhere to have the same opportunity?"

Luce doesn't believe there is. He also thinks Maine would make a mistake by turning its back on a small – but significant – source of tourist dollars.

Luce estimates that all but 2 percent or 3 percent of his annual clientele comes from out of state.

Those same clients often make trips to destinations such as Bar Harbor or Baxter State Park, and spend money on fuel, lodging and Maine hallmarks like lobster dinners, while they're here on hunts.

Additionally, each of the operating preserves in Maine pays a $1,000 annual licensing fee, plus $25 to the state for every animal harvested on their land.

"In the state of Maine, we spend $1 million in hay alone for our deer," Luce said, citing not only game preserves but also the more than 60 deer farms in the state that raise deer for venison. "Most of us buy our feed from other farmers. We buy preserve insurance, vehicle insurance, fuel.

"We have clients that walk away extremely happy. We're starting to get some of that feedback now. So we're getting somebody who knows somebody else, tells them they had a great time, and then they start coming in on their own.

"The economic engine that we overlook easily is the economic engine every individual client is."

Rep. Pamela Trinward, D-Waterville, is a co-sponsor of Casavant's bill, though she remains cautious about taking swipes at a fragile local economy.

"If I were convinced that small businesses, that Maine people, need this to survive, then I would be against that," she said. "I was under the impression that this was something that was really on the decline.

"We're very sensitive right now with what's going on in the economy. This is not a time when people would be making changes to (the income of) traditional Maine families. If that were the case, I don't think anyone in the Legislature would be for that.

"My position is one that's from a Maine family of hunters. My concern is for the herd and the safety of the animals. That's really what it's all about."

Luce said his concerns are with his animals, too.

"We're stewards of the land," Luce said. "This is hard work. This is about a lot of love for the land, a lot of love for animals and a love to keep a piece of Maine in an agricultural fashion for as long as we can – because we all see where it's going."

By TRAVIS BARRETT, Kennebec Journal March 2, 2009


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