A new grassroots wildlife advocacy group is opposing a plan advanced by the state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to extend the season for hunting bobcats and trapping beavers.
Karen Coker of WildWatch Maine says the department wants to add a week in February to the bobcat season and an additional two weeks to the beaver trapping season to provide more opportunity for hunters and trappers.
Coker says the department cited an interest in providing more opportunity to trappers and hunters as a justification for the season extensions, as well as low fur prices over the past few years, which reduced participation in trapping.
“Our concern is that low fur prices and providing hunters and trappers with more opportunity is not really a valid way to manage wildlife populations,” she says.
Coker says there is no definitive data on the state’s bobcat and beaver populations.
“In the case of bobcats, there is absolutely no data from the department that support a season extension,” she says. “In fact, the data suggests that bobcats could be imperiled because the harvest numbers of bobcats last year were at a 10-year low.”
Coker says wildlife advocates who are concerned about extending the seasons for both animals should contact the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in Augusta before Thursday.