A conference of landowners and recreationists last week demonstrated that ATVs remain a significant problem in Maine. Abusive ATV riders are a plague for landowners and a serious problem for those who enjoy outdoor recreation and lose access to their favorite private lands because of ATV abuse.

Steve Abbott has decided he doesn’t want to be Commissioner of the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, a position he was offered recently by Governor-elect Paul LaPage.

Insiders say LaPage has three other candidates for this important position at the top of his list: Chandler Woodcock, Craig McLaughlin, and Art Wheaton.

Several outstanding Maine sportsmen have taken key positions at the State House.

Attorney General William Schneider loves to hunt and enjoyed a great experience this year in Arizona where he took an Antelope. At the State House last week, Bill was obviously excited about his planned 2011 hunt – his first in Africa. Bill, who doesn’t let his wheelchair slow him down, has lined up an outfitter with a special van that will get him into some great hunts in South Africa. Bill is a long-time member of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine (SAM).

I have confirmed that Bill Beardsley will be presented Tuesday as Governor Paul LePage’s choice to serve as Commissioner of the Department of Conservation.

On November 30, I reported Beardsley as the likely choice, and consider this an exceptionally good appointment.

Thirty-five Mainers have been tapped to serve as a “Transition Advisory Team” for Governor-elect Paul LePage who presented the team at a November 23 press conference at the State House.

   

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My deer hunting had been going so well. I’d seen deer nearly every day. In fact I’d seen this particular buck twice.

The first time, he chased a doe right past my tree stand, literally passing right underneath me. My rifle and scope were useless, he was moving so fast. He whipped past me in seconds. I did notice a look of panic on the doe’s face, and I don’t think it was because she saw me. She didn’t want anything to do with that buck!

I have just learned that Governor-elect Paul LePage will present the team of people who will interview candidates for administration positions in state agencies at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, November 23, at the State Capitol.

As many as four dozen people may be involved in this process, with small groups assigned to specific agencies. They are expected to interview all candidates for commissioner positions and submit recommendations to LePage.

 

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They’re wild and fast, and unless you’re an ace with a shotgun, they’ll humble you.

During our annual North Dakota pheasant hunt in October, we saw hundreds of birds a day. How could it be so difficult to shoot my daily bag limit of three?

It was probably the best idea I had in my eighteen years as executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine.

Following another tough legislative session in which natural resource agencies and programs got clobbered again, I was fishing from camp at Sourdahunk Lake, pulling in some beautiful wild brook trout, but (unfortunately) still thinking about the legislature.

Here’s a book that could change your angling future. It should change the way you think about fish and fishing. It’s a “must-read” for all Maine anglers, fisheries biologists, and anyone who is concerned about the ways we manipulate our environment.

Anders Halverson, in his book An Entirely Synthetic Fish (Yale University Press 2010), explains “how rainbow trout beguiled America and overran the world.”