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Sportsman's Alliance of Maine Events Raffles Merchandise Contact us 205 Church Hill Road, Augusta ME 04330 Telephone: 207-622-5503 FAX: 207-622-5596 |
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The Race for Governor
Governor John Baldacci was the first governor to support Sunday hunting. He was instrumental in our victory in the 2004 bear referendum, probably our greatest challenge in history. He successfully fought – in a period when state revenues were in great demand – to provide $3.7 million of General Fund tax monies for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife – the most tax money the department has ever received. Republican candidate Chandler Woodcock, a State Senator who served on the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee, sponsored and championed SAM’s important bill in the last legislative session – our legislation that recognized the native brook trout as the state’s Heritage Fish and protected those fish in waters that have never been stocked. He stood tall as one of only three Senators to vote against the Katahdin Lake project. And he’s a real sportsmen - a guy who will actually take time from the campaign to hunt deer this month. Maine has not had a governor who hunted in half a century. If you had to choose between these two men, whom would you choose? Well, SAM’s Board of Directors decided on September 10 to leave that difficult decision up to you. They made no endorsement in this race. After a very thoughtful discussion that ranged over two hours, the board could not agree on an endorsement. They gave both Baldacci and Woodcock a grade of A. While the other candidates, Independent Barbara Merrill and Green Party nominee Pat LaMarche, are substantial, neither will be governor. It’s a two-man race. For the record, Merrill got a grade of B and LaMarche an F.
No endorsement
Because SAM has a policy of endorsing incumbents who have done a good job for sportsmen, our lack of endorsement begged the question: where did Baldacci fall short? Honestly, I think the governor would have won SAM’s endorsement if the Katahdin Lake project hadn’t blown up just days before the board’s meeting to award endorsements and grades. This issue of SAM News explains the latest developments and outlines our proposal to address the problem. While we were pleased with the governor’s performance on hunting and fishing issues, he fell short on access issues, and these days, access is our number one concern. The problem areas for the governor are well-known to active SAM members: Katahdin Lake, the Allagash, and wilderness planning. Governor Baldacci was the first governor in modern times to bring a conservation project to the legislature that banned hunting and other outdoor activities. That’s hard to overlook, particularly because the Katahdin Lake battle turned ugly and bitter. In fact, Department of Conservation Commissioner Pat McGowan accused me of lying at one legislative work session – when the information I disclosed that day was provided to me by Commissioner McGowan himself. As you will see in the Katahdin Lake report in this SAM News, it is McGowan who was actually misleading legislators during those work sessions. SAM worked closely with our allies in the north country to support Senator John Martin’s bill that secured – in law - existing access points on the Allagash Waterway. That bill won overwhelming votes in the House and Senate. But Governor Baldacci – expressing his disapproval – failed to sign the bill, allowing it to become law without his signature. McGowan urged him to veto the bill. And the Governor promptly appointed a new Allagash Task Force to study the possibility of creating an independent authority to govern the Allagash – something that would eliminate any chance SAM has of influencing access and other issues there. The Governor failed to include us – or our northern Maine allies including Friends of the Allagash – on the Task Force. And then along came DOC’s secretive wilderness planning project. A large committee of what Dave Soucy, Parks and Lands Director, called “like-minded” individuals and groups, carved up the state, both public and private lands, into areas they think should be designated wilderness – which we know means areas accessible only on foot. These are the same groups that worked to kick us out of the Katahdin Lake lands. In this SAM News you can read Representative Dave Trahan’s excellent report on this troubling issue. No sportsmen’s group and no landowner was appointed to this committee, and it took a significant effort to discover the committee’s membership and get its meeting minutes. When we did, we blew its cover. And after nearly a year of effort on our part, and a specific request to the governor, I am pleased to report that, at the end of August, the committee was disbanded and its staff reassigned to new duties at DOC. It should never have happened. For nearly two decades, SAM has worked with environmental groups to support land conservation. In the 2005 campaign for a new bond issue for the Land for Maine’s Future, it was SAM and the Maine Audubon Society that was featured in campaign ads urging support for the bond. We are proud to have been a full partner in efforts that have added 2 million acres of conservation lands since 1997 – and happy to report that hunting and other traditional activities are welcomed on every single acre. It was wrong to bring forward a project that asked for public funding to purchase lands where hunting and snowmobiling and other outdoor activities would be banned. The Katahdin Lake project was a disaster for the conservation community. It should never have happened. I am doubly proud of our work on behalf of the people of the Allagash, to secure the opportunities to access and enjoy this river that is so important to their heritage. The governor should have signed their bill.
Woodcock
Despite these problems, the governor earned his A. An endorsement of Senator Woodcock would have been unfair to the governor. Nor should I leave the impression that Woodcock is perfect. His strong opposition to Sunday hunting was a disappointment, and his opposition to the governor’s budget jeopardized our effort to secure that $3.7 million of General Fund tax money for DIF&W. I have enjoyed working with Governor Baldacci. I like him very much. Over the past three months, we have been working more closely to address SAM’s concerns and discuss critical issues of the future. The governor has made many commitments to SAM over the past three months. For example, he promised to provide $5 million of General Fund tax money per year to DIF&W in the next biennial budget. This would be a major advance. He’s offered support for a new $10 million bond issue for hatcheries. At our request, he fully funded research on the Kennebec River’s striped bass in the next budget of the Department of Marine Resources. Sometime this month, I expect we’ll announce a major new partnership between SAM and the Department of Conservation called the Kennebec River Initiative. The governor has agreed to launch our new sportsmen’s license plate before the year is out, something SAM has worked to achieve for almost a decade. The governor has emphasized that he wants a better and closer working relationship with SAM in his next administration. I believe him. On the other hand, Chandler Woodcock is a man I greatly admire. I have known few political leaders with such integrity, intelligence, and wit. He is well-grounded in rural Maine and the issues that are so important to sportsmen. He’s one of us, and that’s rare these days in Augusta. Most legislators these days do not hunt and many do not fish. Sportsmen are a minority in the Capitol, and it would be a real asset to have someone in the Blaine House who will spend many of his days figuring out how to get out of there to hunt and fish. I will work closely with Governor Baldacci if he’s re-elected. I will hunt and fish with Chandler Woodcock if he’s elected governor. In an effort to be fair and objective, and at the direction of SAM’s board of directors, we are printing in this SAM News the Governor’s entire list of accomplishments – submitted as part of his interview with the SAM board. I also offered an opportunity to Chandler Woodcock to write about his accomplishments and plans for sportsmen should he be elected governor. And we’re also printing extensive excerpts from the surveys of all four gubernatorial candidates, to help you choose the best one to lead our state. We recognize that this is a tough decision. Good luck!
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