AUGUSTA — A state wildlife panel voted 9-0 Friday to extend trapping seasons for beaver and bobcat in an effort to control their growing populations.

The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Advisory Council increased the bobcat season by one week, extending from Dec. 1 to Feb. 21 next winter. The beaver season will be extended by two weeks, although the range of dates next winter has yet to be determined.

Jim Connolly, wildlife director of the Bureau of Resource Management, said declining fur prices have led to a drop in trapping activity in Maine, while nuisance complaints for beavers have been on the rise in all 16 counties.

Last winter, there were 4,536 licensed trappers in Maine, trapping for bobcats, fisher, marten and otter, among other species. However, the number of active trappers who have tagged pelts has decreased steadily, from 1,326 in 2005 to 784 last year, according to IFW.

The beaver harvest dropped from 12,635 in 2007 to 4,953 in 2015 while the bobcat harvest declined from 344 to 236 during the same years.

State biologist Nate Webb said the state does not have population estimates for beaver or bobcat. But with smaller animals, population growth becomes apparent if there is a rise in nuisance complaints, he said.

From 2010 to 2015, beaver complaints to the warden service increased from 268 to 305 and bobcat complaints jumped from 43 to 114.

“The harvest of the beaver population will not keep it at sustainable levels,” Connolly said. “We need to adjust in order to avoid beaver conflicts with the public. They can impair roads, dam up culverts and flood farm fields. We need trappers to help.”

IFW received 91 comments opposing the expanded trapping seasons, including testimony from a newly formed group of wildlife advocates. The state received 57 comments supporting the rule change.

Two members of the new group called WildlifeWatch Maine said Friday they were dismayed at a unanimous vote they called “irresponsible” when they said the department does not have the data to back up the decision. Co-founder Elaine Tselikis of South Portland called the decision to employ more trapping “sadistic.”

“To know whether bobcats are reproducing successfully you must not only know how many kittens are being born, which is data you do not have, you must also have kitten mortality and survival data,” said WildlifeWatch co-founder Karen Coker of Cape Elizabeth. “And you do not have a monitoring program that provides that data, either. You can make this season extension legal, but that is not responsible or scientifically defensible.”

Katie Hansberry, the president of the Maine chapter of the Humane Society of the United States, also told the council the department did not present enough specific data to justify a change in the season lengths.

“Throughout this process there was no data of an increased number of these species. There is no population estimate. So with all these unknowns, I find it very concerning that this rule was passed,” Hansberry said.

The Legislature creates hunting and fishing seasons, but the IFW advisory council has the power to make minor changes to different fish and game laws, such as extending or contracting seasons.

Several members of the council said they have heard beaver complaints from landowners and forest companies.

“In Aroostook County, when beavers are abundant it’s costly to landowners and loggers. They have moved into small towns and are plugging up rivers there. To me, there are indications that beavers are plentiful,” said Dick Fortier of Caribou, who represents Aroostook County.

Jim Fleming of New Sharon, a trapper of 40 years, said it’s irresponsible for the state to allow a wildlife population to grow unchecked.

“You can’t stockpile beavers,” said Fleming. “One of my greatest concerns with the burgeoning beaver population – and there is this movement among some landowners – is that they will be (classified as) a vermin so that they can be hunted. Then everyone who doesn’t want beaver can shoot them and they will become extirpated. We don’t want to eliminate them. We want to control them rationally and not have a lot of emotional rhetoric.”

 

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