There has not been a nationally disseminated report on bears in Maine since 1955. What has happened during the last 2 decades will serve as an introduction to the planning process. Black bears were once common throughout New England, but since the late 1700s,they had generally decreased in numbers and distribution (Cardoza 1976). At present, Maine is one of the major strongholds of black bears in the East, with about
59,000 km2 (72 percent) of the state's land area still occupied. From 1770 to 1957, there was no closed season, no limit, and a bounty on black bears in Maine. From 1957 to 1965, there was no limit and no closed season. From 1966 to 1968, there was a season from June through December but no limit. During 1969-74, there was a 6- to 7-month season with a limit of 1 bear per hunter per year. The seasons of 1975 and 1976 ran
from 1 May through 30 November. Legal hunting
methods were very liberal; trapping with foot snares or conventional traps, baiting, using dogs to track and chase, and shooting bears incidental to other types of hunting are all legal. The average annual recorded bear kill from 1946 to 1959 was 1,569. From 1970 to 1976,the average registered bear kill was 930, ranging from
1,071 in 1973 to 744 in 1974. Other than keeping track of the legal kill through a mandatory registration system,there was virtually no research done on black bears in Maine from 1954 to 1974. There is currently only a Fall season and one bear per hunter limit. Maine Black Bear have gone from becoming only a nuisance animal to one of Maine's most prized game animals. |
