Maine’s Yes on 1 campaign released a letter to their opponents on Monday, asking them to stop what they’re calling “fear-mongering advertising” in reference to a new television ad that features a woman who was attacked by a bear in Florida.
“Your campaign’s advertisements stoking ungrounded fear about black bears are beyond the pale of civil debate,” Katie Hansberry, director of the Yes on 1 campaign, wrote to James Cote, director of the No on 1 campaign. “In particular, your assertions in the ads run against the private thinking of the very ‘experts’ that your campaign is asking the voters to believe.”
On the Nov. 4 ballot, Question 1 will ask voters: “Do you want to ban bear hunting using bait, traps or dogs except to protect property, public safety or for research?”
The No on 1 campaign and the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife state that if the referendum passes and these three hunting methods are banned, the state will not be able to manage Maine’s growing black bear population.
“Bear attacks have been on the rise across the country for the past couple of years, and we’ve seen a lot of them this year,” James Cote, director of the No on 1 campaign said. “That’s the end result of a poorly managed bear population … It’s a major reason for people to vote no.”
The controversial TV ad features Terri Frana of Lake Mary, Florida, who was attacked by a black bear in April. Frana encountered the bear in her garage, where it was searching for food in garbage cans. The bear then dragged her out into her driveway, leaving scrapes and cuts on her face and legs. She escaped and ran back into her home, where her husband called 911, according to a CNN story.
“It’s an outlandish ad — a provocation and an exaggeration,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, an organization that has funded the vast majority — more than $2 million — of the YES on 1 campaign. “There’s no correlation between a single incident and a policy.”
While in many campaign ads, actors are used, Cote points out that there are no actors in this particular No on 1 ad, which includes the actual audio of the woman’s husband calling 911, as well as footage from a TV interview with Frana conducted by WESH 2 News in Orlando.
“I’d say that it’s not dramatization,” Cote said. “That’s unfortunately what a bear attack looks like and what people should consider.”
Cote drafted a letter in response to Hansberry Monday evening in which he wrote, “Your contention that attacks like the ones we reference are somehow not relevant to Maine’s Question 1 is based on one fact. Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife have done a wonderful job of controlling bear numbers for decades. That gives you the luxury of claiming that attacks that have occurred in New Jersey, Florida, Michigan, California and elsewhere aren’t a real fear in Maine.”
In Florida, wildlife officials are looking to hire two contractors to help reduce the high number of bear-human contacts in the north-central part of the state, according to a story published online by Fox News.
“Your [sic] invoking a Florida attack to justify your position would be akin to the Yes on Question 1 committee saying a bear attack in a baiting state would be an indicator of many more attacks to come,” wrote Hansberry in her email. “There is clearly no correlation between the prohibition of these inhumane and unsporting hunting methods and bear attacks.”
In the letter, Hansberry also points out contradictions to a TV advertisement that features DIF&W biologists Judy Camuso and Randy Cross calling Question 1 “a serious threat to public safety.”
Hansberry stated that the advertisements are at odds with the No on 1 campaign’s primary theme of “trust the biologists,” given that an email uncovered in a Freedom of Access Act request last week revealed that state bear biologist Randy Cross does not believe that bear attacks against people in Maine are a credible threat.
In the email — which was sent to the BDN by the YES on 1 campaign — a Maine resident (who will remain unnamed) voiced her concern for the potential danger bears pose for recreationists in the state of Maine. The resident provided Internet links to various news stories about Maine bear attacks.
In response to the email, Cross wrote: “I am familiar with all these events that are listed as attacks — in fact [I] have investigated many of them personally. These instances are all recorded as attacks but I would offer that the word attack is being used liberally by the media. All involved wounded bears or otherwise confounding factors except, perhaps the camper in Baxter … Despite thousands of people enjoying the woods in Maine every year while bears are active, we still have not seen one that was tackled by a bear that was bent on doing the person harm. I’m not saying it is impossible just that it is extremely unlikely or improbable.”
In response to Hansberry’s letter, Mark Latti, spokesman for DIF&W, said, “The quote is obviously taken out of context, and if you read the entire email, you will see that Randy clearly explains that this doesn’t happen in Maine because Maine’s bear management program works.”
In the email, Cross went on state that while bear attacks have been increasing in frequency across the United States, they often occur “in wilderness areas where bears have little contact with humans or in parks where hunting is not allowed, and therefore, bears don’t have a healthy fear of humans.”
“Maine has hunted bears since white settlement,” Cross wrote, “which helps instill a fear of man in these animals. Those that have been fed by people and have lost their fear of people are potentially very dangerous. I still stand by my assessment as to the relative lack of risk while sharing the Maine woods with bears.”
In Maine, about 3,000 black bears are killed by hunters each year. And according to bear harvest reports, the vast majority of bears killed were taken by hunters using bait, hounds or traps — the three hunting tools that would be banned if the referendum passes in November. In 2013, bear harvest reports reveal that 93 percent of the bears killed were taken by hunters using bait, hounds or traps.
“When you take into account that this referendum would eliminate 93 percent, give or take, of the current bear harvest — we understand the bear population would grow out of control, as it has in other states,” said Cote. “It really is a cause of concern. The more bears interacting with people, the higher the likelihood of attacks.”
To view the complete letter by Hansberry, visit www.YesOnQuestion1.com/cote-letter. Cote’s letter in reply will be posted Tuesday on savemainesbearhunt.com.