The attached is a response to my inquiry about this bill. Mr. Dunlap is the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee that oversees Inland Fisheries & Wildlife in Maine.
Kathy-- The Humane Society of the United States and Maine Friends of Animals have banded together as an organization called Maine Citizens for Fair Bear Hunting, and have filed intent with the Secretary of State to begin a process to draft language to prohibit hunting bear over bait, with dogs, or with cable traps. That process is not yet complete. Once the language is drafted, the coalition can begin circulating petitions for an initiated bill. They need the number of signatures equivalent to 10% of the total voter turnout in the last gubernatorial election (around 50,000 or so). They haven't even started this yet, which is why you can't find anything on it. By the way, all the petition does is force a bill before the Legislature. If the Legislature rejects the bill, as it will probably do, it goes out to a vote. We're a long way away from that--November of 2004 at the earliest. Hope this helps. All best, Matt Dunlap
