PORTLAND, Maine - The group spearheading a statewide referendum to ban the use of bait, hounds and traps in Maine's annual bear hunt is asking a judge for emergency intervention in an ongoing lawsuit filed last week. The group wants an injunction to prevent state Inland Fisheries and Wildlife employees from using taxpayer resources to actively oppose Question 1 on the November ballot.
Katie Hansberry of the group "Mainers for Fair Bear Hunting" says a request for an emergency injunction was necessary because state bear biologists and game wardens have not ended their political campaign against Question 1 and have not responded to a Freedom of Access request about their recent campaign activities.
"The election is right around the corner so we simply couldn't waste anymore time," she says. "Their lack of responsiveness to produce documents and their tipping the scales in favor of one side, those opposed, has just been detrimental to the campaign. So we basically put this into an emergency state which will require the court to act on it promptly."
In its lawsuit filed in Cumberland County Superior Court last week, the group argued that the appearance of state employees in uniform in television ads and at fundraisers and the use a state website to distribute information against the measure is an illegal use of taxpayer resources.
In response, James Cote, the campaign coordinator for the coalition of groups opposed to Question 1, said "Mainers for Fair Bear Hunting" wants to muzzle the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
"And we believe that it's really a blatant attempt by this group to suppress the most knowledgeable people about Maine's bear population and the impacts that Question 1 would have and we think it would be a disservice to take them away from this issue and talking to the public about those impacts."
The Maine Attorney General's Office has previously said it will defend the right of members of the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and other public officials to speak out on issues of public interest within their regulatory authority and expertise, as permitted by recent case law.
A hearing on the injunction has not been scheduled.
