University of Maine System won’t allow hunting on its lands

The University of Maine System will not allow hunting on most of its nearly 15,000 acres across the state.
Site supervisors on some of the system’s farms and forest lands had allowed hunting against university policy, according to Samantha Warren, system spokesperson. About a dozen people were told they could hunt on university research farms this year.
She did not specify which properties were involved and did not say whether the permission to hunt would be rescinded.
“UMaine’s weapons policy is consistent with those of all other public universities within the University of Maine System and we are not aware that hunting has been authorized on any other public university property,” Warren said.
The UMS statements came a day after hunters had sounded an alarm with the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine and others about what they thought was a new policy prohibiting hunting on the land grant university’s land.
“I hope it resolves and can be a balance between hunting and public safety,” said David Trahan, executive director of SAM. “I understand no guns on campuses, but it makes no sense to ban hunting.”
The longstanding policy is that no weapons, including hunting firearms and bows, are allowed on university property, Warren said.
There are some exceptions that include law enforcement and written permission from the director of public safety for courses such as hunter safety that require them, she said.
She pointed to the system’s tradition of supporting the North American model of wildlife conservation through teaching, research and service, including hunter safety for youths, credit courses for hunting and trapping field experiences, student clubs and research that helps with the state’s wildlife management. Students who live on campus but want access to their firearms for hunting are able to store them with the university or local law enforcement, she said.
There also are some use agreements made when certain lands were transferred to the university that allow hunting. One of those is part of the University of Maine forest on 183 acres on Pushaw Lake in Old Town, Warren said.
Farm employees and researchers were reminded about the university’s policy in a memo from George Criner, associate dean and director of the College of Earth, Life, Health Sciences, Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station at the University of Maine and acquired by the Bangor Daily News. There was no date on the memo.
He told them that when administrators checked with the university’s lawyer about exceptions to allow hunting on farms, legal counsel recommended not allowing weapons, which also meant no hunting.
He said they might explore exemptions for hunting nuisance animals in the future, but for now, the policy is no hunting on university system properties.
A group of more than a dozen senators sent a letter to Chancellor Dannel Malloy of the university system and the Board of Trustees Thursday afternoon, asking that the ban be rescinded.
The letter cited risks including overpopulation of deer and other wildlife and an increase in ticks and diseases that would occur without proper wildlife management on those lands.
The letter was signed by Senate Republican Leader Harold “Trey” Stewart III, Assistant Senate Republican Leader Lisa Keim, Sens. Rick Bennett, James Libby, Russell Black, Peter Lyford, Eric Brakey, Marianne Moore, Bradlee Farrin, Matthew Pouliot, Stacey Guerin, Matthew Harrington and Jeffrey Timberlake.
“UMaine acknowledges that our employees and the members of the public who sought hunting access did so in good faith and in a manner consistent with the expectations of state land use law and we apologize for the inconvenience created by the clarification of our policy,” Warren said Friday.