Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1925-03-26

goes through without any amend
ments tied to it, Franklin and or
ford counties will be satisfied and
taken care of.
After extended hearings on these
different bills, majority of the
Committee of Inland Fisheries and
Game decided that the best that
could be done for the conservation
OF the deer in this State and to
majority of the people interested,
would be to pass a one deer bill at
this session of the Legisla 1ure, ana
the bill now under consideration is
the majority report of this Commit
tee.
We are starting a great boom in
Maine-trying to double the number
OF our yearly visitors. If our eX-
pectations are realized, how long will
| our deer stand the inroad of double
the number of hunters we now have,
II the two deer limit is retained?
The proposition is to reduce the
limit to one deer in the eight north
ern counties-the same as the limit
now is in the southern counties-in
view of the ever increasing number of
hunters brought by extensions of
| auto roads and trails going farther
and farther into the wilderness, sea-
son after season.
After showing how this operates I
want to call your attention to the
situation at Ripogenus Lake and the
Sourdnahunk country. In 1911,
when hunters wished to so to the
Klpogenus country, where at that
time there were public sporting
camps, they must either go to
| Norcross by rail, then up across the
lower lakes and up the West Branch
OF the Penobscot river by canoe-a
distance Of forty to fifty miles-then
by trails from eight to ten miles, or
go to Greenville by rail and from
there by steamboat across Moose
head, then down the West Branch
twenty miles-by canoe to Chesun-
cook Lake: thence by boat or canoe
to Chesuncook Dam, twenty miles.
Now this took at least three or four
DAYS at that time, and now with an
auto you can go from Greenville
across RipoSenus Dam and eighteen
miles farther on to Sourdnahunk
stream in as many hours; then
again, by going to Chesuncook Dam
at the foot of Chesuncooll Lake by
auto and taking motor boat one
can reach. in a days time Chamber
lain Lake, the headwaters Of the
Allagash.
Now. the same conditions, under
stand. prevail in other sections OF
Maine. The old-time haunts of the
game have been invaded by modern
civilization and there is but q COM
paratively small section of our Great
Northern Country lying between the
Allagash and ST. John Rivers. and
another section in the extreme
northwest corner of the State where
the game is but little disturbed by
American hunters. and l am telling
hot :
which is advocated here this winter
to start from Washburn and to go
liz miles-more than half of which
Is virgin forest-to the Canadian
boundary, is built. the hunters will
rush into that country by the car
| load and the whole of AroostoolI
County will be down here to the
Legislature advocating a one deer
law.
Here is another point wish to call
TO your attention: l wonder If YOU
realize how difficult It is now, with
the money that the Department has
to expend in Warden Service. to
loperly patrol the counties Of Maine
bordering on Canada. At the present
time the Canadian border is not
properly patrolled to protect our
game. Now. what would wo do if
we had to patrol. in addition TO this
five hundred miles of Canadian
border, the boundary line lying be-
tween Aroostook and the great
counties south of it-Somerset,
Piscataquis. Penobscot and Wash
ington. This is an extended bound
airy line. as you will note by this
map I hold in my hand, in which
counties YOU propose to make a limit
or one deer and retain the two deer
limit in Aroostook County. Can YOU
imagine what q temptation it would
be for hunters to go over the line
into the one-deer county. shoot the
game and claim that they got it in
the two deer-county? Now. we do
not want to make poachers out of
enybody. neither do we want to
tempt them to break the law.
Look at this map for a moment and
see what task the Fish and Game
Department is up against If Aroostooll
county retains the two deer law This
dark blue lines is the Canadian bound
airy which we are trying to patrol. If
this amendment is adopted, the De-
rartment would be obliged to patrol
this great, irregular boundary indi-
Gated on this map by the broad red
line. Those perpendicular and narrow
lines are the boundary lines between
Somerset, Piscataquis and Penobscot
counties.
Now, gentlemen. I hope you will not
allow any amendment to be attached
to this bill. We want it to go right
through just as the majority of the
committee reported it, which makes it
a one deer limit to each person in all
the counties of the State.
Gentlemen. I thank you.
Mr.. BURNS Of Eagle. Lake: Mr.
Speaker and Members of the House:
l would like to say a few words in re-
gard to this situation in my section
of the country. Last fall, which was
a particularly dry season up in our
section of the country, Eagle Lake,
Wallagrass and Fort Kent~ they took
out so deer, where they ordinarily
take out 80 to 40. The financial bene
fit to our towns up there by reason of
the hunters coming in is around $4,000
annually, and license fees amount to
something like $500. While / have
been here the last four terms among
you good bunch of fellows over here,
I travel the woods myself in the win
| ter and fall of the year, and | know the
| situaton--not as well as some of the
game wardens--but | know the Situa-
ton as we'll as the average citizen of
that country. SO l af for two deer
in Aroostook county: otherwise they
will go elsewhere where they can get
what they want. and / hope the mo-
ton Of Mr.. Hamilton Of Caribou will
prevail.
Mr. HAMILTON Of Caribou: Mr..
Speaker and Members: l have no OBJ
lection to taking dictation from
| younger members of this House, or
older members, in regard to the policy
| to be used in our county, so long as 1t
| is for the best interests Of the county
| and of the state at large. But 1t GER