Once again bear-hunting practices will come under review, with a public hearing on Tuesday at the Augusta Civic Center regarding a bill to end bear trapping in Maine. Many at that hearing will speak of the agony of this intelligent animal frightened by its inability to escape, vainly struggling in a barbaric device that only Maine allows.

The Sportsman's Alliance of Maine (SAM) and the Maine Trappers Association (MTA) will again lead the opposition to this bill, and herein lies the real issue. Those two organizations form as conservative and inflexible a hunting lobby as there is in this country, as exemplified by the fact that every state has outlawed bear trapping but one -- Maine. I suggest Maine sportsmen take a look at the politics of these extreme positions.