Four men were rescued from Moosehead Lake this morning after the pontoon boat they were on capsized, dumping them into the rough, choppy waters.

The incident occurred at approximately 9:40 a.m. today near Moody Islands, off the Rockwood and Kineo boat landing. The right pontoon of the 24-foot 1987 Godfrey pontoon boat already was taking on water when a swell came up, swamping the pontoon and causing the boat to capsize.

According to Maine Warden Service Sgt. Bill Chandler, a strong wind was blowing across the lake from the south, causing 5-to 6-foot swells.

Stuart J. Orff, 50, of Abbott and owner of the boat, Frederick McAffee, 59, of Dover-Foxcroft, Nathaniel J. Bates, 26, of Abbott, and Carl B. Butler, 32, of Abbott, were able to hold on to the pontoons until help arrived.

The Maine Warden Service, through the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Office dispatch, contacted Mark Gilbert and Josh Gile of Moosehead Marina, on Moose River in Rockwood, to assist. Mr. Gilbert and Mr. Gile were able to get the four men out of the water.

Sgt. Chandler and Game Warden Troy Dauphinee responded from the Maine Warden Service’s Greenville office about 20 miles away from the scene.

All men were cold, but unharmed. They were examined by personnel from C.A. Dean Ambulance and Rockwood Fire and Rescue.

AUGUSTA – The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and the Maine Snowmobile Association (MSA) recently honored private, municipal and corporate landowners for their generosity in opening up their land to outdoor enthusiasts.

Fourteen individuals or entities received recognition at the annual Landowner Relations Awards Banquet on Tuesday, Oct. 20 in Augusta, which was sponsored by IF&W and hosted by MSA.

“More than 90 percent of Maine’s land is privately owned, and the generosity of landowners to allow access to hunters, anglers, snowmobilers and ATV riders, as well as other enthusiasts, is something to be applauded,” said Commissioner Roland “Danny” Martin of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. “We remind outdoor recreationalists to always ask first before going onto someone’s land. It’s the right thing to do.”

The IF&W Landowner Relations Program seeks to maintain and build on Maine’s unique heritage of public access to private land for recreation and sport use, and works to ensure that the relationship between private landowners and the public is one of respect and good judgment.

“Public access to private property is a privilege and not a right,” said Col. Joel Wilkinson of the Maine Warden Service. “Without the support and generosity of private landowners, the majority of outdoor users would not have places to enjoy a whole host of outdoor activities. Stewardship of their land needs to be practiced by all users, as it only takes one user’s lack of respect to close down access for all.”

The Department works closely with Robert Duplessie, the state’s Director of Recreational Access and Landowner Relations, other state agencies, clubs from the various user groups, and landowners to build strong partnerships and to proactively address the issues that arise.

“The annual awards banquet is a wonderful way to show appreciation to the many landowners who allow use of their lands for recreational opportunities and also assist local clubs with materials or other in-kind services to build trails,” according to Duplessie. “A new awards category this year — the Organized Land User Group — allowed landowners to recognize local clubs or organizations that have helped them in protecting the land in a cooperative way, and it received many nominations. This demonstrated that landowners are grateful for the respect given to them by outdoor recreationalists.”

This year’s honorees are:

Corporate:

* Katahdin Forest Management of Millinocket, nominated by the Jo Mary Riders Snowmobile Club;

* WT Gardner & Sons, Inc. of Lincoln, nominated by Quad Country Snowmobile Club;

Public Landowner:

* Town of Lakeville, nominated by Quad Country Snowmobile Club;

* City of Presque Isle, nominated by Star City ATV Club;

Conservation Landowner:

* Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust of Oquossoc, nominated by the Rangeley Region Guides and Sportsmen’s Association;

* Greater Lovell Land Trust, nominated by Kezar Trailbreakers Snowmobile Club;

Private Landowners (100+acres):

* Robert and Sonia Erskine of Dixmont, nominated by Dixmont Goldcrest Riders;

* Fred Flewelling of Crouseville, nominated by Washburn Trail Riders;

* Cecil Cross of Embden, nominated by Embden Travelers Snowmobile Club;

* A. Boyd and Rosalie Withee of Palmyra, nominated by Palmyra Snowmobile Club;

* Warren Foss of Weston, nominated by East Grand Snowmobile Club;

Organized Land User Group:

* Kennebec-Messalonskee Trails of Waterville, nominated by Central Maine Power Co.;

* Family Snowmobile Club of Bucksport, nominated by Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust;

* Maine Professional Guides Association, based in Augusta, nominated by North Maine Woods, Inc.

More than 500 nomination forms were distributed to various user groups, such as ATV, snowmobile, and fish and game clubs, and the nominations were reviewed by an awards committee that included representatives from the Maine Warden Service, the Maine Snowmobile Association, Maine ATV, and the state’s Landowner Relations Director.

To date, the IF&W Landowner Relations Program has recognized more than 80 landowners for their outstanding efforts in allowing their land to be used for public recreation.

AUGUSTA – The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has named Travis Barrett of Oakland at its Marketing and Promotions Representative.

“We are very fortunate to have someone with Travis’s knowledge about and love for Maine’s natural resources on our staff,” said Regis Tremblay, IF&W Director of Public Information and Education. “As the Outdoor Writer for the Kennebec Journal and the Waterville Morning Sentinel, Travis covered the work of IF&W biologists with a passion and sensitivity that is extraordinary. He comes to us already having many professional relationships with IF&W personnel, and understands the core mission and values of the Department.”

In the position, Mr. Barrett will promote the programs and initiatives of the Department through articles, videos and the Internet, and as a representative at trade shows and other events frequented by outdoor recreationalists who share a respect for Maine’s outdoors.

Mr. Barrett graduated from Notre Dame College in Manchester, N.H., in 1996 with a degree in English, after which he spent several years as a sports writer covering professional, collegiate and high school sports at newspapers in Rhode Island.

In 2004, Mr. Barrett returned to his native Maine as a copy editor in the sports department of the Central Maine Newspapers (the Kennebec Journal, based in Augusta, and the Waterville Morning Sentinel). Two years later, he became the outdoors writer at the newspapers.

An award-winning outdoors and motorsports reporter, Mr. Barrett served as editor of the independently produced website “Green-White-Checker,” a multimedia site covering auto racing in New England through stories, videos and photo galleries.

A native of Manchester, Maine, Mr. Barrett and his wife, Sara, live in Oakland with their children, Cooper and Samantha.

The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, along with other state agencies, is working to keep Chronic Wasting Disease out of Maine.

Chronic Wasting Disease is one of a group of diseases known as Transmissable Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs). It is known to occur in mule deer, elk, and white-tailed deer, although other cervids such as red deer, fallow deer, sika deer as well as moose, and caribou may also be susceptible.

CWD is thought to be caused by an infectious protein called a prion that upon entering the body; causes the host’s normal proteins to take on a diseased form. These prions accumulate in the brain and spinal cords, as well as lymph nodes, spleen, eye tissues, bone marrow, saliva, feces and urine in diseased deer.

CWD causes irreversible damage to brain tissues in affected animals and ultimately leads to death.

To prevent the introduction of CWD into Maine, recently passed laws now make it illegal for hunters who hunt and kill a deer, caribou, elk or moose in another state or province to transport any carcass parts that pose a risk of containing CWD prions back into Maine. Hunters may return to Maine only with boned-out meat, hardened antlers (with or without skull caps), hides without the head portion, and finished taxidermy mounts. If still attached, skull caps must be cleaned free of brain and other tissues.

It is legal for individuals to transport cervid carcasses or parts through the State of Maine if they are destined for other states, provinces, and countries. Transportation is to occur without undue delay and must use the most reasonably direct route through Maine to the final destination. Cervid carcasses or parts must be transported in a manner that is both leak-proof and that prevents their exposure to the environment.

The laws are a result of the fact that no state or province can claim to be free of CWD.

If it emerges in Maine, CWD could seriously reduce infected deer populations by lowering adult survival and de-stabilizing populations. Monitoring and control of CWD is extremely costly and would divert already scarce funding and staff resources away from other much-needed programs.

If you plan to hunt deer, caribou, moose or elk in a state/province known or suspected to harbor CWD there are some commonsense precautions you should take to avoid handling, transporting, or consuming potentially CWD-infected specimens.

The precautions include:

· Do not eat the eyes, brain, spinal cord, spleen, tonsils, or lymph nodes of any deer.

· Do not eat any part of a deer that appeared sick.

· If your out-of-state deer is sampled for CWD testing, wait for the test results before eating the meat.

Field dressing:

· Wear rubber or latex gloves while handling the carcass.

· Minimize contact with the brain, spinal cord, spleen, and lymph nodes (lumps of tissue next to organs or in fat and membranes) as you work.

· Use a hunting knife, not knives used at the dinner table.

· Remove all internal organs for proper disposal by burial, or other means that prevents contact by live deer.

· Clean knives and equipment of residue and disinfect in a 50/50 solution of household chlorine bleach and water for 1 hour.

Currently, there is a high demand for CWD testing in states known to harbor CWD. Unfortunately, existing laboratory tests for CWD are expensive, time-consuming, and they can only be performed at a small number of federally approved labs. Although our system in Maine can accommodate enough samples (less than 1,000) from farm-raised and wild deer to scientifically monitor for CWD, we are not able to routinely test hunter-killed deer in Maine at this time.

Are Urine-Based Deer Lures Safe? Until more is known about whether commercial deer lures pose a realistic risk of spreading CWD, we recommend that hunters use caution in spreading urine-based lures in the environment, and avoid placing the lures on their clothing or skin.

Deer Hunting and EEE

The greatest Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) risk facing hunters is exposure to mosquitoes, not handling or consuming healthy deer. Although other mammals and birds have been exposed to the EEE virus for decades, there is no evidence that direct contact with these species can infect humans. While human infection is rare, hunters should take extra precautions against EEE by using insect repellents for personal protection from bites until mosquitoes are no longer active and using protective clothing.

Hunters in interior and coastal York County, coastal Cumberland County, Kennebec, Waldo and Penobscot Counties should:

o Not handle or consume wild animals that appear sick or act abnormally, regardless of the cause. All other deer meat should be cooked thoroughly (170-180 degrees) to kill the EEE virus, should it be present, as well as any other viruses and bacteria.
o Wear heavy rubber or latex gloves when field dressing deer.
o Handle knives carefully to prevent accidental cuts.
o Minimize contact with brain or spinal tissues. Do not cut into the head of any deer that behaved abnormally even to remove the rack. When removing antlers from healthy deer, use a hand saw rather than a power saw, and always wear safety glasses.
o Bone out the carcass, keeping both the head and spine intact.
o Wash hands with soap and water after handling carcasses and before and after handling meat.
o Thoroughly sanitize equipment and work surfaces used during processing with bleach solution (1 tablespoon of bleach to 1 gallon water). Consider keeping a separate set of knives used only for butchering deer.
o Freezing meat will not kill the EEE virus.
o DOGS: While dogs have been reported to have been infected with EEE in a small number of cases, they are not a primary species of concern; transmission of EEE is primarily by mosquito bite. While it would be possible for a dog to contract EEE when retrieving an infected bird, for example, the dog would have to have a cut in its mouth and come into to contact with the bird’s blood.

The appearance of EEE in Maine horses this summer prompted the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Maine Medical Center, and the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct a study during the deer hunting season to better understand the distribution of the EEE virus in Maine. Harvested deer will be examined for the presence of EEE by testing their blood for antibodies specific for this virus. Deer are widespread in the state, are susceptible to infection with the EEE virus, and should be a good sentinel of EEE virus activity. Health officials hope to use the survey to map the prevalence of the disease in the state.

Hunters should be aware that the presence of EEE in deer does not affect the meat of the animal and that finding EEE in any of the samples does not indicate an infectious deer, only that there are EEE antibodies present.

Deer Hunters Advised of Changes, IF&W Initiatives

AUGUSTA – Hunting seasons are underway in Maine, and the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife wants hunters to be aware of rules and agency initiatives in order to have a safe season.

Deer hunting season starts Oct. 31 for Maine residents with valid hunting licenses and permits, and Nov. 2 for all hunters.

Hunters are reminded to read and carry with them their appropriate law books. The law books are available at any of the Department’s 840 licensing agents statewide and at the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife offices. For more information, call 287-6000.

The Department issued 45,385 permits this year to residents, non-residents, landowners and Superpack holders.

An additional 755 permits were issued to Superpack holders who were inadvertently removed from the lottery drawing after the initial selection. Those permit holders have been notified.

Youth Deer Hunt Day is Saturday, Oct. 24; Changes to Program

Young hunters who participate in Youth Deer Hunt Day on Saturday, Oct. 24, will be participating in the same deer herd management practices that adult hunters will engage in when their season starts on Nov. 2.

This year, young hunters between the ages of 10 and under 16 years, may hunt bucks/antlered deer throughout the state. Doe hunting only is allowed in Wildlife Management Districts that are open to any-deer permit hunting during the regular deer season. Those districts are 15-17; 20-26, 29. To view the districts, go to www.mefishwildlife.com.

“This year, young hunters will learn a valuable lesson in how managing the state’s deer herd is everyone’s responsibility,” said Roland “Danny” Martin, Commissioner of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. “Adult hunters will have an opportunity to talk with the youngsters about how harvest limits on the number and type of deer are important so that deer herds can rebound in areas where their numbers are low because of severe winters the last couple of years.”

IMPORTANT: Hunters Must Write Down Their Any-Deer Permit Number

IF&W no longer mails Any-Deer permits to permit winners. Instead, permit winners need to record their permit number and report the permit number to the registration station when tagging their deer. The Department suggests that permit winners write down their permit number and keep the number with their hunting license so it is readily available when needed at the registration station. Hunters can find their Any-Deer permit number by visiting our web site at http://deer.informe.org/index.htm.

New Registration Fees

A $5 registration fee will be collected at tagging stations during the hunting season. The fee, which was approved by the Maine Legislature, aids in the collection and processing of registration and biological information regarding big game.

Tagging stations receive $1 to collect information and the Department receives $4 to support the costs associated with inputting, processing and analyzing the collected data.

“This fee is critical to the management of all big game species in Maine,” said Lee Kantar, IF&W deer and moose biologist. “Without this fee increase, we would be in an extremely difficult situation as to how we currently register big game species and collect critical information about these species that guide our management decisions.”

Any-Deer Permit Swap Available

An Any-Deer, Landowner or Superpack deer permit winner may swap their permit with another same-type permit winner in order to switch hunting districts.

The permits must be the same type, and residents can swap only with residents and non-residents can swap only with non-residents.

IF&W does not maintain a list of individuals wishing to swap permits. Permit winners who wish to swap will need to locate and contact other permit winners on their own.

One sportsman, Jeff W. Zimba, is maintaining a non-IF&W-affiliated swap site – www.DoeTagSwap.com. For a small fee, permit winners can locate and potentially swap with other same-type permit winners. However, IF&W still needs to be notified of the swap, and the proper Department paperwork still must be completed.

The site also allows permit winners to download for free and print a business card-sized Any Deer Permit/Transportation Tag on their home computer. IF&W is not mailing Any Deer Permits this year, and winners are responsible for bringing their permit number to the registration station.

The IF&W permit swap fee is $7 (one fee covers both winners.) The swap can be done in person at our main office in Augusta or by mail with the required “swap request form” that’s available on our web site. The Department will assign a new permit number and mail back the form.

The swap can be done online until 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 30, 2008. Mail-in requests must be received by Oct. 30. Please allow at least one week for processing. Visit http://www4.informe.org/ifw/nedeer/netransfer.html to complete your swap.

Hunting In Maine Is Big Business

Approximately 204,000 people hunt in Maine each year, and those hunters generate more than $241 million in economic activity in Maine. Approximately 83 percent of the hunters are Maine residents.

Each hunter spends an average of $1,359 in equipment, licenses, memberships and trip-related expenses, and spends approximately 13 days engaging in the sport, according to the 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, the most recent information from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The economic impact from hunting season is tremendous, supporting thousands of jobs and bringing millions in state sales and income tax revenue.

Make Sure Your Deer Hunt Is A Safe Hunt

The Department offers the following safety tips:

· Be sure that someone knows where you are headed, and when you plan to return. Leave a map and itinerary.

· If carrying a cell phone, be sure the batteries are charged and bring a spare.

· Carry emergency survival gear, a flashlight, extra batteries, map and compass, matches, water and snacks.

· Stop periodically to eat and re-hydrate yourself.

· Wear two pieces of hunter orange that are in good condition.

· Be sure of your target, and what is beyond it.

· Always keep the muzzle of your firearm pointed in a safe direction.

· Unload your firearm before entering a dwelling, before entering a vehicle, or before storing it.

Milt Inman

A 57-year-old Orrington man died on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009 in an ATV incident while out scouting for deer in his favorite hunting area in preparation for the upcoming season.

Dion Seymour Jr., 57, of Orrington was reported missing at 9 p.m. Thursday, and was last seen by his wife 12 hours earlier. She notified the Maine Warden Service when he failed to return home.

A Maine State Police trooper found Mr. Seymour’s vehicle parked on Old County Way off Winkumpaugh Road in Ellsworth.

Seven Game Wardens searched the area and trails using ATVs, and located Mr. Seymour just before midnight on a steep trail with a granite ledge. Mr. Seymour apparently rolled his ATV and it landed on him, according to Maine Warden Service Sgt. Kevin Adam.

Alcohol does not appear to be a factor in the incident.

Mr. Seymour’s family has been notified.

The Maine Warden Service was assisted by the Maine State Police, Hancock County Sheriff’s Office and Ellsworth Fire Department.

A 36-year-old Bowerbank Township man who left his home to go walk his dog around noon on Thursday, Oct. 15, found his way back home around 7 a.m. today, Friday, Oct. 16.

Alfred Thomas Hall III, 36, of Bowerbank Township in Piscataquis County, went into woods near his home to walk his dog and got lost. His mother reported him missing at 1:30 a.m. today (Friday, Oct. 16).

The Maine Warden Service was conducting a ground and air search for more than six hours when Mr. Hall made it back to his residence. MESARD canine teams also used.

Mr. Hall was cold but in good health upon his return.

By Bob Romano

Looking up at the hemlocks, you would never guess that they are dying. These trees, many over seventy feet tall, are plagued by the Hemlock Wooly Adelgid, an exotic pest infesting many stands throughout the northeast. I suppose one should be grateful that it has been a slow process, each season a few more trees falling to the forest floor, others losing their needles. The shade cast by this forest insures that the temperature of the little stream that runs through it remains cool.

The sound of the current grows louder as my wading boots leave indentations in the thick layer of moss that spreads across the bank of the brook. Even now, in early September, I can almost grab the humidity with my hand.

The last time these waters were stocked was in the nineteen-eighties. Since then, the descendants of those dull-witted, hatchery-bred fish have developed into a strain of cagey, wild brook trout, their sides a riot of blue-and-yellow circles, some with blood red dots in the center.

The fish of this little stream lack the lighter hues found in trout of other waters. Instead, their backs are uniformly black. I like to think that it is because they spend their hidden lives under the shadows of the hemlock forest. I know they are doomed to perish without the dense shade provided by the trees, that the stream will one day be unable to maintain the lower temperatures necessary for their survival. It’s just a matter of time.

Hemlock needles cushion my knee as I look down at a mayfly riding upon the current. The dun-colored insect holds its diaphanous wings upright, looking like a sailboat with translucent sails tacking against the breeze. A second mayfly hovers above the stream’s surface, momentarily hesitating before the delicate creature rises upward like a woodland faerie fluttering through the sun-streaked shadows.

The brook’s primary source is a small pond tucked into a ridge along the foothills of a minor range of mountains. The blueberry bushes that spread down to the water’s edge make it difficult to hike around the pond’s shoreline. Farther back, scrub oak, white pine and Norwegian spruce grow close together. Rumor has it that the snakes here are as big as your fear will allow, and although gnats, black flies and mosquitoes can be a bother, it’s the deer ticks that are the real worry.

Descending for a short distance from the pond, its depth no more than inches, the brook slides around boulders lush with lichen and moss until it passes under a single-lane macadam road. A few hundred yards downstream a second, smaller rill trickles down out of the east to join the main flow. A quarter-mile from the road, runoff from the hills that rise up along the brook’s western flank descends through a ravine, adding more volume whenever it rains. As the gradient increases, riffles are interspersed with plunge pools that are formed wherever the current slices around or over larger rocks, fallen limbs and other debris. The depth in some places is now two and even three feet. It is in this manner that the hidden brook falls for another seven miles until slipping unnoticed into a bigger river.

Standing here in the uncertain light, my calves resist the pull of the current. I flip a Gold-ribbed Hare’s Ear wet fly, its tinsel worn, body ragged, toward a small glide along the edge of the far bank. For a moment the fly bobs on the surface. A flash of jaw appears and I can feel hook bite sinew, but then the trout is gone, my line slack.

As an angler, a fly fisher to be more specific, I have a fondness for moving water, can’t help but look over each bridge, stop by every rivulet, gully or ditch. Most fishermen might not think to fling their lures at the secretive trout of this little stream, preferring the certainty of bigger fish in the many put-and-take rivers and lakes that are within a few minutes drive. But I have discovered a secret under the deep shade of the hemlocks, something more than bracken and bone. For it is here, in this dark forest, by this tiny brook that a man can lie suspended in place and time, however briefly, with yesterday forgotten, tomorrow of no concern. It is for this reason, that these woods, this water draws me back to present my flies to forgotten trout for as long as a dying forest will cast its shadows.

Climbing from the brook, I lean on a hemlock. The trunk is still strong although the tree’s needles have turned gray. A few feet downstream, a fingerling turns to capture a caddis larva dislodged by my wading boot.

Bob is the author of three books and numerous essays about fly fishing and the natural world. Shadows in the Stream, his book of essays about the Rangeley Lakes Region in Maine is in its third printing while his novel, North of Easie, was recently published. For more information check out Bob’s website: forgottentrout.com or go to his publisher’s website: birchbrookpress.info