2014, like 2004, will be the year of the bear ballot in Maine.

Here we are,  with 10 more years of the state’s own data proving management by baiting, hounding and trapping isn’t working. Had we passed the bear ballot measure in 2004, we might’ve avoided many of this summer’s bear conflicts.

The state’s numbers show the bear population has grown 30 percent since 2004. It’s grown 253 percent since 1975 (not coincidentally, that’s when bear baiting became popular).

Depositing 7 million pounds of calorie-dense food in the woods every year for bears logically grows the population, increasing reproductivity and cub survival rates. In short, more bait equals more bears.

Furthermore, bears that associate humans with food lose their natural wariness of people and are more likely to come looking for food where there are people. That increases the likelihood of conflicts.

The solution is easy: Vote “yes” in November.

Cheryl Avis

Litchfield