Question One Goes to Voters

Must the people who set Massachusetts' wildlife policy have hunting, fishing or trapping licenses?

Bay State voters will answer this question today when they respond to Question One, which proposes to eliminate this requirement "in order to allow for the appointment of qualified citizens...concerned with wildlife protection."

Current law requires at least five of the seven members of the State Fisheries and Wildlife Board to hold hunting, fishing or trapping licenses, which supporters of Question One say biases the board's decisions.

"The board has been controlled for too long by hunting and trapping interests," says Aaron Medlock, coordinator of Protect Pets and Wildlife, the group that is sponsoring Question One. "It does not represent the interests of the population."

Jo Anne Preston, a board member of the Cambridge Civic Association and a supporter of the proposal, says the ballot question came partially as a result of the Fisheries and Wildlife Board's recent decision to expand the number of traps hunters are allowed to place on their property.

"I am especially upset about the supermajority held by hunters and trappers," Preston says. "It's time to have professional conservationists on the board. Trapping does not control populations...We need a more scientific approach."

Harvard Law School student Ted M. Sichelman, a member of the Animal Legal Defense League, actively supports the initiative.

"We are going to be at the polls all day," he says. "At some point it becomes a moral issue. If you really believe that animals feel pain...for me, the pain the animals suffer isn't worth the thousand dollars the farmer might save."

But many hunters and trappers say the proposal may put policy decisions in the hands of inexperienced people.

"They're looking for the sympathy side, but they need to see the whole picture," says a past president of the Massachusetts Rifle Association, who asked to be identified only as "Bob". "They need people on there who have common sense, people who have some idea of what's going on."

Question One also seeks to ban the hunting of bears and bobcats with dogs and the use of padded traps, which can result in mutilation of captured animals.

William B. Vernon, executive director of the Massachusetts Republican State Committee, says this provision will hurt the Bay State's economy.

"Cranberry farmers will tell you that they need these traps to prevent wildlife from eating up their profits," Vernon says.

The cranberry industry is a large part of the economy of Southern Massachusetts.

"There's some rural legislators, some hunter Republicans, some economic interests that all add up to a majority vote 'no' on our side," Vernon says.

School Committee Question in Boston

In Boston, a second question concerning the selection of public school officials will appear on the ballot.

Voters will decide whether to begin electing members to the School Committee, or to continue with the current procedure of appointment by the mayor.