Meeting Minutes

ADVISORY COUNCIL MEETING
July 16, 2026 @ 9:30am
353 Water Street, 4th floor conference room
Augusta, ME
(and virtually via Microsoft Teams)

Attending:
Timothy Peabody, Acting Commissioner
Christl Theriault, Assistant to the Commissioner
Jessica Nixon, Business Operations Manager
Nate Webb, Wildlife Division Director
Bob Cordes, Wildlife Division Deputy Director
Nathan Bieber, Deer Biologist
Dan Scott, Warden Service Colonel
Becky Orff, Secretary/Recorder

COUNCIL MEMBERS
Eric Ward
Catherine Gordon
Jim Andrews
Scott Ireland - Teams
Dave Craven - Teams

Tony Liguori - Teams

Mike Gawtry - Teams

Joe Powers - Teams

GUESTS
3 additional public members and staff online

I. Call to Order

Acting Commissioner Peabody called the meeting to order.

I-A. Pledge of Allegiance

II. Moment of Silence

III. Introductions

Introductions were made.

IV. Acceptance of Minutes of Previous Meeting

A motion was made by Jim Andrews to accept the minutes as presented and that was seconded by Joe Powers.

Vote: unanimous in favor - minutes accepted.

V. Rulemaking

A. Step 3
There were no items under Step 3.

B. Step 2

1. Expanded Archery
   Nathan Bieber stated expanded archery was a hunting season that applied to deer and was a management tool we used in areas of the state where deer numbers were high and where our ability to control deer numbers through hunting was limited, usually by firearms discharge ordinances or high levels of development. We reviewed the expanded archery area boundaries about every three years to see if there were any places that needed adjusting. The idea was brought forward to include most of the southern Maine coast because most of it was already covered by expanded archery and there were some towns that had expressed interest in being included. This would fill in the coast south of Rt. 1 and north of the Maine coast. Regional staff and wardens were in support. We reached out to the towns that would be impacted for feedback and received few responses.
   

A public hearing was held on June 30 and the comment period closed on July 10th. We received a total of 27 written comments and one person provided testimony at the hearing. The testimony given at the hearing was in support of the proposal to increase the expanded archery area. They thought it would add more options for places to hunt and improve the quality of the hunt. They also expressed an interest in having a limit on the number of antlerless permits for expanded archery hunters.

For written comments, we received 13 comments that were supportive of the proposal to increase the expanded archery area. Multiple comments were related to the town of Verona and deer impacts on vegetation, deer vehicle collisions and a high number of deer there. There was a comment that favored the proposal speaking to Northport. One in favor near Ogunquit. Comments were received speaking to the Westport area, mainly a desire to see all of WMDs 22, 23 and 25 included in expanded archery. Another comment was also received expressing a desire to see a limit on the number of expanded archery and antlerless permits. There were multiple comments in support of including Eastport in the expanded archery areas.

Eight comments were received in opposition to the proposal. The first was extensive discussing wounding loss associated with archery hunting, animals suffering in general and general opposition to archery hunting. They also talked about birth control as an option and limited predator removal to encourage predator populations so they could control deer numbers better. They also offered their feeling the perspectives of nonconsumptive users was often ignored. We also received several comments in the form of a form letter very similar to the previous comment where they talked about disapproval of archery hunting, wounding rates, animal welfare concerns, etc.

The remainder of the comments were mixed or unclear. One was supportive of removing more deer, but concerned about arrows being shot through their backyard. One commenter spoke to the Bayside area and thought the area was too developed for anyone to hunt there. Two commenters were supportive of more deer removal opportunities but wanted entire WMDs included. Other comments were regarding Verona and other methods of removal.

Council Member Comments and Questions
Eric Ward asked if we would consider opening WMDs 23 or 25, the entire zone?

Nathan Bieber stated it would kind of defeat the purpose of expanded archery. It was supposed to be very concentrated in areas where you couldn't firearms hunt. To just open it to broad areas would lose the impact. Regarding multiple deer kills, very few hunters ended up using multiple permits. Approximately 75% of expanded archery hunters that took an antlerless deer only took one.

Scott Ireland stated he thought it was worth looking at if we were issuing unlimited doe permits in WMD 23 and other areas that we should look at opening up those districts to expanded archery hunting.

Jim Andrews stated he had expected to see more comments opposed to the proposal, especially given the area of the state that it was in.

A motion was made by Joe Powers to move the agenda item to Step 3 for final adoption and that was seconded by Jim Andrews.

Vote: Unanimous - agenda item moved to Step 3

A motion was made by Joe Powers to accept the proposal as presented and that was seconded by Jim Andrews.

Vote: Unanimous motion passed.

. Step 1

1. Tremont Special Hunt for deer Nathan Bieber stated this was a special hunt proposal from the town of Tremont. The Commissioner of IFW had pretty broad authority to create custom hunts if the town came forward and wanted additional deer removal in their town but the regulated hunting seasons didnt fit with their needs. The town of Tremont approached the Department, along with Mt. Desert Island; there were high levels of deer and a lot of complaints. We had issued depredation permits there. They sighted deer/vehicle collisions, property damage, deer that were too accustomed to people. They wanted to explore additional deer removal options and settled on a special hunt. They submitted a proposal and worked with the Department to develop it further. They introduced it to people in the town through meetings as well as the Select Board. They had a town vote on the proposal and the majority of the town was in support. The Select Board was also in favor. We incorporated some language into rule which was mirrored after the Eastport rulemaking from 2018. The language covered the timing of the hunt which would occur in November starting in 2026 and running until 2028. The special hunt would be for antlerless deer only and anyone participating would need to obtain permission from the town. It would be a shotgun and archery hunt only from fixed blinds. Any deer taken would need to be tagged and would be in addition to the regular bag limit.
   Council Member Comments and Questions
   Tony Liguori asked if there was guidance for what people had to do in order to generate a special hunt.
   

Nathan Bieber stated if it was a private citizen, they should approach their town and the town could come to the Department. The town needed to support a special hunt rather than a group of people. The town would assess if there was support for additional deer removal and work with the Department on options.

Nate Webb stated the situation with Tremont was unique in that Mount Desert Island (MDI) was closed to deer hunting. It had been closed in statute for almost a century. In order for the Department to open any portion of MDI or any other area closed to deer hunting, we had to have approval from the town. We couldnt move forward without support from the town. This was the first time we had been able to bring a rule forward on MDI with town approval.

Nathan Bieber stated if approved, this would be a 3-year hunt and then the town would reassess.
VI. Other Business

Acting Commissioner Peabody stated the position of Business Operations Manager had recently been filled at the Department and introduced Jessica Nixon. It had been 20 years since this position had been part of the organization. He discussed the two moose hunting stakeholder group meetings that had taken place to discuss the potential for additional hunting in WMDs 8, 9 and 14. The meetings were completed and they were deliberating on the information and whether or not a proposal would move forward.

VII. Councilor Reports

Councilor Reports were given.

VIII. Public Comments & Questions

No public comment was given.

IX. Schedule Date for Next Meeting

The next meeting was scheduled for Tuesday, August 11, 2026, at 9:30 a.m. at the Gray Headquarters.

X. Adjournment

A motion was made by Joe Powers and that was seconded by Catherine Gordon to adjourn the meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:30am.