This is in response to Patricia Keene’s letter (March 25).

People have been baiting bears for decades. Back in the 50s, 60s and 70s, we called them garbage dumps.

Now that the bear population is under control, the people of the Humane Society of the United States want to step in and change things. That’s right, a group from Washington, D.C., is bankrolling the majority of the referendum in question.

By baiting bears, hunters can tell if they are getting a good bear, not some sow with cubs, or cubs themselves. The same is true of hounding.

After bears are treed, hunters can tell size and sex and make decisions if they want to harvest the animals. And bears are not being trapped.

A snare can be used to harvest a bear (I have never heard of a bear chewing a paw off to escape). That is the same method that fish and wildlife officials use to catch bears, and then they are able to tag and collar the bears. How can that be cruel when fish and wildlife officials are allowed to do it?

As yet, I have not heard anyone who is against bear hunting offer a better way to control the bear population. Let’s let the professionals at the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife do their job.

I would hate to see someone get hurt because the bear population is not being controlled.

Ken Scribner, Durham