Author: James Cote

James Cote is a political consultant and advocate for Maine sportsmen. He is a lifelong Maine sportsman. In 2014 he led the NO on 1 campaign to defend bear hunting in Maine. He has also advocated for private landowners at the Maine Legislature, and has worked on numerous landowner relations efforts. He was appointed by Governor Baldacci in 2007 to serve as the statewide traditional sportsmen representative for Maine’s Landowner-Sportsmen Relations Advisory Board.

Perhaps as early as Wednesday, the Maine House of Representatives has a chance to pass meaningful legislation that would help one of Maine’s increasingly popular industries: our local craft breweries. The bill is LD 1462, “An Act Regarding the Sale of Alcohol by a Manufacturer with an On-premises Retail License,” and it is sponsored by State Senator Tom Saviello (R-Franklin). Simply put, this bill will allow those brewers who also hold a restaurant liquor license to no longer have to have a wall in between where they sell beer and food for on-premises consumption, and where they sell their beer for consumers…

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Vincent Van Gogh once said, “There is no blue without yellow and without orange.” That’s just not true when it comes to Sunday hunting in Maine. There’s a lot of blue [laws] here, and a lack of [hunter] orange because of it. And with that lack of hunter orange, comes a lack of the color green- in the form of dollars to our rural Maine economy. I want to say at the outset of this piece- I have always been and will always be an advocate for private landowners. I respect private landowners and appreciate everything they do for recreational…

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