A bill that would protect Vermont’s celebrity moose is a step closer to approval in the Legislature.
The state Senate on Wednesday approved on second reading a bill that would exclude Pete the Moose from actions taken by the state on an Irasburg game preserve.
The measure aims to undo what lawmakers did in the eleventh hour of last year’s session, which was to grant private ownership of the animals at the 700-acre Big Rack Ridge preserve to owner Doug Nelson.
Now, the Legislature is moving to repeal that because of pressure from hunters and wildlife officials who say giving Nelson ownership was a dangerous precedent that violates the idea that wild animals are part of a public trust and can’t be owned by an individual.