Eat a lobster. See a moose. Those are the goals of nearly every Maine tourist.

Two of the most unattractive creatures on earth, lobsters and moose, drive our outdoor economy -- the lobster on the coast, moose in the north woods.

Daughter Hilary, here for a visit from her home in Washington D.C., recently waited an hour in line at Red's Eats in Wiscasset for one of their famous lobster rolls.

Ninety percent of the tourists I encounter in Baxter Park ask, "Where can I see a moose?"

Sure, our quality of place is important, but these two critters are critical to our tourist economy.

The state and its lobsterman take care of their lobsters. But the forlorn moose is left to fend for itself.

Lobstermen recognize the importance of good management and pony up the bucks, willingly, that allow the Department of Marine Resources to fund research and management programs up and down the coast.

Moose watchers contribute nothing to the management of this beast and almost none of the money moose hunters contribute to the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is spent on moose.

It is simply unacceptable for the department to take in nearly $2 million from the moose lottery and hunt and be unable to tell us how many moose we have.

Nor is there any excuse for the department's lack of attention to the serious tick problem that is killing moose all across the northeast.

When long-time moose biologist Karen Morris retired earlier this year, the department did not replace her. Instead, moose management was assigned to the deer biologist Lee Kantar, widely respected for his work on deer but incredibly busy managing the state's number one game animal.

Failure to provide even one full-time moose biologist for such an important animal is, at the very least, taking moose management in the wrong direction.

Before Morris retired, she abruptly changed her moose population estimate from 30,000 to 60,000 or more, causing many sportsmen to demand more moose permits. But let's be frank. Without a credible count, it's impossible to determine exactly how many permits can be issued at a sustainable level.

The department once wasted $50,000 trying to count moose in one small area by plane, before giving that up. Since then, they've tried asking deer hunters to do the counting. Nothing has produced the accuracy that is demanded for proper management.

There is a strong indication that moose have maxed out their habitat in Maine. An assessment of browse production by the U.S. Forest Service estimated that between 1995 and 2005, moose browse was reduced between 25 percent and 50 percent. If true, that's a serious problem for both moose and deer.

But the most alarming information comes from New Hampshire. Ticks are killing substantial numbers of moose.

Kristine Rines, New Hampshire's moose project leader, told reporter John Richardson, "In the north country, where we have our highest moose densities, depending on what you have for weather conditions that year, we have lost close to 70 percent of our (moose) calf crop to winter ticks and about 20 percent of the adults."

Sadly, when asked about the problem, Maine's Kantar could only respond, "We don't know the extent to which it's causing additional mortalities (in Maine). We know it's a big factor."

Shouldn't a state agency that brings in $2 million from moose be able to do better than this?

Kantar's predecessor, retired deer biologist Gerry Lavigne, summed it up well, saying, "You've got to put money and you've got to put resources into it, and you have to have leadership."

So far on those items, it's three strikes and Maine's out.

Given the competing and intense interests of moose hunters and viewers, Maine must do better.

A recent article in the Boston Globe reported, "Maine, the sprawling wilderness that has long lured hunters to shoot animals, is being inundated with people who want only to watch them. Now, the two worlds are colliding as hunters lobby the state for more moose hunting permits, to the chagrin of safari operators and some wildlife lovers."

Phil Savignano, a senior tourism officials, said, "It's a challenge. ... Maine is changing. ... there is clearly a decline in hunting and a growth in wildlife viewing. But we want both to exist."

It can be a peaceful coexistence only if decisions about moose permits and other issues are driven by reliable population counts and good science.

We do it for lobsters. Moose are equally deserving.

George Smith is executive director of the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine. He lives in Mount Vernon and can be reached at george@samcef.org.