The most comprehensive online source of conservation news and events in Maine and beyond, edited by Jym St. Pierre
Thank you for reading Maine Environmental News. Each year, we post thousands of news summaries, notices, and links related to important environmental issues from across the state (and beyond). If you find this service useful, you can help us continue to provide it by making a donation. Just click on the button below and contribute whatever you can afford. Thanks again for your generous support!
Sincerely,
Jym St. Pierre
Editor, Maine Environmental News
MAINE AUDUBON • March 1, 2026
The third edition of Maine Amphibians and Reptiles explores the lives of 38 fascinating species—from tiny newts to rarely seen sea turtles—found across Maine and the Northeast. Built on 25 years of research, with expanded photos, regional studies, and engaging writing, it’s perfect for scientists and curious readers alike. Join some of the contributors to this fascinating book for a talk followed by a book sale and signing at the Falmouth Memorial Library. Light refreshments will be provided. At Falmouth Memorial Library, 5 Lunt Rd, Falmouth, ME, March 11, 5:30pm.
MAINE AUDUBON • April 1, 2026
Curious about what critters live in your local streams and freshwater marshes? Learn about Maine Marsh and Stream Explorers, a collaborative community science project between Maine Audubon and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). This program trains volunteers to survey for macroinvertebrates, or large aquatic insects, in streams and freshwater marshes statewide. April 22, 7 pm, online, preregister.
MAINE SPORTSMAN • March 2026
If you’re bothered by the idea of coyotes combing the woods of Maine, you aren’t alone. There are a lot of conflicting views surrounding Canis Latrans and the reputation the predator carries in the Pine Tree State.
CBS 13 • February 24, 2026
The owners of a paper mill in Rumford are now at the center of a federal lawsuit. It claims that workplace safety rules were violated and contributed to a fall that left an employee with life-altering injuries. The lawsuit filed against ND Paper and several other companies alleges workplace safety violations played a role in 35-year-old Damion Hatcher falling nearly eight stories “into the opening of a chimney while performing cleaning services.”
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 24, 2026
An oil spill was reported on Pushaw Lake. The spill happened near Lakeside Landing, according to the Glenburn Fire Department. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has evaluated the spill site “Environmental spills can be complex, particularly during winter conditions with freezing temperatures, ice, and snowfall,” the fire department said Tuesday morning, calling Pushaw Lake an “important natural resource” for the area.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 24, 2026
Citizens don’t need to be environmental scientists to weigh in on potential impacts of climate change on infrastructure, natural resources and local services. So, Standish, in collaboration with Greater Portland Council of Governments, is offering a survey on the town’s website to better prepare the community for future climate change events. Other towns included in the study are Bridgton, Gray, Westbrook and Windham. The technical analysis will identify areas of potential concern, such as roadways located in “high flood-risk zones, and highlight where future planning and investment may be most needed.”
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 24, 2026
More than 1,000 anglers spread across the ice Valentine’s weekend for the Sebago Lake Rotary’s 25th annual Ice Fishing Derby, making it the third-largest in the past decade and one of the biggest winter events on the lake in years. Warden Mike Pierre stopped by to check in and alerted me to one of my flags that had just popped. I hurried over and soon had a 20-inch lake trout on the ice. At the Raymond Beach registration station we saw the fish everyone had been talking about. Adam Hamilton registered a 17.45-pound lake trout measuring 38.34 inches — a true whopper.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 24, 2026
Lynne is a photographer in midcoast Maine and the “sister” half of a brother-sister wildlife collaboration that began in August 2025. The duo created Backyard Wildlife Maine to share the joy they find exploring their extensive family property in Lincoln County. Roughly 30 cameras are placed across a few hundred acres of woods to document wildlife. On Feb. 6, Lynne’s father called to tell her about a roadkill deer near her home. After obtaining a permit, they wrestled the mangled carcass into her new SUV and hauled it more than a mile into the woods, where they set up several trail cameras. Within two hours, a bald eagle arrived at the carcass. The next morning, around 11 a.m., a cellular camera notification showed something different. Lynne posted the image to the Maine Birds Facebook group seeking confirmation. Responses quickly affirmed her suspicion: an adult golden eagle. A few hours later, a second golden eagle appeared. State biologists confirmed both identifications.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 24, 2026
As a society, we’ve decided you can’t just throw trash from your car and you can’t dump chemicals in the water. So why is it that we let oil and gas corporations off the hook for the mess they’ve created? As early as the 1950s, there was knowledge among oil producers that CO2 would warm the planet, but things got really damning by the 1970s. Exxon hired its own science team to investigate and model the impact of fossil fuel emissions on the Earth. Despite this knowledge, Exxon went on to fund climate misinformation campaigns and kept pushing its product as safe for the Earth. Now, Maine has a mess to clean up in the form of the costly damage created by more extreme storms, higher sea levels, droughts and other climate disasters. LD 1870 would require oil and gas corporations to pay us back for the damage that they caused. ~ Keith Carson, director of environment and science communications, Maine Conservation Voters
ENVIRONMENT MAINE • February 23, 2026
Although many Americans are trying to save energy in their homes, this week the U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to take up a bill that, if it becomes law, would likely lead to more energy waste. The legislation, H.R. 4626, would endanger the current U.S. appliance efficiency standards by giving the executive branch new powers to amend or roll back those requirements. It would also direct the Department of Energy to “evaluate” standards in the two years after they are finalized – creating immediate uncertainty for manufacturers, who invest in upgrading their product lines to prepare for set compliance dates. The bill also threatens the government’s ability to adapt efficiency standards to technological improvements.
PENOBSCOT BAY PILOT • February 23, 2026
Jake Metzler, Vice President of Stewardship and Conservation for the Forest Society of Maine, will speak about the Magalloway Project, a collaborative effort to conserve 78,000 acres in Western Maine. Hosted by Georges River Trout Unlimited. At Sea Dog Brewing Co., Camden, March 10, 7 p.m.
FRIENDS OF THE EARTH • February 23, 2022
Over the last few decades, the populations of critical wild bee species have PLUMMETED: The Rusty-Patched Bumblebee population has dropped by 87%, the American Bumblebee by 89%, and the Western Bumblebee by 93%. Research points to neonics as a leading cause of these massive bee die-offs. The most widely used insecticides in the world, neonics have made U.S. agriculture nearly 50 times more toxic to insects – and they are extremely DEADLY to bees! Bees are essential for our food chain and way of life. We rely on these helpful little pollinators for 1 out of 3 bites of food that we eat and 75% of the world’s most nutritious food crops like fruits, veggies, and nuts.But Trump’s EPA is still preparing to APPROVE these DANGEROUS pesticides for ANOTHER 15 years. Your message to the EPA can help stop that from happening.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 23, 2026
Windham is installing solar-powered information kiosks to relay messages and support local initiatives and economic planning by connecting residents to local businesses and events. Kiosks were installed at the Town Hall and Lippman Park last week, with another to be placed at the Lowell Preserve this spring.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 23, 2026
Stephen Antonson is one of the most scorned men to summer in Maine. The Brooklyn artist came to the public’s attention after he was credibly accused of poisoning a half dozen of his elderly neighbor’s trees in 2022 so he could get a better view of Rockland harbor from his own home. Although Antonson has never admitted responsibility for boring holes in the trees and injecting a deadly herbicide, the state’s Board of Pesticides Control is prepared on Feb. 27 to accept a settlement in which he acknowledges that “a court could find that he committed the violations.” His penalty? A $3,000 fine. Antonson’s neighbor, Ruth Graham, died two years ago. According to her son Steven, the incident caused her “a great deal of distress” in her final years. A $3,000 fine amounts to “pocket change found under the sofa cushions,” in the words of Douglas Cole, chair of Rockport Parks and Beautification, who noted that to charge so little for trespassing and destroying a neighbor’s land sends a message “that crime does pay.”
RANGELEY HIGHLANDER • February 23, 2026
The High Peaks Alliance is partnering with the Natural Resources Council of Maine to host a civic engagement event in Kingfield later this month, while also celebrating a major grant award and highlighting local conservation efforts and wildlife observations across the region. The civic engagement gathering will be held Feb. 25 from 5-7 p.m. at Longfellow’s in Kingfield. The event, led by NRCM Regional Outreach Coordinator Olivia Ruhlin and co-sponsored by the High Peaks Alliance, will focus on helping residents develop practical skills to engage in public policy and advocate for conservation initiatives.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 23, 2026
A bill facing the Maine Legislature would see more than 3,300 acres in East Millinocket put up for sale or lease. The state acquired the land in 2011 after Katahdin Paper Co. declared bankruptcy, but is now looking to sell or lease it. Through an agreement made during the purchase of the mill site, East Millinocket would receive 150 acres for free, but any additional land would have to be bought at market value. This opportunity comes while East Millinocket officials are attempting to revitalize the town more than a decade after the Great Northern Paper Co. mill shut down. The roughly 300-acre site, which shuttered in 2014 and was later bought by the town, has received multiple grants and possible reuse prospects in the five years the town has owned it, including a $300 million data center, but no large developments have materialized yet.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 23, 2026
I’ll shoot woodchucks without a second thought whenever they invade our vegetable garden, and I hunt crows even though I have never eaten one and never had the desire. I’ll target them when our vegetable gardens are starting to ripen or are ready to harvest. I also hunt crows just for fun. Because of their non-migratory status, lead shot and shotguns loaded with more than three shells are legal, and a migratory waterfowl stamp is not required. A Maine hunting license is all that is needed. Whether it is a full-blown passion or occasional pastime, there are reasons to give hunting crows a try. I personally like the fact that crows are intelligent. ~ Al Raychard
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 23, 2026
A new forestry practice is confounding hikers deep in the woods of Orland. It’s strange. It’s ugly. But it’s working. I recently stumbled upon it while hiking Great Pond Mountain and Oak Hill in Orland, in a swathe of conserved land known as the Wildlands. Throughout the forest, trees were sawed off a few feet above the ground, leaving thousands of hip-high stumps. High-stumping is a forestry method used to get rid of diseased, canker-filled beech trees. “By cutting up high, the root system thinks there’s still a tree up there and doesn’t root sprout,” said Landon Fake, the land trust’s executive director. “It continues to send nutrients up the trunk.” The tree then dies without sending out dozens of sprouts like it normally would if it were cut near the ground. And this allows other tree species to grow.
MAINE AUDUBON • March 1, 2026
Volunteers are welcome to join Maine Audubon’s Land Steward for a morning of sanctuary clean up at Mast Landing Audubon Sanctuary in Freeport, ME. Come work alongside Maine Audubon staff to clean up the sanctuary parking lot, spruce up the picnic pavilion area, and help clear the trails of any lingering winter debris. Volunteers should be willing to hike up to 2 miles and feel comfortable using hand tools such as folding saws, loppers, rakes, and shovels. Maine Audubon will provide all the necessary tools and will have a water cooler on site for bottle refills. March 21, 9 am - noon.
