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Column: The Presumpscot River is entangled with my idea of home

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • June 21, 2026

Growing up, many of my most treasured memories are from time spent outside. But there is one place that feels most significant, both in childhood and today: the Presumpscot River Preserve. Before European settlers arrived, the Presumpscot sustained the Abenaki people. Beginning in the 1730s, dams were constructed that blocked fish passage and submerged the river’s many natural falls. The river was polluted with industrial waste. Decades of conservation efforts, from the Clean Water Act in the 1970s to more recent dam removals and the construction of fish passageways, have helped to restore the river. I’m deeply grateful to the organizations and individuals who protect and steward it so that it remains open to all of us. ~ Soren Stark-Chessa,first-year student, Bates College

5 Kennebec Land Trust hikes to try this summer

CENTRAL MAINE • June 21, 2026

With thousands of acres across Kennebec County preserved for public access and wildlife conservation, Kennebec Land Trust properties offer dozens of wandering hikes within a half-hour drive of the state capital. Ranging from summiting Winthrop’s Mount Pisgah to watching a waterfall in Sidney, the Kennebec Journal asked KLT trail-builder and stewardship director Tyler Kenniston about his favorite local trails to hike. Here are his go-to KLT hikes for this summer.
• Reynolds Forest, Sidney
• Howard Hill Conservation Area, Augusta
• Ezra Smith Wildlife Conservation Area, Mount Vernon
• Hales Pond Woodland Preserve, Fayette
• Mount Pisgah Conservation Area, Winthrop

This notorious weed invading Maine can be foraged for a tasty treat

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 21, 2026

Japanese knotweed is one of the most invasive plant species in the state, as it outcompetes many other native plant species. But it’s a delicious edible plant — and foraging for it will help you to do your part in managing this scourge on Maine’s environment while also enjoying a fresh meal.

Social media has driven Acadia tourists to a quiet spot on the Schoodic Peninsula

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 20, 2026

Social media is attracting tourists to an unmarked trail on the Schoodic Peninsula, where dramatic jagged cliffs drop into Frenchman Bay in Acadia’s quieter region. As more and more tourists vacation in Acadia National Park each year, the park recorded more than 4 million visits last year, many of the park’s most iconic attractions are often congested with people. Some tourists are looking for places to enjoy the park without the mayhem and are turning to social media for suggestions. One TikTok trend has centered around Ravens Nest, a cluster of cliffs off Schoodic Loop Road in the park’s only mainland section. 

Column: This wildlife drama is happening right in my backyard

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 20, 2026

I’m taking the time to watch what’s happening around my yard. It’s not exclusively my yard anymore. An eastern phoebe renested above my porch door. An American robin is nesting on the near side of the deck. I was astonished to find yet another robin nesting on the opposite side of the house. Now I can’t go anywhere in my yard without being eyed suspiciously. Three days ago, a red-shouldered hawk swooped into the yard and grabbed a recent fledgling off the lawn. I’m not sure who was more surprised, me or the robin. A hairy woodpecker landed on the feeder. The downy woodpecker complained. Bald eagles have been flying past my house for weeks, bound for the river to feed on alewives. A tiny chipping sparrow is one of the noisiest in my yard. A sapsucker has taken a fondness to banging on my metal mailbox. A black-billed cuckoo has been calling from behind my neighbor’s house. I’ve done a lot of birding this month, without ever leaving home. ~ Bob Duchesne

Column: Behavior of birds changes during breeding season

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 20, 2026

As the migration season winds down, we experience a lull in general bird activity. This drop comes from two main factors: many birds have migrated farther north, and those that did stay—including our resident species — are really hard to detect right now. We have around 300 species of birds that regularly occur in Maine. Of those, 231 were documented as breeding in the state during the Maine Bird Atlas. One of the most important things to remember this time of year: there are baby birds everywhere. If you stumble upon one, it is almost always best to leave it alone. ~ Doug Hitchcox, Maine Audubon Staff Naturalist

Fisherman’s body recovered from water near Vinalhaven

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 20, 2026

The body of a commercial fisherman, Marshal Ames of North Haven, 57, was recovered Thursday afternoon after he apparently fell off the fishing vessel Long Faces in Hurricane Sound off Vinalhaven. The captain of the Long Faces, 39-year-old Geoffrey Barrett of North Haven, was charged with assault following an altercation with Marine Patrol officers at the dock at Dyer Island. Barrett was also charged with refusing to submit to a chemical test and boating under the influence. Another crewmember, Theodore Lane of North Haven, 27, was charged with assault and disorderly conduct.

Opinion: Blue Economy Center is key to Maine’s ocean future

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 20, 2026

This spring, following two years of careful consideration, the Legislature enacted a law establishing a Maine Blue Economy Center. Its work will encompass well-established industries like seafood, shipping and recreation and tourism and support advancements in emerging fields such as marine biotechnology and electrification. Its work will encompass obvious and well-established industries like seafood, shipping and recreation and tourism and support advancements in emerging fields such as marine biotechnology and electrification. We must be proactive about developing new products, markets and skills to enhance the future of our legacy industries like fishing, aquaculture and boatbuilding. ~ Michael Conathan helped lead the work of Maine’s Blue Economy Task Force, South Portland

Grand Falls Hut, ATV trail near The Forks get Somerset County TIF dollars

CENTRAL MAINE • June 20, 2026

Funding to fix up a remote hut near Grand Falls and a key ATV and snowmobile trail in The Forks got the green light from Somerset County commissioners Wednesday. The board of commissioners at its meeting approved $17,500 for Maine Huts and Trails to make upgrades at its shuttered Grand Falls Hut and $40,800 for the Lake Moxie ATV Club to improve a trail that brings traffic from elsewhere to businesses in The Forks. Both efforts are aimed at improving outdoor recreation infrastructure, which has come to play a key role in the rural county’s economy and commissioners have come to regularly support.

A gloomy day is a great time to take a hike in Maine

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 20, 2026

Sometimes you can’t wait for the perfect weather to go hiking. On a Saturday in June, the forecast called for cloudy skies and a potential for afternoon showers. With a steady breeze and temperatures in the 70s, it was gloomy but comfortable. The low cloud cover meant that we wouldn’t enjoy any mountaintop views, yet we were determined to cover several miles of trail, breathe some fresh air and exercise our legs. Lucky for us, the gloomy wilderness had its own special type of beauty. Sometimes it’s the hikes in less than ideal weather that dazzle us and remain vivid in our memories.

Letter: Oil companies need to pay for the damage they’ve done

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 20, 2026

One of the successes of the recent Maine legislative session was the passage of LD 1870, known as the Make Polluters Pay bill. The law will help fund a study to determine the costs to Maine of climate-related damage from 1995 to 2024. Billion-dollar climate related events in the U.S. have increased alarmingly since 1980 (three events) and 2024 (27 events). I believe the next step will be to create a fund into which major fossil fuel companies will contribute to help pay the costs of the damage caused by burning their products. Fossil fuel companies are currently reaping war profits estimated at $30 million an hour, and we are paying. ~ Tom Mikulka, Cape Elizabeth

Black bear explores Old Port on Friday

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 19, 2026

A young black bear explored the Old Port on Friday morning. Portland police responded to reports of a cub clambering in the York Street area at about 10:30 a.m. Officers monitored its movements and set up a safety perimeter to keep people out of harm’s way. They walked along with the cub as it traipsed through downtown. Officers secured the area while Maine game wardens and state wildlife biologists responded. The bear was safely tranquilized around 1 p.m. and transported out of the city to be released back into the wild.

Lake Auburn Watershed birding walk, June 27

MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • June 19, 2026

Join Lake Auburn Watershed Protection Commission and the Feminist Bird Club of Maine for a birding walk along the shores of Lake Auburn, June 27, 8-10 am.

Woodchuck eating your garden? Here’s a Maine expert’s advice

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 19, 2026

Chris Maher, a professor of biology at the University of Southern Maine, has been studying Maine woodchucks, also known as groundhogs, since 1998. She researches their social behavior with a long-term study at Gilsland Farm in Falmouth and knows their habits and preferences well. She’s also familiar with fending them off in her personal time. Here are her tips for deterring woodchucks from your property. Don’t trap the woodchuck, don’t release it elsewhere, and don’t use poison. Do modify the landscape so they’re no longer comfortable, do build a fence around your garden, and do make woodchucks think there is a predator in the area.

York’s Sohier Park could get a $3 million upgrade

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 19, 2026

York is weighing more than $3 million in major upgrades at Sohier Park, across from the iconic Nubble Light. The town is considering several changes that would improve pedestrian safety and strengthen the site’s storm resilience while also completing routine maintenance. The project was proposed in January 2025, and the Selectboard reviewed the plans on June 8, though nothing has been officially greenlit.

Maine forest groups warn Pingree that federal cuts could endanger research, forest health

MAINE MORNING STAR • June 19, 2026

U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree gathered state agencies and other forestry organizations for a roundtable discussion in Portland on Thursday about the impact of recent changes at the Forest Service and their concerns about future reorganizing. Maine forestry groups emphasized that any reductions of U.S. Forest Service research and staffing would have consequences across the state and region. Maine relies on the Forest Service to understand pests and diseases. Pingree said even though she is the ranking minority member of the House Appropriations Committee’s Interior subcommittee, she can’t get clarity on what the Forest Service reorganization might look like. 

What a Maine researcher has learned studying woodchucks for nearly 3 decades

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 19, 2026

Since 1998, University of Southern Maine professor Chris Maher has tagged over 600 woodchucks at Falmouth’s Gilsland Farm, tracking their behavior and genealogy. She’s been answering longstanding questions about the species. Not whether they’ll see their shadow on Feb. 2, and not how much wood they could chuck if they could chuck wood, but how and why they behave the way they do. “People kind of run this gamut between ‘I hate woodchucks, because they eat my garden, or they dig under my shed.’ Or they love woodchucks — chances are, those people don’t have a garden,” she said. Retirement is not too far off, and it doesn’t look like anyone else will be taking over the reins of the study from Maher.

Never forget, all roads are private in the North Maine Woods

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 19, 2026

With countless lakes, ponds and rivers, miles of hiking trails and scores of campsites, the North Maine Woods is an outdoor enthusiast’s paradise with more than 100,000 people visiting the region every year. The 3.5 million acres also is a privately owned working forest and while its owners are more than happy to allow access to the land over thousands of miles of dirt roads, visitors need to know the rules of those roads for safety’s sake. And the most important rule of all to remember is logging trucks always have the right of way.

5 ways to enjoy Acadia during a rainy day this week

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 19, 2026

Acadia’s weather forecast doesn’t always provide ideal vacation conditions, but there are still several ways to enjoy the park on a rainy day — and stay relatively dry.
• Ride the Island Explorer
• Visit Sieur de Monts Nature Center
• Take tea and popovers at Jordan Pond
• Travel the quieter carriage roads
• Visit the Abbe Museum