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.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 31, 2026
Some 234,000 acres of Indigenous land in Maine was granted to Colby and Bowdoin colleges between 1796 and 1861. The Massachusetts Legislature, which governed the District of Maine until it became a state in 1820, granted to Bowdoin College a total of 182,000 acres of “unappropriated lands” in central Maine. Colby received just over 52,000 acres. The institutions would parlay that into tens of thousands of dollars used to fund construction of their first buildings. It was a small fraction of the 12 million acres to which Wabanaki Nations laid claim. After Congress passed the Morrill Act in 1862, creating so-called “land grant universities,” the University of Maine received 210,000 acres scattered across the United States. Now, as the tribes work to regain land, some Maine institutions are grappling with how — or whether — to address the legacy of their involvement in its dispossession.
MAINE PUBLIC • March 30, 2026
New England electric customers including Maine ratepayers could get more than $1 billion in refunds after federal energy regulators ruled this month that transmission utilities were paid inflated profits for years. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission draws to a close a case against the utilities that was first filed in 2011, said Maine Public Advocate Heather Sanborn. "We're hopeful that transmission rates will come down as a result of this ruling and also that 15 years of overpayments will eventually be refunded to customers through their rates," Sanborn said.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 30, 2026
With 16 miles of coastline, the city of South Portland has a dedicated interest in protecting our waterways from microplastics that are harmful to our ecosystems and ourselves. Single-use plastics are everywhere. However, the University of Maine’s inaugural reusables pilot program offers a feasible alternative. Researchers at UMaine partnered with the volunteer coalition Reuse Maine and three coastal communities — Bar Harbor, Bath, and South Portland — to pilot a reusable food and beverage takeout packaging program. The goal is to explore the potential of reusable takeout packaging to reduce waste, prevent plastic pollution, and save money on the purchase and disposal costs of single-use packaging. You can learn more at umaine.edu/reuseme. Customers at six participating establishments can now check out a reusable container by downloading the Recirclable app and return the containers to any participating establishment.
MAINE PUBLIC • March 30, 2026
It's mid-March, and even if most of the snow has melted in southern and coastal Maine, on Saddleback Mountain it's very much still winter. It's one of six sites set up this winter, and one of the few places in New England capturing snow depth on mountains higher than 2,500 feet. Despite decades of snow monitoring records across the region, very little is known about the snowpack at higher mountain elevations, said Julia Daly, a geology professor at University of Maine Farmington. That's left a critical information gap at a time when a warming climate is affecting winter recreation, cold-adapted ecosystems and flooding risks. Monitoring mountain snow is helpful for water management, flood predictions and the winter recreation industry. It can also help better identify "climate refugia" in Maine's mountains — areas that may be buffered to the worst effects of soaring global temperatures driven by burning fossil fuels.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 30, 2026
Site work will begin this week on a Portland housing development that was the subject of a lawsuit from abutters after a judge affirmed the planning board’s decision to green light the project. A Superior Court ruling this month sided with the developer on nearly every claim, and lifted an administrative stay that had delayed construction of the 50-unit Belfort Landing development in the Riverton neighborhood.
EARTH JUSTICE • March 30, 2026
A federal court struck down President Trump’s attacks against the Endangered Species Act (ESA), restoring key values of the bedrock environmental law to the status it held for decades before the first Trump administration attacked the bedrock environmental law. After a seven-year legal saga, the court found that a series of regulations from 2019 and 2024 were in clear violation of the statute, and ordered those regulations immediately vacated. The ruling will derail ongoing efforts by the current Trump administration to further weaken the ESA. The ruling reaffirms that federal agencies must use the best available science when assessing harm to species, they cannot ignore incremental harm to critical habitat, and the agencies must firmly commit to any measures relied upon to reduce harm to imperiled plants and animals. Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, and WildEarth Guardians, represented by Earthjustice, challenged regulations issued seven years ago by the first Trump administration.
NATIONAL PARKS TRAVELER • March 30 2026
A federal judge on Monday partially ruled that the first Trump administration erred when it weakened aspects of the Endangered Species Act. The ruling was heralded by environmental groups, saying it underscored that “federal agencies must use the best available science when assessing harm to species, they cannot ignore incremental harm to critical habitat, and the agencies must firmly commit to any measures relied upon to reduce harm to imperiled plants and animals.” Judge Jon S. Tigar held that a handful of regulatory provisions affecting the ESA implemented during President Donald Trump’s first term “were unlawful because they contradict the text of the ESA or were arbitrary and capricious.”
E&E NEWS • March 30, 2026
A coalition of environmental groups scored a win Monday in a long legal battle when a federal court tossed out a set of regulatory rollbacks that undercut Endangered Species Act protections. The ruling comes after nearly a decade of legal combat that began under the first Trump administration to challenge how the federal government evaluated the risks to vulnerable species before advancing new projects. The decision is also likely to hobble current efforts to further weaken the landmark species law, environmental groups said. The administration is taking other actions that could put endangered species at risk. A court has also cleared the way for the administration to convene its Endangered Species Committee — the so-called “God Squad” — on Tuesday to decide whether to override ESA protections for species.
MAINE PUBLIC • March 30, 2026
As the war with Iran continues to roil global energy markets, Maine's logging and trucking industries are among those feeling the squeeze from rising fuel prices. The price of diesel in Maine has jumped by more than 30% in the last month. Dana Doran, executive director of the trade group Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast, said loggers are also having to absorb that extra cost as they wrap up the winter harvest. "Contractors are taking it on the chin right now," Doran said. "Hopefully, when we get to May and June, if this continues, I think that the mills are going to have no choice but to try to offset some of this diesel cost and increase the price they're paying for wood."
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 30, 2026
Alina Nickerson, 19, of Gorham, was riding a snowmobile on Primary Trail 134 about 5:10 p.m. Saturday with three other snowmobilers. As Nickerson rode through snow dust kicked up by snowmobiles ahead of her, she lost control on a downhill right turn and hit a rock. She was taken to Upper Connecticut Valley Hospital in Colebrook, New Hampshire, where Nickerson was treated for her injuries. Investigators believe unreasonable speed was a contributing factor in the crash.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 30, 2026
Maine allocates a small percentage of moose tags for sporting camps, which have long been destinations for hunting and fishing trips in the most rural parts of the state. Hunters pay between $10,000 and $33,000 for packages that include a guaranteed tag, lodging, meals and guiding services. State officials, guides and outfitters say loose guidelines have allowed some sporting camps to access tags through a lucrative secondary market. That has taken opportunities away from other guides and limited availability for nonresidents vying for tags in the state’s prime hunting season. Now, lawmakers are considering reforms that would prohibit the resale of tags and put a cap on the number of sporting lodge tags.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 30, 2026
Springtime in Maine is prime time for shed hunting. Adam Heroux was out this past weekend with his two daughters, Fern and Olive, ages 5 and 3, on their Belfast property. Fern found her first one. She and her sister jumped around excitedly. Fern picked it up and showed off one side of what was an 8-point buck. “I knew I was gonna find one,” she said.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 30, 2026
Our winters are the stuff of Hallmark Christmas movies, and our summers are so glorious people will spend their life savings on lodging just for a taste. As for fall, do a Google image search for Acadia National Park. For most Mainers, this is the least wonderful time of the year. Aside from a few sunny days, you won’t be needing your T-shirts for a while. Turning to other Mainers for their tips, I learned that this transitional period does have some perks of its own. Birding is one activity that actually can be more exciting this time of year. And waterfalls are often at their most impressive during the spring thaw. Beachcombing, too, benefits from the weather patterns, with late-winter storms and larger swells, as well as extreme tides around the equinox, resulting in more shells and sea glass on the shore. ~ Leslie Bridgers
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 30, 2026
On Feb. 27, the results of a study of the economic impact of Northeast logging and forest trucking revealed the industry in Maine and in neighboring states is in crisis, facing a mounting list of challenges that threaten its future, including loss of markets and market uncertainty, rising costs, shrinking profits, worker shortages, and lack of succession planning. This study demonstrates the importance of the industry and the real possibility that it has reached a breaking point. In 2025, the Legislature stepped up and provided $2 million in forest protection. LD 2094 would provide a [$12 million] lifeline for logging companies. The bond represents a simple, bipartisan, and economical solution to stabilize and propel an industry that is in desperate need of help. The Legislature must act now to support LD 2094! ~ Dana Doran, Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 30, 2026
I’ve cast flies in some remarkable places around the world, and although I know life’s journey can end at any moment, and without warning, I’m selfish enough to want my angling adventures to continue. That includes a few destinations right here in Maine. Here’s a short list.
• Upper Androscoggin River
• Upper Dam
• Rapid River
• Deboullie Ponds
• Grand Lake Stream
• Baxter State Park’s southwest trout ponds
More than just honorable mentions: Kennebago River, Roach River, East Outlet, West Branch of the Penobscot, Magalloway River.
NEWS CENTER MAINE • March 29, 2026
Popham Beach in Phippsburg will be closed to all pets from Wednesday, April 1, through October 1, according to the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. The department emphasized that all pets, including dogs and horses, were not allowed on the beach starting Wednesday. The ordinance was issued to protect federally endangered nesting shorebirds, officials stated. Pets and horses would be welcomed back onto Popham Beach by October 1, 2026, according to the department's release. Popham Beach, located in Phippsburg, is situated at the mouth of the Kennebec River, approximately 14 miles south of Bath.
THE SUN • March 29, 2026
Maine is enacting legislation aimed at combatting light pollution. Advocates have argued that even darkness deserves conservation. “Darkness is a natural resource just like land, just like water and it is absolutely deserving of conservation,” Francesca Gundrum, Maine Audubon’s director of advocacy said. “And the only way you conserve it is if you take steps to regulate, in particular, outdoor light pollution.”
