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Maine environmental coalition lays out policy priorities

MAINE PUBLIC • May 12, 2026

More than a dozen environmental groups have laid out their policy priorities for the next five years ahead of a busy election season that will see turnover in the Maine State House and governor's office. The Maine Conservation Alliance's policy guidebook proposes 46 distinct actions across five areas it wants lawmakers and government officials to pursue. Eliza Townsend, conservation policy director at the Appalachian Mountain Club, said, "It isn't that the issues are new, or the strategies to address them are new, but the fact that they are urgent is more evident than ever." The policy guide includes sections on conserving land, water and wildlife, creating healthy and prosperous communities, sovereign Wabanaki nations, clean and affordable energy and changes to government.

Calls to remove Ellsworth dam grow after state issues 2nd water quality denial

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 12, 2026

Calls to remove an Ellsworth dam are mounting after the state signaled it would deny a water quality permit for the second time, renewing questions about the future of the Union River dams. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has issued a draft denial to Black Bear Hydro Partners — a subsidiary of Brookfield Renewable that owns the Union River dam and the upstream Graham Lake dam — for its second water quality certification application, required for its federal relicensing effort. Black Bear Hydro was denied its last water quality certification in 2020, though the dams continue to operate on a temporary license.

Game warden crashed plane while helping stock fish in western Maine

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 12, 2026

Game Warden pilot Joshua Tibbetts made a low-altitude turn while helping stock fish in waterways before he was killed in a Tuesday plane crash near a western Maine pond. Flight tracking data showed that Tibbetts, 50, took off around 8 a.m. from Dry Pond Seaplane Base on Crystal Lake in Gray, piloting a Cessna A185F Skywagon. He had served 18 years with the Maine Warden Service and became a warden service pilot in late 2023.

Conservation groups seek to join lawsuit over North Atlantic right whale protections

NEWS CENTER MAINE • May 12, 2026

Multiple conservation organizations are seeking to join a federal lawsuit aimed at protecting the endangered North Atlantic right whale.

Consumers willing to pay more for lobster harvested with ropeless technology, UMaine study finds

UMAINE • May 12, 2026

U.S. consumers are willing to pay more for lobster harvested using ropeless fishing technology designed to reduce whale entanglement risks, according to new University of Maine research. A study by the University of Maine’s Maine Business School found that consumers are willing to pay an average of $3.42 more for a lobster roll made with lobster harvested using ropeless fishing technology when presented with information on animal welfare.

Group Calls On Trump To Nominate A Competent Park Service Director

NATIONAL PARKS TRAVELER • May 12, 2026

The Association of National Park Rangers (ANPR) is calling on President Trump to nominate a competent director of the National Park Service. Trump’s previous pick, Scott Socha, a long-time officer for national park concessionaire Delaware North, was withdrawn by the White House in April after widespread backlash against the choice. The Park Service has been without a Senate-confirmed director since Chuck Sams left the position at the end of the Biden administration. “Accomplishing the National Park Service mission is possible only if we care for the dedicated public servants who protect parks and ensure that the agency that employs them is adequately staffed and supported,” said Mike Pflaum, president of ANPR.

Maine Warden Service plane crashes in Franklin County

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 12, 2026

Authorities from multiple local agencies responded Tuesday morning to a plane crash in the Franklin County town of Avon. The crash happened around 11 a.m. Local officials said it was a Maine Warden Service plane. According to scanner traffic, at least one person was reported alive inside the plane but that could not be confirmed early in the afternoon.

It will be raining rabies vaccines in Aroostook starting tomorrow 3

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 12, 2026

It will be raining rabies vaccines over Aroostook County starting this week. About 450,000 oral vaccines will be dropped from the air between Wednesday and May 22, according to Lindsay Hammes, a spokesperson for the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. That will be in addition to the annual fall rabies vaccine drop.The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services, which is partnering with the Maine CDC, is dropping the extra vaccine doses because of a spate of reports of rabid raccoons over the past year.

Meeting the Moment: An Environmental Policy Guide for Maine, 2026-2031

MAINE CONSERVATION ALLIANCE • May 12, 2026

Maine people are experiencing difficult change. our public policies and government systems can and must reflect our shared values, our changing world, and the challenges and opportunities before us. Together, we can forge new paths that utilize our environmental resources wisely, connect the dots across our communities, and integrate the wisdom and problem-solving skills of the people in Maine. This policy guide outlines five areas of focus and the specific actions needed to rebalance Maine’s environmental policies in favor of fairness, responsibility, sustainability, and collaboration.

Maine environmental advocates call on state to turn climate goals into mandates

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 12, 2026

Tribal land return, a total ban on synthetic pesticides and the creation of a new state office of conservation anchor a new environmental report that calls on Maine to convert its voluntary climate goals into state law over the next five years. The Meeting the Moment report, released Tuesday by a coalition of 17 advocacy and public health organizations, challenges Augusta to adopt a values-driven blueprint for protecting the state’s natural assets as Mainers face record energy costs and increasingly destructive storms.

Column: Hummingbirds’ arrival has Mainers buzzing

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 12, 2026

While red hummingbird feeders long have been fixtures of Maine yards and decks (especially at camp), technology has taken a once-passive hobby and put it into hyperdrive, enabling birders to keep better track of avian visitors and share their excitement with fellow enthusiasts online. Although many species of migratory birds show up in Maine this time of year, there seems to be heightened anticipation around ruby-throated hummingbirds, which travel from as far away as Central America to destinations throughout the eastern U.S. and up into Canada.

Small MDI town votes to reverse nearly 100-year ban on deer hunting

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 12, 2026

Following months of public hearings, Tremont residents on Monday voted to allow a deer hunting season within town limits, reversing a nearly 100-year ban. Deer hunting has not been allowed on the island since 1931, though special permits have been issued for nuisance deer. 314 residents voted in favor of the plan and 227 voted against the proposal in a secret ballot. The hunt is intended to manage the town’s — and island’s —  deer overpopulation, which has contributed to more vehicle collisions with the animals, concern over Lyme disease and complaints of residential property damage. 

This couple moved to Bangor to flee climate change in Texas

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 12, 2026

Shawn and Sara had lived in Austin since 2006 and 2011, respectively. After more than a decade in Texas, the couple decided it was time to leave and move somewhere entirely new. “We had a lot of reasons to move…but the one that hit us the hardest was the weather,” Shawn said. “We were facing our fourth catastrophic event in five years and nobody was doing anything to address it. The couple are one example in a growing trend of climate migrants, people who forcibly or voluntarily leave their home due to extreme weather events or climate change, such as wildfires, sea level rise or hurricanes. From 2008 to 2024, more than 22 million people in the U.S. were displaced by environmental disasters.

Bar Harbor area resident receives Espy Award

MOUNT DESERT ISLANDER • May 11, 2026

Conservation leader and Bar Harbor area resident Karin Tilberg was awarded on Wednesday with the 2026 Espy Land Heritage Award, the state’s highest honor for lifetime achievement in land conservation. The award is given once a year at the Maine Land Conservation Conference to individuals and organizations whose innovative, forward-thinking leadership has strengthened land conservation across Maine. Part of the award includes a $5,000 honorarium that will be donated to nonprofits of Tilberg’s choice. Half of the money will go to the Allagash Wilderness Waterway Foundation to help fund its Youth on the Allagash and Wabanaki collaborative projects. The other half will go to the Brunswick‑Topsham Land Trust's Cathance River Education Alliance, which hosts a summer camp for children and collaborates with local schools to incorporate place-based learning.

Roadless Rule Repeal Would Harm New England’s Last Wild Places

NATURAL RESOURCES COUNCIL OF MAINE • May 11, 2026

6,000 acres in the White Mountain National Forest are Inventoried Roadless Areas, meaning they have been protected from road-building and harvesting activities since 2001 by the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. Unfortunately, those precious acres could soon be subject to road construction and subsequent extractive activity because of the Trump Administration’s latest attempt to hand over our public lands to corporations and billionaires for profit. Once a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) is released this spring, the following comment period will be the last chance for the public to voice their dissent against the termination of the Roadless Rule. The threat is not only to the stunning cloak of forest across the mountains of western Maine, taken in from the peaks of Maine’s parcel of the White Mountain National Forest. The health of tens of millions of acres of forest—and their surrounding ecosystems and watersheds—is at stake.

Maine has dozens of fishing waters where adults can’t fish

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 11, 2026

Maine also makes it easy to get the next generation of anglers started. Youngsters do not require a fishing license until age 16 and this year Saturday, May 30 and Sunday, May 31 are Free Fishing Weekend days, meaning resident and nonresident adults and teens age 16 and older can fish statewide without a fishing license. There is also a list of Special Opportunity Waters. There are 50 scattered throughout the state in each of the seven fishery regions, including 10 in the Sebago region, 11 in the Rangeley region and a dozen in the Penobscot region. These waters are specifically restricted to young anglers under age 16. Most are stocked with trout. ~ Al Raychard

Column: Let’s talk about those myths about turkeys

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 11, 2026

I’m still surprised to find people, even (or perhaps especially) within the hunting community who don’t like wild turkeys. Perhaps is because they tried hunting them and failed. Or maybe it’s because they hold onto long dispelled and out-dated myths. Maybe you tried to take on Old Tom and failed to fell a fowl. That’s no reason to dislike them. Think of it not as a disincentive but a motivation. They beat you once and they may do it again, but it the hunting game, they only get to lose once. ~ Bob Humphrey

Greenwood voters to weigh conservation proposal, zoning

Voters in Greenwood will head to the polls May 16 to vote of an amendment to the town of Greenwood Shoreland Zoning Ordinance. Article 23 asks voters to designate an 18-acre lot on West Paris Road — the “Finnish Picnic Grounds” parcel — as conservation land. If passed, the town will partner with Western Foothills Land Trust to maintain the property.

Brunswick nonprofit produce provider brings on first paid director

TIMES RECORD • May 11, 2026

In March, Cooper became the first paid executive director at Growing to Give, a nonprofit farm in Brunswick that provides produce to organizations that help people facing food insecurity. As Maine enters its growing season, Cooper said she’s excited to get into the workflow of the farm and help expand its reach even further.