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
CENTRAL MAINE • December 22, 2025
To protect Maine people and our environment, state regulators need to push back on Central Maine Power’s massive electricity rate increase and flawed mitigation plan for its transmission corridor. CMP wants to collect an additional $1.4 billion from Maine ratepayers The Public Utilities Commission denied CMP’s rate plan. But CMP will return. Also, CMP had years to develop a required conservation plan but came back with a junker — 50,000 acres of some of the most heavily harvested forestland in Maine, with almost no mature trees and little protection for the few remaining older trees still standing. CMP told regulators to wait 40 years for tall trees to return. Despite the flaws, DEP approved it and wrote that future regulators should ignore the precedent. We should not be hit by electricity price hikes tied to CMP’s profit-seeking, nor should we be left holding the short end of the stick, literally, with a lousy NECEC mitigation plan. ~ Tony Owens, Cape Elizabeth, and Lois Winter, Portland
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • December 22, 2025
Acadia National Park has weathered periods of disruption in past years, but 2025 will stand out. Acadia’s number of staffed positions was slashed this year by President Trump’s administration, and it experienced its longest-ever federal government shutdown in its 109-year history. And, by the end of this month, Acadia is expected to set a new record in annual visitation of roughly 4.08 million visits for the year. As tourists show up in bigger numbers, and as the park’s staff face layoff threats amid federal wrangling over their budget, it feeds into concerns about whether ever-increasing tourism might be more than the park or surrounding communities can bear. “We need the park to be fully funded and staffed to make sure visitors have a positive experience,” said Perrin Doniger, of Friends of Acadia.
MAINE MONITOR • December 21, 2025
Christine Callahan and her husband, John Callahan, hoped that a heat pump for their home in Waterville would reduce their heating costs, but the equipment turned out to be faulty. “We were freezing,” Christine Callahan said. “The pipes froze from the inside. That’s how cold it was.” The breakdown between the Callahans and their contractor prompted rare intervention on Efficiency Maine’s part. A second heat pump wasn’t perfect: Around New Year’s, it started shutting off after only a few hours of use, Christine Callahan said. The system’s air filter was clogged but it was replaced. Efficiency Maine made changes to restrict which houses are eligible for the mobile home rebate program based on their type of heating system. Efficiency Maine Executive Director Michael Stoddard said the agency can’t monitor every interaction between customer and contractor, but it can step in when needed.
MAINE PUBLIC • December 20, 2025
A coalition of environmental groups is challenging a conservation plan proposed by Central Maine Power as part of its permit to develop a new electric transmission line through western Maine. The groups filed an appeal with Maine's Board of Environmental Protection asking regulators to require CMP to protect more mature forest habitat. "The transmission line has already caused harm by fragmenting mature forest habitat," said Natural Resources Council of Maine woods, waters and wildlife director Luke Frankel. "We're calling on the BEP to ensure that CMP's conservation plan complies with the requirements in the permit." NRCM was joined in the appeal by Maine Audubon, Appalachian Mountain Club and Trout Unlimited. CMP was required to set aside 50,000 acres of forest in exchange for building the new transmission line to connect Quebec hydropower to the New England electric grid.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • December 20, 2025
The 126th annual Christmas Bird Counts got underway on Dec. 14, with teams of birders attempting to count all the birds within a predetermined circle in a day. There are hundreds of these circles, a few dozen of which are just in Maine. The count runs through Jan. 5, and different counts are run on different days. Only about half of the counts in Maine have taken place, but we are getting some preliminary numbers that give us insights around what is happening with our birds this winter. We were expecting this to be a good year for many irruptive species, like redpoll, pine grosbeak, and snowy owls that come south (to Maine) from the boreal forest. However, that excitement seems to have fizzled. Another noteworthy observation is the lack of gulls around Portland. One important takeaway is the importance of community science projects in monitoring all birds. ~ Maine Audubon Staff Naturalist Doug Hitchcox
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • December 20, 2025
I am writing to express my deep concern and strong disapproval of the Portland Planning Board’s decision to approve the Old Port Square tower proposal. This project represents a fundamental misalignment with the values, character and needs of Portland and its residents. First and foremost, approving a 30-story tower in the heart of the Old Port is profoundly disrespectful to the historic identity of this city. The attempt to frame the tower’s design as a “lighthouse beacon” that honors Maine’s heritage is disingenuous and, frankly, insulting. Growth can and should happen, but not at the cost of erasing the character and community that make Portland a place worth investing in. ~ Jenna Valente, Cumberland
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • December 20, 2025
“The state bird shall be the chickadee.” There it is, written directly into Maine law: Title 1, Chapter 9, Section 209. It’s been our official state bird for 98 years. The recognition is fitting. Chickadees are inherently cordial, industrious and useful. They watch out for their neighbors. They’re backyard birds, both at home and up at camp. Chickadees are quick to assess danger and often decide humans aren’t very threatening. While mourning doves and blue jays scatter the moment someone steps into view, chickadees remain at the feeder going about their business. They may scold, and more than once I’ve found myself asking them, “Why are you mad at me?” ~ Bob Duchesne
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • December 20, 2025
Community members have been clear over the past three years that they don’t want anyone to live on contaminated soil next to 13 oil tanks in a flood zone on a peninsula that dead-ends on one already congested. Why is that so difficult to understand? This is a safety issue, a human rights concern and an environmental justice alarm, not a vendetta against affordable housing. Yet the Comprehensive Plan Committee has designated the eastern waterfront (Bug Light) as a unique high-growth area. The best use of the Shipyard District is to be protected as a national monument or a state park.~ Barbara Dee, South Portland
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • December 19, 2025
Maine is hoping Europeans will once again find a place for its lobster on their Christmas tables to offset dismal sales, with the value of year-over-year exports to the European Union down about 42% through September. Dealers blame the lackluster sales on a combination of factors: a declining catch, the rising price of getting the lobster to market and international trade volatility. In 2017, the first year the U.S. lobster industry was hobbled by the Canadian trade differential, 19% of Maine’s Christmas exports went to Europe; last December, without that tariff handicap, 62% went to Europe.
MAINE PUBLIC • December 19, 2025
Maine Calling teams up with our colleagues at Maine Public Classical to discuss their holiday special “Night Lights,” which celebrates the magic of light in the wintertime. From the winter solstice to the stars in Maine’s dark skies, festive holiday lights and more, we reflect on this unique time of year. And we’ll hear some of the music and stories that will be part of Night Lights, which will air several times from December 23 to 25. Panelists: Sarah Tuttle, host and producer, Maine Public Classical; Jessica Miller, host, Weekend Edition; radio operations announcer, Maine Public; Aleksandar M. Diamond-Stanic, associate professor of physics; chair of physics and astronomy, Bates College. VIP Callers: John Meader, astronomy educator; co-founder, Dark Sky Maine; owner, Northern Stars Planetarium; photographer; Pandora LaCasse, sculptural artist who creates the holiday light installations in Portland.
MAINE PUBLIC • December 19, 2025
The latest report from the U.S. Drought monitor shows that 100% of the state is still in moderate, severe or extreme drought conditions. At the final Maine Drought Task Force meeting of the year on Friday, state officials, stakeholders and researchers reported mixed updates. Even if Maine gets a lot of snow this winter, officials say an above average snowpack still won't move the needle. "Wintertime rains aren't always beneficial for groundwater conditions, especially because we can't guarantee that that water is going to make its way down into the aquifer if the ground's frozen," said Nick Stasulis of the U.S. Geological Survey.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • December 19, 2025
Brian Fogg was on his way to work Tuesday when he spotted a deer struggling to cross a frozen tributary of the Passagassawakeag River off Head of the Tide Road in Belfast. The deer kept trying to get up, but fell through each time. “Then it got to the point where it was exhausted,” Fogg said. Fogg walked up to the doe, which was so tired it didn’t seem to mind his presence. He broke the ice with his boots until the water reached his waist, then shed some layers so he wouldn’t get soaked. Fogg, a hunter, always tries to help wildlife he sees in need, but he would not recommend others take the same approach. He said people can sometimes do more harm than good.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • December 19, 2025
A legacy Presque Isle lumberyard is back on the market three months after it sold at a foreclosure auction. The former Rathbun Lumber Co. was listed for $499,000 through RE/MAX County in late November. It was purchased by Glendon Braley and Green Meadow Farms Inc. of Mapleton at auction in September for $250,000, documents filed in the Southern Aroostook Registry of Deeds show and a Green Meadow employee confirmed Thursday. The lumberyard was run by the Rathbun family at 43 State St. from 1948 until 2016, when owner Alden Rathbun sold it to longtime employee James Mclaughlin. It last sold for $275,000.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • December 18, 2025
Since moving from North Carolina to Maine, I’ve learned — sometimes the hard way — that things just happen here. The weather shifts fast. The dirt road is suddenly closed. The old bridge can’t be crossed. A bike tire goes flat. And staying warm takes more energy than expected. Each lesson has added something new to my backpack. It now comes with me every time I head into the woods or onto a back road, and it’s fuller than ever with extra layers of clothes, a compass and maps, a hand-held GPS, safety items, a multi-tool, paracord and even a Ziploc of Vaseline-covered cotton balls for fire-starting thanks to a local guide’s tip. and snacks.
WHEN IN YOUR STATE • December 18, 2025
At its peak, New England had an estimated 240,000 miles of stone walls. They were built by families who cleared the land, fought a revolution, chased a wool boom, and then walked away. The walls they left behind tell a story. The Laurentide Ice Sheet was the principal glacier covering North America during the last Ice Age. Between about 30,000 and 15,000 years ago, the ice scraped across New England. It stripped away the ancient soils, scouring the land down to its bedrock, lifting up billions of stone slabs and scattering them across the region. When the ice melted, it left behind a rocky mess that would take thousands of years to bury. When Europeans first arrived in New England, the land was densely forested and covered with a thick layer of topsoil and humus. By the mid-1800s, 75 percent of New England was clear cut. Without the natural vegetation to hold and replenish the topsoil, the soil eroded and eventually exposed the more stoney glacial soils below. The rocks that glaciers had buried thousands of years earlier were back at the surface, and farmers had to deal with them.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • December 18, 2025
Outdated federal permitting laws are slowing projects that could help lower energy prices, strengthen our grid and create new jobs. The process for building essential infrastructure has become unpredictable, overly litigious and far too slow. Maine has felt the consequences more than most. Access to affordable energy, including ever-cleaner natural gas, is often blocked not because of feasibility or environmental concerns, but by outdated and weaponized federal permitting. One example is the lack of certainty under the Clean Water Act, which has been used by activist groups to block pipelines based on political goals unrelated to water quality. By embracing sensible federal reform, we can unlock our state’s full potential, strengthen our grid and create jobs that benefit communities. ~ John Nutting, Leeds, served in the Maine House of Representatives (1986-92) and Maine State Senate (1996-2002, 2004-2010)
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • December 17, 2025
Have seal conservation measures worked too well? In her book, “A Year with the Seals,“ Alix Morris is admirably even-handed as she explores and reports on her findings. The controversy over seals is not one “just of human-wildlife conflict, but of human-human conflict.” Morris is probably right when she predicts that conflicts between our species and the rest of the world are likely to get worse, not better. Investigations like hers will be essential in order “to take the time to identify and address the deeper issues at the heart of them.” ~ Thomas Urquhart
MAINE MORNING STAR • December 17, 2025
David Stevenson saw himself as an outlier at the Heartland Institute’s 2023 International Conference on Climate Change. He leaned over during one session to tell me, cheekily, that he might be the “only person here who believes in climate change.” And yet, despite that belief, Stevenson has dedicated the better part of a decade to obstructing a source of clean energy that can help replace the fossil fuels that are baking the planet. In fact, that’s why he was at the Heartland Institute’s conference: to rail against offshore wind farms. The following day, Stevenson laid out his case. It’s too expensive, he argued, and the United States was not effectively assessing its environmental impact. He suggested a plan to get the public to care about this issue: putting whales front and center.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • December 17, 2025
Samuel Dunning, a Brunswick native, stars in the new comedy/science fiction film "Tim Travers and the Time Traveler's Paradox." Now, he is working on promoting his directorial debut, “Canoe Dig It?” — a Maine-set mockumentary about a freestyle canoeing competition at Moosehead Lake that he also wrote and starred in.
