Help Keep the News Coming

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

As the weather warms, Maine rescue workers emphasize hiker safety

This 1,500-mile running of the bees brings 21 million workers to Maine’s blueberry barrens

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • May 24, 2026

After spending the winter in Florida, millions of bees from Maya’s Apiary join the snowbirds journeying to Maine, to pollinate the state’s wild blueberry crop. Wild blueberries are the only crop in Maine that depend on non-resident honeybees. The state has native wild bees, which are perfectly capable of pollinating the low-bush berries as they have for millennia. But over the last 50 years, the state’s wild blueberry growers have increasingly relied on traveling honeybees working in tandem with the native pollinators for much higher yields. “In most fields, there are not enough background native bees to fully turn every one of those wild berry blossoms into a fruit, which, of course, is our producers’ goal,” said Eric Venturini, executive director of the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine. “A bee has to hit every one of those blossoms.”

As Spring arrives at Maine farmers markets, so do community connections

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 23, 2026

Farmers markets across southern Maine are now open on Saturdays. Other local markets include the Saco Farmers Market on Saturdays, the Cumberland Farmers Market on Saturdays, the Biddeford Farmers and Makers Market on Sundays, the South Portland Farmers Market on Sundays and many more. Shoppers said they find great produce, homemade products and community at local markets.

Column: There are steps you can take to prevent birds from striking windows

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 23, 2026

Glass, primarily in the form of windows, is a big issue for birds. The problems present in a couple of forms: birds colliding with glass at high speeds, often resulting in injury or death, and birds repeatedly attacking the reflection they see in windows. The “thud” of a bird hitting a window is happening more than a billion times annually in the United States. The Maine Audubon website has a “Homeowners Guide” that includes a section of do’s and don’ts, as well as a recommended products list with options for various applications, at maineaudubon.org/birdsafe. The most important thing to remember if you are treating your windows is to apply treatments to the outside surface. ~ Maine Audubon Staff Naturalist Doug Hitchcox

Voters approved funding to repair York’s Cliff Walk. What’s next?

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May x, 2026

York Harbor Beach’s half-mile Cliff Walk begins with a friendly welcome sign. It asks visitors to stay on the path, keep animals and litter off, and enjoy their visit. The scenic oceanside trail has been a pillar of York’s summers for decades. But the popular attraction has been closed since storms decimated it in January 2024. Now, with new funding approved by residents this month, the town is moving closer to finally beginning restorations.

Letter: I’m supporting Jordan Wood for our environment

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 23, 2026

I am a first-year student at Bates College, writing in support of Democratic candidate for Congress, Jordan Wood, who is running to represent Maine’s Second District. I am an environmental studies major. In particular, I’m deeply invested in Maine’s history, innovation, and protection of our water and marine life. That’s why I am voting for Jordan. He promises to fight to protect our land, water, and forests from corporate polluters, beginning with restoring and strengthening the Environmental Protection Agency from the cuts it has seen under the Trump administration, and to work alongside Maine lobstermen, fishermen and farmers to find solutions to protect their livelihoods and our beautiful state. Jordan also promises that he will fight to fully staff our national parks and to protect them from drilling and development. ~ Sophie Smith, Lewiston

5 places off the beaten path in Acadia to visit this summer

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 23, 2026

As Acadia National Park welcomes more visitors every year — the park recorded more than 4 million visits in 2025 — some locals and tourists prefer the park’s quieter, lesser known attractions, the spots that aren’t often advertised by tour guides and park rangers. There are still quite a few spots where locals and visitors can enjoy the park’s beauty without facing the summertime crowds.
• Schooner Head Road shore access
• Baker Island
• Airplane wreckage
• Schoodic Institute path
• Ravens Nest

Column: Something crazy happened during this spring’s bird migration in Maine

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 23, 2026

Food availability is the chief reason birds migrate. Maine hosts an abundance of insects in May, as you may have noticed, and the days are longer. Daylight length remains constant at the equator. At this time of year, there’s more daylight to feed hungry chicks in Maine than there is in Ecuador. Birds are anxious to reach their nesting destinations as quickly as possible so they can claim the best territory and woo a mate. Neotropical migrants arrive in spring and leave in autumn. That sounds simple. It’s anything but. There’s drama in the treetops for those who notice. ~ Bob Duchesne

How a fire at a Maine lumber mill went from bad to much worse

MIDCOAST VILLAGER • May 22, 2025

The firefight on May 15 at Robbins Lumber mill in Searsmont went from bad to worse when a five-story silo suddenly exploded, shooting up in the air before crashing down into a warehouse filled with some 5 million board feet of lumber, ready for delivery. A 27-year-old volunteer firefighter was found dead at the scene and 12 others were wounded, some seriously enough to be evacuated to burn units in Boston. Three members of the Robbins family, who have owned the mill for generations and are often upheld as model local business owners, were among those injured. Some people were burned so severely that they could not be immediately recognized. At least three firetrucks were destroyed. And one of Waldo County’s biggest employers and economic engines was taken offline indefinitely.

Maine buys second PFAS-contaminated farm

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 22, 2026

The state has bought a second farm poisoned by forever chemicals, acquiring a 45-acre property in Unity abandoned by its owners after they discovered their water, fields, produce, and even their blood were saturated by dangerous toxins. Adam Nordell and Johanna Davis grew organic vegetables at Songbird Farm for almost eight years before they learned a previous owner had spread sewage sludge-based fertilizer on the fields decades ago. At the time, the state encouraged it; no one knew it was dangerous. After going public five years ago, Songbird became the public face of Maine’s forever chemical crisis. The couple closed the farm and began looking for a way they could move their family off of the contaminated parcel and begin seeking medical treatment.

Bar Harbor can only enforce passenger limits for cruise ships in July and August, judge says

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 22, 2026

A federal judge ruled this month that Bar Harbor can only limit the number of passengers coming ashore from cruise ships in July and August. In other months, the town cannot enforce an ordinance that caps daily disembarkments at 1,000, the ruling said. Voters approved that rule as a referendum in 2022, and local businesses sued the town in response.

I’m outside every day. Here’s how I survive black fly season in Maine.

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 22, 2026

You can expect them to be out from mid-May to mid-June. If it’s warm, they can be out in early May. Don’t bother with anything DEET or a head net. Get a product with picaridin. Currently I’m toting Sawyer and Ranger Ready insect sprays. Good luck out there. ~ Susan Bard

On land and at sea, Maine food producers prepare for the season

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 22, 2026

It’s not just fruit and vegetable farmers who begin their work in earnest in the spring. Oyster farmers bring their cages to the surface. For goat farmers, it’s kidding season, and the cheeses produced during this time of year have a specific flavor that only comes from spring pastures. The season of regrowth means work for many food producers when the weather starts to warm.

Opinion: Maine is working to avoid a catastrophic spruce budworm outbreak

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 21, 2026

The last spruce budworm outbreak, from the late 1960s through the early 1990s, killed 20 to 25 million cords of spruce and fir across northern Maine and cost the state’s forest economy hundreds of millions of dollars. Salvage clearcutting reshaped the landscape and poisoned the politics of Maine forestry for a generation. The current budworm outbreak began in Quebec around 2006 and has since caused severe defoliation across more than 15 million acres of spruce-fir forest. Its leading edge has already crossed into Maine. But this time, Maine isn’t waiting for the hillsides to turn brown. In 2025, the Maine Budworm Response Coalition, a partnership of landowners, the Maine Forest Service, University of Maine scientists, and industry partners, treated 241,416 acres of forest with low-toxicity insecticides. Treated sites experienced roughly a 95% decline in budworm populations. The math is working, and the forests are holding. ~ Naresh Khanal, graduate student in natural resource economics, UMaine

Waterville teens are asking for dark skies. The city is listening.

CENTRAL MAINE • May 21, 2026

A group of high schoolers wants a clear view of the night sky, and it’s helping the City Council make that happen. The Waterville Youth Council is currently drafting an ordinance to regulate public lighting in Waterville to reduce light pollution and promote dark skies. Youth council co-chairs Penny Graham and Taylor Amuso said they picked light pollution as their issue because it’s a fixable problem. When lights are off, the pollution goes away. When cities design their lighting fixtures to keep the sky dark, they prevent the pollution. They also save money.

The sun might be shining, but Maine’s waters are still dangerously cold

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 21, 2026

Spring might have finally arrived in Maine, but inland and coastal waters are still dangerously frigid. On a single day in May, the state saw two paddling deaths, one a sea kayaker near Deer Isle and the other a paddleboarder on Graham Lake in Ellsworth. Lindsey Chasteen, a spokesperson for the state medical examiner’s office, said cold water could have been a factor. Officials said they believe neither person was wearing a life jacket. State officials and people who work in outdoor recreation said a warm day can give paddlers and swimmers a false sense of security. Michael Daugherty, a registered Maine guide, described “the 1-10-1 rule.” A capsized paddler has one minute to get control of their breathing, 10 minutes before losing the ability to perform basic functions such as a self rescue and one hour in the water before losing consciousness because of hypothermia. His own interpretation is even more stark. “You either get out of the water immediately,” he said. “Or your chances are grim.”

The secret weapon for combatting black flies

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 20, 2026

Jokingly referred to as the “Maine State Bird,” black flies are one aspect of the Maine outdoors that most people would prefer didn’t exist. The female black fly feeds on blood for the nutrients it needs to lay hundreds of eggs. Black flies also contribute to a healthy freshwater ecosystem, serving as food for a wide variety of larger animals, including Maine native brook trout. While black flies can’t be avoided entirely, there are many things you can do to lessen the number of times you’re bitten when spending time outdoors. In addition to wearing repellent, it can be helpful to wear a hat, which will prevent black flies from crawling into your hair and biting your scalp. Glasses or sunglasses will shield your eyes, which black flies tend to be drawn to. “We suggest people who are gardening put a hardhat on and smear it with baby oil,” said Jim Dill, a pest management specialist with UMaine Cooperative Extension. “Those [black flies] will get stuck in the baby oil.”

One Nation, Under Fraud: The Penobscot Remonstrance and the Fight for Sovereignty

JESUP MEMORIAL LIBRARY • May 20, 2026

MDI Historical Society, Abbe Museum, and Jesup Memorial Library will host a panel discussion offering a critical examination of Maine's historical and legal relationship with the Wabanaki Nations. Drawing on archival records—including the 1942 Maine Legislative Research Committee hearings—and landmark court decisions such as Murch v. Tomer and State v. Newell, the discussion reveals how law and policy were shaped to control, diminish, and deny Wabanaki sovereignty. At Jesup Memorial Library and on Zoom, Bar Harbor, Sept 10, 5 pm.

Letter: Maine voters should prioritize the environment

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 20, 2026

Maine has made great progress eliminating pollution and protecting the environment. The Maine Climate Council reports that our forests, farmland, grasslands and wetlands offset 91% of Maine’s carbon emissions. However, much remains to be done. Voters need to focus on candidates’ positions on the environment. The Trump administration’s support of fossil fuels, defunding of renewable energy and gutting agencies that conduct research and collect data needed to address the climate change we see all around us must be resisted. Only we the voters can do it. Ed Muskie must be rolling over in his grave. ~ David Griswold, Auburn