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
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 10, 2026
Coastal Mountains Land Trust has purchased a 55-acre parcel in Lincolnville, as part of a three-decade-long effort to protect habitat for endangered wild Atlantic Salmon. The parcel is “biologically quite important and quite active,” said Ian Stewart, executive director of the land trust. The land includes 1,580 feet of frontage on Kendall Brook, one of the Ducktrap River’s three main tributaries. The Ducktrap River is one of just eight rivers in the country, all in Maine, with a population of naturally spawning Atlantic salmon.
RANGELEY HIGHLANDER • April 10, 2026
The Farmington-based High Peaks Alliance has launched a six-part op-ed series focused on life, community and public access in Maine’s High Peaks region, beginning with a contribution from Kingfield resident Dan Rhodes. In the first installment, “Lessons of the Land and Access Today and Tomorrow,” Rhodes reflects on his family’s decision to settle in western Maine after years of moving, describing the region’s rivers, forests and mountains as central to their sense of home.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 9, 2026
The last area of Maine experiencing extreme drought conditions was downgraded Thursday, but the entire state remains under severe and moderate drought conditions. Meanwhile, the Maine Forest Service declared most of Maine was under a high wildfire risk on Thursday. Only the state’s northwest corner was considered at low fire risk.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 9, 2026
Gas above $4 a gallon. Price hikes for plane tickets and baggage fees. Global unrest. Federal government shutdowns. Tourism experts are watching those factors closely to understand how they might impact Maine this summer. It’s too early to say whether the high cost of travel will deter people during the state’s busiest season, they said. “Anytime prices go up, it can have an impact on how people make their decisions,” said Tony Cameron, CEO of the Maine Tourism Association, a nonprofit membership organization that also runs visitor information centers around the state. “But in some ways, it might actually work out in our favor.”
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 9, 2026
In 2022, the nonprofit Friends of Acadia set a goal to add 130 new bedrooms for seasonal workers at the national park over the course of 10 years. Next summer, new construction will add 56 rooms and bring the number completed to 122, five years into their plan. The project is funded with a combination of private and federal dollars.
MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • April 9, 2026
Richard Barringer, was a passionate champion for Maine's environment and the well-being of its citizens over a more than a 60-year career of public service. He and his colleagues reclaimed 600,000 acres from paper companies and established public reserved lands. He was appointed commissioner of the Department of Conservation in 1975. He served as Governor Brennan's state planning director from 1981 to 1986. After his government service, Mr. Barringer joined the University of Southern Maine as a research professor and graduate teacher in public policy, becoming the founding director of the Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service. In retirement, he joined with other stewards of the outdoors to establish the Allagash Wilderness Waterway Foundation in 2011. He consulted on the New England Clean Energy Connect project from 2019 to 2022. He also contributed to the development of Portland Harbor Commons, a new public park along the Portland waterfront at the bottom of India Street. (Item 5-44)
CENTRAL MAINE • April 9, 2026
The United States is in an era of “energy dominance” thanks to fossil fuels, according to President Trump. We are now the world’s largest oil producer. But Trump fails to add that we also are the world’s largest oil consumer and that our prices are tied to global markets. Today, we have the technology to substitute efficiency for conservation. We can do more with less. But Trump is gutting auto efficiency standards and electric vehicle incentives, because using more gasoline will somehow make us stronger and more dominant. If we are still so dependent on oil that Iran can choke off the flow and hamstring the global economy, aren’t the terrorists winning? Cheap oil is a mirage and not a right, and as long as we remain so heavily addicted, the terrorists have won. ~ Tux Turkel
SUN JOURNAL • April 9, 2026
The Optimist Clubs of Maine ask you to join them in picking up roadside trash any time from Earth Day, Wednesday. April 22, through Sunday, April 26. All you have to do to participate is commit to spending at least one hour picking up trash in your neighborhood. By volunteering to help, you could win a restaurant coupon for a meal from a local participating restaurant. Get your family, friends, schoolmates or neighbors to help you, then contact any Optimist Club member, email gwmathews91@gmail.com, or call 783 5269 for more information, to start an Earth Day Cleanup in your community, or to register to win a restaurant gift certificate.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 9, 2026
A developer who explored building a hyperscale data center in southern Aroostook County scrapped the project because of inadequate infrastructure and a temporary ban on the facilities that is advancing through the Maine Legislature. The data center, which has not been previously reported, was proposed for the Houlton area within the last year and was envisioned to use 50-200 megawatts. Data centers have drawn criticism for straining power grids and fresh water supply. A data center that could scale up to 50 megawatts is in the works in a warehouse on the former Loring Air Force Base in Limestone. Other proposals in Lewiston, Wiscasset and Jay have been killed or halted because of backlash from residents or legislative initiatives.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 8, 2026
The city of Biddeford is appealing to Maine’s highest court as it challenges a permit that would allow the University of New England to build a controversial research pier on the Saco River. The appeal to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, which the city announced Wednesday, comes weeks after a York County Superior Court justice dismissed the city’s complaint for review. The city alleges that the 2024 decision ignored a long-standing 250-foot vegetative buffer zone on the Saco River. The city also recently denied UNE’s permit applications to cut down trees near the proposed pier site and for a proposed renovation of Decary Hall.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 8, 2026
At the Tremont annual town meeting on May 11, voters will have a historic opportunity to allow regulated deer hunting. If approved, it would reverse Mount Desert Island’s 100-year history of no deer hunting. Last year at this time, a Down East lawmaker sponsored a bill that would have opened all of Mount Desert Island to regulated deer hunting. That bill, unfortunately, never made it out of legislative committee. These deer hunting initiatives on the island have been driven by high deer densities, which have led to more deer-vehicle crashes and growing concern among residents about Lyme disease. Even ardent anti-hunters can have a change of heart when their personal lives and property are affected by deer overpopulation. If passed, the Tremont proposal would allow hunting by archery and shotgun only.
WABI-TV5 • April 8, 2026
The Maine Warden Service held its annual awards ceremony recognizing game wardens for exceptional performance in 2025. Retired Col.
• 2025 Game Warden Of The Year – Game Warden Sergeant Chad Robertson
• 2025 Game Warden Supervisor Of The Year – Game Warden Sergeant Kyle Hladik
• Legendary Game Warden Of The Year – Herbert “Bill” Vernon
• 2025 Special Recognition Award – Game Warden Corporal Chris Dyer
• K9 Search and Rescue Case of the Year – Game Warden Jake Voter
• 2025 Conservation K9 Case of the Year Award – Game Warden Kayle Hamilton
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 8, 2026
Portland Parks Conservancy and city officials will break ground Friday on a 3.5-acre park that they hope will be the first phase of a broader effort to turn the eastern waterfront into public greenspace extending from the Maine State Pier to the new Portland Foreside development. Now known as Portland Harbor Common, the park at the corner of Commercial and India streets will be built on the former queuing lines for the now-defunct Nova Scotia ferry. After more than five years of planning and fundraising, the parking lot at the site will transform into a network of walking and biking trails, with trees, native plantings, lawn areas, space for events or food trucks, lighting, and more.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 8, 2026
A women-led grassroots effort to preserve one of Maine’s most iconic landscapes is gaining momentum in Searsport, where the Wild Blueberry Collective has taken steps toward purchasing 158 acres of blueberry barrens with the goal of returning the land to the community. Formed out of friendship and a shared sense of purpose, the Wild Blueberry Collective began in 2021 when Gloria Pearse and Crystal Vaccaro realized they were not alone in their desire to “do something good for the world.” What followed was the assembling of a small but determined group of eight women, many with professional backgrounds in fields ranging from horticulture to education, united by a commitment to land stewardship, community access and cultural preservation. The group has since evolved into a nonprofit organization focused on protecting wild blueberry barrens, a landscape that is rapidly disappearing across Maine.
MAINE PUBLIC • April 7, 2026
Border crossings into Maine continue to fall, as government statistics show Canadian tourists are shifting their travel away from the U.S. In Maine, there was a 17% year-over-year drop in the number of people crossing the border through the first two months of 2026, continuing a downward trend that began at the start of President Donald Trump's amid fallout from tariffs, immigration crackdowns, and Trump's comments about making Canada the 51st state.
FRIENDS OF CASCO BAY • April 8, 2026
Over the past several months, students have stepped outside the studio to experience the Bay by participating in a shoreline cleanup, visiting Little Diamond Island, and learning about the dirty history of Casco Bay with our staff. Along the way, they’ve explored the science, stories, and environmental challenges affecting our coastal waters, from pollution and climate change to habitat health. This exhibit showcases how those experiences took shape in their creative work—offering fresh perspectives on the waters that define our region and inviting viewers to see Casco Bay through a new lens. April 8, 2026, 5:30-6:30 p.m., at Maine College of Art & Design, Congress Street Lobby, 522 Congress Street, Portland, Maine, free
MAINE MORNING STAR • April 8, 2026
The emerald ash borer, an invasive species of beetle, is creeping across Maine, bringing the possibility of near-total extinction for the state’s ash species, and a potentially devastating loss to what Richard Silliboy, a member of the Mi’kmaq tribe and a master basketmaker, calls “the oldest art in the Northeast.” But so far, a majority of Maine’s trees are alive and healthy, and tribe members, scientists and government officials are trying to keep it that way. Basketmakers favor brown ash because of the way its rings grow, without fibers connecting them. When a log is pounded with a mallet or axe the rings split easily and can be shaved thinner and cut into strips for weaving. A 2023 study predicted that 95 percent of Maine’s ash trees will be dead by 2040. Combining forestry science with native knowledge is at the heart of the “all-hands-on-deck” approach to protection and restoration.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 8, 2026
This March, Ahold Delhaize, owner of Hannaford and four other grocery chains in the U.S., committed to switching to 100% cage-free eggs by 2032 in all its stores. The company has clearly laid out a path to get there and agreed to show its progress along the way. This is groundbreaking. For hens, the difference is real. In cage systems, birds are kept in spaces so small they can’t spread their wings. Cage-free systems give hens more room to move and live more naturally. Maine is not one of the 11 tates have banned raising hens in battery cages. But Mainers don’t need to go vegan today to make a difference. A good start would be to purchase cage-free eggs and help Hannaford go cage-free by 2032. ~ Beth Gallie, Maine Animal Coalition, South Portland
CENTRAL MAINE • April 8, 2026
Warming temperatures means birds will be looking for places to nest, lay eggs, and raise their young. Some of the places they choose may not be good, for birds or humans. So what can you do? In Maine it is illegal to take, possess, or needlessly destroy the nest or eggs of a wild bird, except for a handful of birds that are considered nonnative species. The federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 prohibits moving or destroying a nest with eggs or chicks in it without a federal permit. Further, adult birds will usually abandon a nest, and the eggs or babies in it, if it’s moved even a short distance. A strip of aluminum foil tacked up nearby usually dissuades birds from persisting in a spot. Make another part of your property more desirable to the birds. If prevention doesn’t work and birds have moved in, have patience with your new feathered friends, and try to enjoy watching the birds grow up. They won’t be there long, usually only two or three weeks. North America has lost nearly three billion breeding birds since 1970, which is roughly one out of every four birds.
