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
SUN JOURNAL • January 28, 2026
Disposable food packaging imposes a significant cost burden on Bath food service providers. Our research team surveyed 12 Bath restaurants and found that they reported using, on average, 5,798 disposables per month and spending over $736 per month on disposable food packaging. Bath restaurants also spent an average of 101 labor hours and $245 per month on waste management. Small businesses can save an average of $3,000 to $22,000 annually by transitioning some disposables to reusables. Reusable items can also reduce municipal costs and directly address local waste issues. Communities across the U.S. and the globe have already successfully implemented reusable food packaging systems, showing that collective effort can lead to meaningful change. ~ Catherine Segada, graduate research assistant and Bath community liaison with the NOAA/Sea Grant Marine Debris Challenge Project
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 27, 2026
Climate change has already cost Bath taxpayers millions of dollars. Enough is enough, said Bath City Councilor Jean Guzzetti. She was the lead speaker at a rally Tuesday at the Maine State Capitol on behalf of a proposed bill that would make big polluters, like Mobil or Shell, help fund Maine’s climate-related infrastructure projects. “It’s time for polluters to pay because we have already paid,” said Guzzetti. About 100 people attended the Make Polluters Pay Day of Action. The state has spent $60 million in the 2024-25 supplemental budget for storm relief and spent $39 million last year to fund a storm preparedness bill passed in the wake of back-to-back-to-back winter storms that caused an estimated $90 million in infrastructure damage. The bill has lingered in legislative committee since last spring while lawmakers waited to see how other states defended their climate superfund bills.
MAINE PUBLIC • January 26, 2026
Union leadership says rail company CSX Transportation is laying off 21 workers across several crafts at its mechanical repair facility in Waterville. CSX is one of the largest rail-transport companies in the country and brought in $14.09 billion in revenue during FY2025. It operates approximately 20,000 miles of track in states east of the Mississippi River. The move comes three years after CSX purchased Pan Am Railways, extending its reach into Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. “This is about pure greed,” said Josh Hartford, of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers President, Rail Division. "Workers will have to either uproot their families to New York or Maryland to finish out their last few months of employment or take the severance package and take a 30% pension penalty,"
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 26, 2026
The 21st annual Long Lake Ice Fishing Derby has officially wrapped and, in spite of subzero temperatures, anglers caught plenty of fish over the weekend. The derby is the largest of its kind in the state, and this weekend saw more than 1,800 registered anglers attend. Winners in the adult category are David Lizotte for the biggest salmon, weighing in at 4 pounds, 11.3 ounces, and measuring 22.75 inches long. Jonathan Keller caught the biggest togue, weighing in at 9 pounds, .07 ounces, and was 31.25 inches long.
MAINE SPORTSMAN • February 2026
Due to the efforts of a small but dedicated group of Atlantic salmon advocates, anglers may soon be able to fish for 10-15 lb. “silver leapers” ion the Aroostook River.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 26, 2026
If you break it, you fix it. The climate has been broken, and large fossil fuel companies have been breaking it knowingly for decades. The Maine State Legislature is considering LD 1870 that will require the largest culprits causing climate change-related damage in Maine to pay for repairs and/or adaptations to protect against future damage. This bill is not asking fossil fuel industries to fix the climate system after breaking it, only to clean up the mess their breaking has caused, and to fund protections against further damage. Without LD 1870, those costs will fall to Maine taxpayers. Jan. 27 is Make Polluters Pay Day of Action at the State House. All those concerned about Maine’s growing climate-related damage and about climate justice are urged to attend. ~ Richard Peterson, Ph.D., emeritus professor of environmental studies, University of New England
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 26, 2026
State regulators will be using an outdated rule to review a plan to close a heavily contaminated compost plant in central Maine, worrying environmentalists that the area and its surroundings will not be adequately cleaned up. The rule, which was last updated in 2018, requires removal of compost and wastes and reducing soil contamination. It does not cover the cleanup of wetlands and ecosystems near Hawk Ridge Compost Facility in Unity Township that state tests have shown are contaminated with high levels of forever chemicals. State tests also showed that high PFAS levels were detected at least eight miles downstream of Hawk Ridge.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 25, 2026
Once again, we see an initiative to reduce food waste in public schools (“Taking a bite out of food waste,” Maine Sunday Telegram, Jan. 18). In my files, I have a response referencing an editorial from 2016 — 10 years ago. It is discouraging that food waste in our schools continues to be an issue. Ten years should be significant time for programs to be implemented and seamlessly working. As a long-time former Maine public school employee (retired in 2019), I witnessed the insidious amount of food being dumped in our schools. My efforts to initiate changes were not supported to any great degree. I hope that this latest effort will, at long last, catch on — to the point of it being unacceptable to waste food. ~ Lucy Webb Hardy, Wells
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 24, 2026
Covering nearly 75,000 acres, Moosehead Lake is the largest lake in Maine, and the largest lake completely within the boundaries of New England. For people like me who struggle to visualize acres, it’s roughly 40 miles long by 10 miles wide. This sprawling body of water, home to more than 80 islands, draws recreationists year round. As do the surrounding mountains. The area is a particularly special place to visit in the winter.
CENTRAL MAINE • January 25, 2026
The 216-acre Quarry Road Trails are located across the Kennebec River, close to Interstate 95 and Colby College in Waterville. The recreation area offers all sorts of activities, including Nordic (cross country) and alpine (downhill) skiing, as well as snowshoeing, sledding, running, walking, rock-climbing — and canoeing and kayaking on the adjacent Messalonskee Stream. Quarry Road Trails was recently awarded a $249,000 grant from the Maine Trails Program. It is a testament to Waterville’s commitment to community betterment and quality of place. Quarry Road draws about 100,000 visitors a year. They contribute about $2.8 million annually into the region.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 24, 2026
Acadia National Park saw its busiest year on record in 2025, according to statistics released by the National Park Service this month. The park recorded more than 4 million visits last year. The surge in park visitors has helped strengthen Bar Harbor’s booming tourism industry but has also required park and town officials to cope with crowds.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 24, 2026
I’ve seen a lot of evening grosbeaks in my life, but my latest sighting was a doozy. On a coastal road near Passamaquoddy Bay, there was a tree with so many birds in the branches, no more could fit. It was standing room only. The adjacent tree was equally full. Just down the road, a third tree had barely enough room to squeeze in a few more. It’s been 60 years since I’ve seen so many evening grosbeaks gathered in one place. It was a commonplace sight in my boyhood. Then they mostly disappeared from our state. What happened? I’m inclined to believe that they followed successive outbreaks of spruce budworm across Canada. ~ Bob Duchesne
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 24, 2026
It sounds absurd, but it’s shockingly common: Many people all across the country do not know that Maine is a part of the United States and not, in fact, a part of Canada. It’s also not a made up fantasyland, as some TikTokers have suggested. Although if we wanted to stop too many people from coming here, it might not be a bad strategy to promote the idea that Maine, like Middle-earth and Westeros, isn’t actually a real place. To be fair, thinking Maine is a part of Canada isn’t entirely out of left field. We’re way up in the upper right corner of the map. Maine shares not just a long border with both Quebec and New Brunswick, but also many cultural touchstones, in food, music, language and more.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 24, 2026
The Readfield Trails Committee was established in 2006. Its members devote from 150 to 300 hours annually to working on the more than 10 miles of trails in town, in collaboration with the Readfield Conservation Commission. The latter is responsible for the Readfield Town Forest and the Torsey Lake/Echo Lake trails, while the Trails Committee takes care of the rest of the 10-mile total. In addition, the Kennebec Land Trust has 10 miles of trails in town, bringing the tally to some 20 miles overall, not only for hiking, but for skiing and snowshoeing as well. ~ Carey Kish
MAINE PUBLIC • January 24, 2026
The Seven Lakes Alliance and the North Pond Association in the Belgrade Lakes region have received a $2.35 million grant from the Department of the Interior to fight algal blooms in North Pond. North Pond is one of seven lakes in the interconnected Belgrade Lakes chain. This will be the second lake in the region the alliance will treat for algal blooms, which have plagued lakes in the area for several years.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 24, 2026
One year after the grand opening of a cold-storage warehouse on Portland’s waterfront, it’s clear the project — promoted aggressively by city officials and by contributions to this opinion section — was misguided. Portland’s last significant parcel of land zoned for the working waterfront — six state-owned acres — is now home to a storage facility that lies mostly empty. The only frozen product featured in a promotional video for this waterfront warehouse? Ice cream. All the empty pallet racks would have come as no surprise if city and state staffers had focused on thoughtful research and dialogue with industry leaders. ~ S. Mark McCain, Portland
MAINE MONITOR • January 23, 2026
A combination of deep freezes and control measures have knocked back some prominent Maine forest pests and diseases over the past couple of years, providing relief to Maine trees after years of growing infestations. But state officials warn that this trend may not continue as new outbreaks spread, winters warm from climate change and drought conditions hamper tree defenses. “Everything we do is impacted by these climate conditions, so drought doesn’t help anything in the forest health world,” said Mike Parisio, entomologist for the Maine Forest Service.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 23, 2026
Maine faces a quiet economic depression. Rural areas, especially in the north, have seen stagnant per-capita GDP since the early 2000s, while Portland surges ahead. Job growth lags the national average, wages struggle against rising costs for housing, energy, and healthcare, and rural depopulation continues. Overall job growth is predicted to remain under 1% annually. Corporate incentives haven’t fixed the urban-rural divide, they’ve widened it. The fix doesn’t require flashy industries or soul-crushing development. Maine’s strongest asset is its 6,000-plus miles of interconnected ATV trails — one of the East Coast’s largest networks. This isn’t just recreation; it’s a proven economic engine. ~ Mandy Parker, Danforth
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 23, 2026
The Rockland woman who captured the world’s imagination as Maine’s lobstering centenarian died Wednesday, having become a beloved symbol of active aging and Maine’s maritime grit after fishing until she was 102. Virginia “Lobster Lady” Oliver died at Pen Bay Hospital in Rockport at the age of 105, according to Wayne Gray of Rockland, a family friend who made Oliver famous after creating a short film about her for the Rockland Historical Society in 2019.
