The most comprehensive online source of conservation news and events in Maine and beyond, edited by Jym St. Pierre
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Sincerely,
Jym St. Pierre
Editor, Maine Environmental News
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 4, 2026
The Maine island town of Isle au Haut is set to facilitate the sale of a small peripheral islet that has sat unused for years with a buyer already lined up. Officials have been looking to offload Moxie Island, a tiny treed-in outcropping near the town’s ferry pier. Moxie was formerly owned by the Isle au Haut Lobsterman’s Association. Following tax liens in 2018 and 2020, the 0.37-acre island and a building were taken by the town. The previous owners are looking to reform the Association with the aim of paying off the back taxes, repossessing the island and selling to a local fisherman who has expressed interest, Selectman Mike Fedosh said. He did not name the potential budget nor knew a price. Fedosh said the new buyer plans to use the island as a fishing support pier. More than a third of the town’s 73 year-round residents make their living lobstering. The rest work in construction and retail, largely serving tourists visiting the lesser-known patch of Acadia National Park.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 4, 2026
Plans to revitalize Acadian Village are on track after a fundraising goal of $60,000 set earlier this year brought in $75,800 in donations. The 17-building complex with homes that date back to the 1700s is also gearing up to celebrate its 50th anniversary this summer, from June 12 to 14. Van Buren’s Acadian Village is the second largest of its kind in the United States, behind one in Lafayette, Louisiana. It is also on the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places. Madawaska has also surpassed expectations by raising close to a quarter million to help with park renovations. The donations will help with upkeep costs of the historic buildings and also fund additions to the site to make it more interactive and to encourage guests to keep coming back. A French teacher who also works as a guide at the Acadian Village is building a curriculum that will allow teachers to bring a class to the site and go from building to building with tablets and learn about the history of each structure.
PISCATAQUIS OBSERVER • April 3, 2026
Piscataquis County Soil and Water Conservation District is gearing up to present two Mushroom Log Inoculation Workshops, one on April 25 at Two Knights Brewery, Sangerville and a second on May 2 at the Railyard Brewery in Milo. Participants will learn how to properly and successfully inoculate logs to grow mushrooms.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 3 2026
The numbers on gas station signs across the state are approaching a threshold Mainers hoped they’d never cross again. With regular gasoline now nudging $4 a gallon and diesel surging toward $6, the pain is no longer confined to the pumps. From the lobsterman in Stonington to the logger in the North Woods, the rising cost of crude — fueled by the ongoing war in Iran — is triggering a ripple effect that touches every corner of the Maine economy. When the cost of a mile goes up, so does the cost of a gallon of milk, the wood used to build our homes and the bait used to catch Maine lobster.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 3, 2026
Maine trappers and other small business owners are losing a key online marketplace after Etsy updated its policy to ban the sale of most fur products. The change, announced Thursday, prohibits products “made from or containing the fur of animals killed primarily for their pelts.” The ban takes effect Aug. 11. The decision follows a protest campaign by the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade, which organized demonstrations targeting Etsy and its affiliates. “This is going to impact a lot of people,” Joshua Dostie wrote in a post on the Maine Fur Trappers Facebook page. “Most are small-scale operations … that have depended on platforms like Etsy to connect with customers.” Maine has about 4,200 licensed trappers, with roughly half actively trapping each year.
MAINE PUBLIC TV • April 3, 2026
Join host Aislinn Sarnacki as she takes you on a fun adventure through Maine’s winter wonderland. Explore the quirky fishing villages along the rivers of the mid-coast area, run a unique marathon in Millinocket, and learn about a collaborative effort to save an endangered rabbit species. And, new this season, a hike; this week, breathtaking views from the top of Great Pond Mountain in Orland.
MAINE MORNING STAR • April 3, 2026
President Donald Trump’s administration listed fewer vulnerable species for protection than any other presidential administration since Congress passed the Endangered Species Act. So far in his second term, zero new species have made the list. A backlog of roughly 400 species await a federal listing decision. “It’s consistent with what other Republican administrations have done, but this administration has just gone so much further in dismantling protections for endangered species,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 3, 2026
Social media posts from the past couple years talk of bunnies in Portland, eliciting speculation — and misinformation — about why they seem to be all over the city all of a sudden. Although most people are tickled to see the buck-toothed balls of fluff that we associate with spring (and Easter, specifically), the truth is that those spotted around Portland are invasive, non-native eastern cottontails. Not only do they nibble on gardens, they pose a threat to the nearly identical New England cottontail, whose endangered population conservationists have been working to restore. The non-native eastern cottontails have the edge in survivability. Over time, they’ll overtake the native New England cottontail population. ~ Leslie Bridgers
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 3, 2026
Maine’s bottle bill has kept billions of containers out of landfills and waterways and built a robust
redemption infrastructure across the state. But this program doesn’t run on good intentions alone. It’s very expensive to collect and process 850 million containers each year (more than $70 million). For decades, the bottle bill has remained viable largely because unredeemed deposits help offset this significant cost. LD 2141, which recently received majority approval in the Environment and Natural Resources Committee, proposes to take those unredeemed deposits away from the container redemption system. This is a fundamental restructuring that would shift millions of dollars in costs directly onto local beverage businesses — breweries, family-owned distributors and the very companies that have been keeping the bottle bill functioning for almost 50 years. ~ Jenn Lever, Baxter Brewing Company in Lewiston, Chris Black, Nappi Distributors in Gorham, and Kyle Boland, Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast in South Portland
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 3, 2026
No one has done more for Maine’s rivers and lakes since Sen. Edmund Muskie authored the Clean Water Act than Sen. Susan Collins. I retired after 34 years at the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and now work as a consultant in the clean water industry. I have personally worked on and witnessed many clean water projects across the state made possible by federal funding Collins helped secure. I can say from direct experience that Collins’ leadership has delivered real lasting results for Maine people and communities. I believe her record on clean water is unmatched, and Maine is better for it. ~ Nick Archer, Waterford
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 3, 2026
State reconstruction of the main Deer Isle Causeway, which connects the island to the mainland via Route 15, has finally been funded, but that doesn’t mean the town’s causeway troubles are over. Like the primary causeway, another, smaller causeway linking the island of Sunshine to the rest of Deer Isle is at risk of failing. But this one is owned by the town, rather than the state, so work on it will have to be funded by local taxpayers or grant funds. Walter Kumiega, facilities director for the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts on the island, has been driving over the causeway regularly since 2004 and watches it continue deteriorating as sea level visibly rises. Even on calm days, he said, water sometimes laps at the edge of the road.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 2, 2026
Since the 1950s, Maine has used traditional bonding to make major investments in infrastructure expected to last for decades without overtaxing operating budgets. Through Democratic, Republican and independent administrations, bond issues once appeared on the ballot like clockwork. The Janet Mills administration has proposed just four bond issues in eight years. The current appropriations package includes bonds for transportation ($65 million), farms and forests ($45 million), the UMaine System ($18.5), water system and wastewater treatment ($40 million), “resilience” culverts and housing subsidies. There’s a notable exclusion: the Land for Maine’s Future Fund. A state that fails to invest in its future is a state that will cease to grow. The Mills administration has presided over eight consecutive years of budget growth. It’s too bad we don’t have more to show for it. ~ Douglas Rooks
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 2, 2026
Mainers may soon be able to install small-scale, portable solar energy systems in their homes, under a bill backed by the Legislature on Thursday. If signed into law, the measure, LD 1730, would allow electricity customers to use certain small solar generation and battery systems, which plug directly into wall sockets, similar to gas generators. Since they attach to a home’s electrical system like any other appliance, these panels are also portable, meaning homeowners and renters can take them along when moving — unlike traditional solar systems, which are generally permanent. The proposal comes as Mainers face steep electricity prices, driven largely by the cost of natural gas. It also comes as the American and Israeli conflict with Iran shakes global oilmarkets.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 2, 2026
There are answers that can contribute to significant reductions in electric bills without the apparently futile push for public power. 1. The Maine Public Utilities Commission does not promote competition. It should accept offers of any duration, and any provider should be allowed to make multiple offers. 2. The state should compare ISO-NE with a possible arrangement linking it to the Canadian Maritime systems. Their simpler operations might be less costly than the six-state arrangement in which Maine is required to assume costs in other states that may not make economic sense. Or Maine might go it alone. 3. Maine municipalities are authorized by law to create their own distribution utilities, which don’t have to produce a profit and may borrow at tax-exempt rates. Wires costs could come down. 4. The MPUC could set a cap on the profit investor-owned utilities can take from customers. 5. Customers face big storm-related bills. Utilities ought to be required to have comprehensive, long-term improvement programs and to put some revenues into a sinking fund that could help pay costs when a storm hits. ~ Gordon L. Weil
FRANKLIN JOURNAL • April 2, 2026
Students at Day Mountain Regional Middle School have launched a new podcast highlighting Maine’s natural environment. The “Wild and Wonderful Podcast,” created by members of the school’s Environmentalist Club under adviser Jami Badershall, features student-led interviews with local experts focused on wildlife, conservation and environmental change. “Our students are reminding us that learning is truly ‘wild and wonderful,’ and their voices are worth listening to,” Maine School Administrative District 58 Superintendent Laura Columbia said.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 2, 2026
Active transportation should be encouraged for both physical and environmental health. Consider carpooling and combining trips. Fewer cars will help nature in many ways, not just save people money. Also, driving slower and not idling will reduce pollution and money on gas. Many Maine community organizations, The Bicycle Coalition of Maine, Casco Bay Alliance and others, have been working on getting more roads designed for the people who walk, bike and roll outside of cars to be safe. The Rails to Trails Conservancy, a national group working for decades on making abandoned rail lines into multi-use trails, has helped increase active transportation. And it is great that MaineDOT will start its work plan for the Casco Bay Trail this year. We need to focus on the positive changes that are coming during these negative times. ~ Angela King-Horne, Pownal
MAINE PUBLIC • April 1, 2026
Earlier this month, two small Maine towns went in different directions on a divisive coastal development issue. One voted against new restrictions on aquaculture — the farming of aquatic species for food — things like salmon, oysters, clams or seaweed. The other approved them. South Bristol voters rejected a proposed amendment that would add restrictions to aquaculture 109 to 38. Residents of Cushing passed an ordinance prohibiting aquaculture sites greater than a half-acre.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 1, 2026
Maine’s annual moose hunting permits (tags) are a highly sought-after commodity. So how they are distributed gets a lot of attention. The concept of setting aside tags for lodges and outfitters dates back about a decade, when northern Maine’s deer population declined and many outfitters struggled financially. The goal was to help them regain economic footing. Some outfitters, however, began selling the tags to clients for prices exceeding $30,000. The lodge tag process expanded beyond its original intent. Restaurants, hotels and even a nudist colony in southern Maine reportedly applied for and received a lodge tag. LD 2054 would tighten the definition of hunting outfitters and prohibit the sale of lodge tags to anyone other than the hunter. As for the nudist colony that drew a lodge tag, eligible members would still have to don an orange vest and cap. ~ V. Paul Reynolds
MAINE AUDUBON • March 1, 2026
The third edition of Maine Amphibians and Reptiles explores the lives of 38 fascinating species—from tiny newts to rarely seen sea turtles—found across Maine and the Northeast. Built on 25 years of research, with expanded photos, regional studies, and engaging writing, it’s perfect for scientists and curious readers alike. Join some of the contributors to this fascinating book for a talk followed by a book sale and signing at the Falmouth Memorial Library. Light refreshments will be provided. At Falmouth Memorial Library, 5 Lunt Rd, Falmouth, ME, March 11, 5:30pm.
