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Jym St. Pierre
Editor, Maine Environmental News

Opinion: Marine electrification is an economic opportunity for Maine

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 22, 2026

In Maine, Island Institute has worked with partners to electrify 22 commercial boats across aquaculture, fishing and other working waterfront applications. For commercial fishermen and aquaculture operators, electric propulsion can reduce fuel and maintenance costs while creating quieter, healthier working environments for crews. For boatbuilders and marine businesses, electric propulsion is an opportunity to compete in a growing global market projected to become a $20 billion industry in the next five years. The technology, however, is advancing faster than the systems needed to support it. Maine Blue Economy Center —a state-supported initiative housed within the Maine Technology Institute can help coordinate, invest in and grow the state’s ocean economy. ~ Lia Morris, Island Institute, and Brent Dancey, Oceans North

Rumor of ICE crackdown on Maine farms highlights fears for legal workers

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 22, 2026

One of Maine’s major agricultural organizations warned farmers Thursday of an expected surge in Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity into next week, then later downgraded its statement. The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association sent an online newsletter stating it had “received word” of increased enforcement activity starting Friday focused on farms, farmworkers and construction sites. Another email that night issued a correction, saying possible activity or targeted sites hadn’t been confirmed. Recent ICE surges in the state have heightened anxiety even for those in the country legally through federal visa programs.

Column: These may be your least favorite birds to identify, but here’s how to make it easier

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 22, 2026

It’s been a while since I urged you to tear a book apart. Approximately 30 shorebird species pass through Maine every fall. Some are rare, but most are expected if you look in the right places. Separate similar birds into piles. Rip the pages out of your favorite guidebook and begin sorting. Once you’ve reduced confusion by tearing out the nearly-impossible birds, divide the remaining Charadriiformes pages into two piles: birds typically spotted on mudflats, and all others. The smallest shorebirds are the most troublesome, especially the so-called “peep” sandpipers. In conclusion: you didn’t actually tear pages out of your book, did you? ~ Bob Duchesne

In 1908, a Boston woman donated 140 acres in Maine to stop future development at what became Acadia

TIMES OF INDIA • August 21, 2026

Acadia National Park was the first national park created from private lands gifted to the public through the efforts of conservation-minded citizens. Many of the activities surrounding the civic groups that created the park excluded women and people of colour. However, there was one woman, longtime resident Eliza Homans, who donated 140 acres of land to the park, which is a popular hiking and viewing spot today.

Tiny ocean plankton holds clues to the future of Maine lobster

UMAINE NEWS• August 21, 2026

The future of Maine’s lobster industry may depend on a creature the size of a sesame seed. Researchers at the University of Maine have discovered that planktonic baby lobsters, or larvae, preferentially feed on Calanus finmarchicus, a tiny, calorie-rich zooplankton species, during one of the most vulnerable stages of their lives. Their new study upholds a theory advanced by scientists in the past decade, and one that may be relevant to recent declines in Maine’s lobster harvest. Scientists have also observed declines in both the availability of this key food source and the number of young lobsters surviving into adulthood in the Gulf of Maine. 

Maine Audubon Honors Wildlife Champions in the Legislature

MAINE AUDUBON • August 21, 2026

This week Maine Audubon held its first ever Wildlife Champion Awards event at Gilsland Farm to honor six state legislators who helped pass important legislation related to wildlife and habitat during the 132nd Maine Legislature (2025-2026.) Wildlife advocacy has been central to Maine Audubon’s mission since the founding of the Maine Audubon Society in 1902. In the 132nd Legislature, our staff testified on 106 individual bills. But Maine Audubon advocacy staff and public supporters need help from lawmakers to get legislation passed. Maine Audubon honored six lawmakers who were lead sponsors of legislation that helped advance the conservation of wildlife and habitat in the 132nd Maine Legislature with our first ever Wildlife Champion Award: Rep. Vicki Doudera, Sen. Tim Nangle, Rep. Laurie Osher, Sen. Rick Bennett, Sen. Joe Rafferty, and Rep. Sally Cluchey.

Loner orca ‘Old Thom’ spotted off Eastport

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 21, 2026

Old Thom is a solitary orca in a part of the world that has few of them. By most accounts, the bull with a telltale notch in his dorsal fin is the only orca that regularly comes to the Gulf of Maine. He has been spotted in whale-watching territory from Nova Scotia to Massachusetts, and has occasionally been seen keeping company with dolphins, a family to which orcas belong as the largest members. Among whale enthusiasts, a sighting of Old Thom is often described as a bucket list item.

UMaine Symposium: Reducing Marine Debris at the Source; Finding Alternatives to Single-use Plastics

NATURAL RESOURCES COUNCIL OF MAINE • August 21, 2026

NRCM Sustainable Maine Program Director Vanessa Berry will be part of this two-day research-to-application symposium, speaking on Tuesday, September 22 as part of a panel discussion entitled “Policy & Intervention Roundtable: The Future of Single-use Plastics.” Vanessa will be joined by Brian Beneski and Megan Pryor of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection as well as Sydney Harris of Upstream.

Whale Club Mixes Art, Science at The Good Supply

LINCOLN COUNTY NEWS • August 21, 2026

To cap off the summer season, The Good Supply will host Whale Club, an art-based science fair from 1-5 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 26 at at 2106 Bristol Road in Pemaquid. For this free event, The Good Supply partnered with the interactive experience Within the Whale, nonprofit Marine Mammals of Maine, and special guest artist Bevin Holmberg of Mermaid Meadow. “Ever since I was little, I have been interested in the marine mammals that swim through our seas,” said Holmberg, the artist behind Falmouth-based small business Mermaid Meadow. “It is important to me to create artwork of sea life — unique and endangered species — so that others are encouraged to enjoy, conserve, and protect what is precious.

National park maintenance work sidelined as Trump’s Freedom 250 takes precedence

ASSOCIATED PRESS • August 21, 2026

The 250th anniversary of U.S. independence was just months away when National Park Service employees received a surprising directive: Maintenance projects approved for this year at sites across the nation were being relegated to a new “low priority” list. Work wanted by the White House was taking precedence, including repairs to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Meanwhile, almost all of about 1,500 maintenance projects on the low priority list as of last month are expected to go undone. That will worsen a repair backlog at national parks. Maine Sen. Angus King, the ranking member of the Senate’s National Parks Subcommittee, said it could lead to “the deterioration of America’s gems” as sanitation upgrades and basic maintenance don’t happen.

Midcoast resort goes on sale for $5.7M

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 21, 2026

Point Lookout, a resort set across 122 acres in Northport, is for sale for $5.7 million. The property includes 40 cabins, a 23,000-square-foot guest services building with a fitness center, four miles of hiking trails and a full-sized artificial turf soccer field with stadium seating.The property was listed on Friday on a commercial real estate website. Point Lookout, located on Ducktrap Mountain overlooking Penobscot Bay, was built as a corporate retreat for credit card giant MBNA when the company was the largest employer in midcoast Maine.

MAHA activists criticize Trump for promoting coal to power energy-hungry AI data centers

ASSOCIATED PRESS • August 21, 2026

Nearly 200 activists in Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement are criticizing President Donald Trump’s promotion of coal to fuel the rise of artificial intelligence data centers, according to a letter sent Friday. The letter, signed by at least two former staffers from Kennedy’s 2024 presidential campaign, marks the first major MAHA movement mobilization over fossil fuels and the latest in a series of rifts between the diverse group of activists and the Trump administration over environmental policy.

Maine farming group warns of possible ICE raids targeting farms, workers

WMTW-TV8 • August 21, 2026

The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association is warning farmers to be alert for possible immigration enforcement activity in Maine. In a message sent to farmers on Thursday, MOFGA said it had received information that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids were anticipated beginning Friday, Aug. 21, and potentially continuing through the weekend and into early next week.

GOP senator blocks Trump nominees over wetlands

THE WEEK • August 21, 2026

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) on Thursday vowed to halt all of President Donald Trump’s nominees until his administration eases a wetlands conservation policy aimed at protecting the breeding grounds of ducks and other waterfowl. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last weekend said it would at least temporarily retain the Biden-era program, which bars farmers from draining land near protected federal conservation easements. “My farmers are furious and so am I,” Cramer said. The Trump administration’s “blind defense of a Biden rule favored by environmental extremists” just “confounds me.”

Biddeford fisherman lands 529-pound swordfish

WMTW-TV8 • August 21, 2026

A Biddeford fisherman believes he may have landed a record-setting catch after reeling in a 529-pound swordfish while fishing off the Maine coast. Max Mourmouras was aboard his fishing vessel, the Retreviah, about 10 miles offshore when he caught the swordfish while tuna fishing, according to Saco Bay Tackle Co. Mourmouras landed the fish by himself after a fight that lasted about an hour and a half. The fisherman believes the catch could be considered a potential Maine state record in the rod-and-reel category.

Letter: We need to advocate for fair, effective climate legislation

SUN JOURNAL • August 21, 2026

The Carbon Fee & Dividend (CF&D), was first introduced during the Reagan administration. Republicans liked it because it was a policy that wouldn’t increase the size of government, would be good for the economy, for their constituents and for the planet. The policy has broad support. Here in Maine, where it is better known as “Carbon Cash Back,” over 100 businesses, faith communities, environmental groups and health organizations support it. Thirty-two Maine municipalities have voted in favor of a resolution supporting carbon pricing at the federal level. Even economists agree on the benefits of CF&D; 3,500 of them have signed a letter to that effect. Learn more at citizensclimatelobby.org. ~ Bonnie Sammons, Belgrade

Maine hikers can summit these 3 New Hampshire peaks in a single day

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 21, 2026

The White Mountains are a playground for many Mainers. The biggest hike I tackled was what’s known as the Franconia Ridge Loop. This challenging 9-mile route travels up and over three major peaks (Little Haystack, Mount Lincoln and Mount Lafayette), all rising over 4,000 feet above sea level. This puts them in a special category for hikers in the Northeast. In fact, many make it their mission to hike all 48 mountains in New Hampshire that are over 4,000 feet. In addition, many hikers tack on Maine’s 14 mountains that reach over 4,000 feet, several of which are located in Baxter State Park.

A dead whale covered in shark bites keeps washing up on Maine islands

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 19, 2026

Mike Kersula and his crew noticed a bad smell as they approached the beach on Enchanted Island by boat two weeks ago. Then a crew member realized that what had looked like a ledge was bobbing up and down in the water along the small island about five miles south of Stonington. A 43-foot adolescent male fin whale was decomposing on the shore, riddled with shark bites. Fin whales are the second-largest whale species in the world, with adults in the north Atlantic reaching 70 feet, and are listed as federally endangered. Causes of death usually can’t be determined for whales, but a number of whales have been struck by boats or had problems with fishing gear along the East Coast this summer.

The largest bear killed in Maine was 700 pounds

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 21, 2026

Fourteen years ago, Matt Knox shot his first bear. It became Maine’s current state record for a bear killed with a firearm, with a live weight of 699 pounds. Even more impressive, it was taken over bait.