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
ASSOCIATED PRESS • July 20, 2025
The founder of Burt’s Bees envisioned a tribute to Henry David Thoreau when she began buying thousands of acres of logging company land to donate for what would become the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. But there was a major pivot: The monument’s new welcome center tells its story not from the perspective of the famed naturalist but through the eyes of the Wabanaki tribes who were the land’s original inhabitants. Roxanne Quimby’s family collaborated with four tribal nations, private entities and federal officials to create the $35 million center that the National Park Service opened to the public on June 21, providing a focal point for the 87,500-acre monument.
SUN JOURNAL • July 20, 2025
There is now evidence that a multiyear effort to raise the water level on Tripp Pond is the work of humans, not beavers as some had argued. Surveillance photos taken July 3 and again July 9 show two men in an aluminum boat appearing to work on an artificial dam at the Winterbrook outlet. The photos are the clearest evidence yet that people are manipulating the water flow in Tripp Pond, a subject that has deeply divided the lake’s community.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 18, 2025
I love being a physical therapist. But during the summer of 2020, I hit a wall. I was burned out — emotionally exhausted from treating patients recovering from COVID-19 and coping with the daily stress and uncertainty of the pandemic. My baseline anxiety didn’t help matters. So, I turned to nature. Nature-based therapy isn’t just good for patients, it’s good for clinicians, too. I feel lucky to do what I love while enjoying Maine’s beautiful natural settings. I hope more health professionals will recognize nature as a powerful tool for healing, and that it will become a more accepted part of clinical practice. As we incorporate nature into clinical practice and advocate for it as public health infrastructure, we must also prioritize equitable access and safe experiences for all. ~ Katie Palano, PT, DPT, MPH, NCS
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 18, 2025
Watching the One Big Beautiful Bill Act pass 218-214, I felt a unique sense of dread from a dream being crushed. The bill eliminates the American dream for so many and will lead to deaths and an increasingly suffocating national debt. We should be securing federal dollars for communities like Millinocket, Madison and Saco, where investments in timber innovation will bring back thousands of jobs and strengthen one of our state’s key heritage industries, not frittering away government revenue on tax cuts that will force interest rates to rise and stagnate economic growth. Trump’s big bill is not just a policy failure, it is a moral one. It mortgages our future to further enrich those already obscenely wealthy, and tears at the fabric of what has made America exceptional. ~ Tommy Leggat-Barr, North Yarmouth, student at Brown University working this summer on Capitol Hill
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 18, 2025
On a recent family trip to hike Acadia National Park’s trails with my 6- and 11-year-old, I was reminded again how fortunate we are to enjoy places like Acadia and Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge. But next year’s federal budget proposes to cut U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service funding by 22%. This is devastating to Americans who value preserved lands and who enjoy them to fish, hunt, roam, spend time on water and enjoy nature’s beauty. The federal budget reconciliation bill just passed by Congress slashes resources. Soon, there may be no one to maintain walking trails, work at visitor centers, clean beaches and protect bird nesting sites. What are we doing? We are at risk of losing access to these cherished environments at a time when we need it most. Let’s all make our voices heard. ~ Sarvi Maisak teaches at Southern Maine Community College
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 17, 2025
Shark notification flags are being flown at Cedar Beach in Harpswell after two documented great white shark sightings near Bailey Island. Harpswell Marine Resources and Harbor Management said in a social media post Wednesday that the flags were being displayed “out of an abundance of caution” after two sharks were seen within 48 hours east of Bailey Island. Beachgoers are still able to access the water, but anyone who sees a shark is asked to try to take a photo and call the Cumberland County Regional Communications Center at 207-893-2810. Reporting sightings helps beach managers in Casco Bay take appropriate action.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 17, 2025
Joshua Sparks, owner of Sparks’ Ark Animal Services in New Gloucester, has been taking care of animals for 30 years, being licensed at just 15. According to the Sparks’ Ark website, Sparks took over a major portion of the business from his father in 2013. In turn, Sparks’ father, David, is said to have been inspired by his youth in Maine, where he trapped and released animals along the shore of Sebago Lake, and befriending Helen Perley, a well-known animal lover from Old Orchard Beach. The business largely functions as an animal control service, removing and relocating wild animals from people’s homes, while also taking in and caring for non-native species that people have abandoned or are keeping illegally. Currently, the Sparks property houses more than 300 animals, ranging from domestic livestock, such as chickens and goats, to exotic creatures like sugar gliders and boa constrictors.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 16, 2025
Two paddlers were rescued Wednesday afternoon at Allagash Falls. A Maine Forest Rangers flight crew assisted the Maine Warden Service and Allagash Wilderness Waterway Rangers in the rescue. “The pair had become stranded in the rapids above Allagash Falls and were extracted via short-haul,” Maine Forest Rangers stated.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 17, 2025
No. The Maine Legislature recently considered a bill to ban small plastic bottles of toiletries such as shampoo in lodging establishments, but the bill ultimately died between the House and Senate. The bill, LD 1928, was intended to reduce plastic waste in tourism-heavy Maine. It would have taken effect in 2030 for businesses with at least 50 units and in 2032 for those with fewer than 50. But lawmakers disagreed on how the law should be enforced and whether it should apply to establishments with fewer than 12 standalone cabins, cottages or apartments.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 16, 2025
We’ve been bombarded with news of deep cuts to federal funding for research, science and monitoring. The immediate impacts are stark: jobs lost, projects canceled, colleagues scrambling to find their footing. There are also impacts we’ve yet to see: fewer people to monitor plant and animal populations, an erosion of scientists’ ability to establish baselines and an overall weakening of our ability to carry out science-backed management. But there is something you can do: go outside and look around. Download iNaturalist, Nature’s Notebook, eBird or other apps designed to help you document nature in your yard and share what you see in your local environment. By contributing observations of leafing, flowering and pollinator activity, you help scientists understand how climate is changing, how species are responding and how our communities can adapt for the future. ~ Georgia Murray, Appalachian Mountain Club, and Georgia Silvera Seamans, independent researcher
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 15, 2025
I have always felt good shopping at L.L.Bean. Until recently when I learned the ugly truth underlying Bean’s projected image of a being a responsible corporate citizen. In 2024 the apparel and fashion sustainability and ethics rating platform Good on You gave L.L.Bean an overall rating of “Not Good Enough. There’s no evidence it’s taking meaningful action to reduce its climate impacts.” Last month, 48 national, regional and Maine-based organizations, collectively representing more than 2 million supporters, sent a letter to L.L.Bean CEO Stephen Smith asking him to “Meet with Citibank leaders to express your concern about Citi’s fossil fuel investments and how these are affecting both L.L.Bean’s business and reputation.” Think what great marketing it could be for a company that celebrates the love of the outdoors to truly walk its talk and tout its influence for the good of the planet. ~ Richard Peterson, Ph.D., University of New England as emeritus professor of environmental studies
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC • July 14, 2025
As soon as National Geographic Explorer and photographer Brian Skerry locked eyes with the enormous animal, he knew immediately what was staring back at him. “There’s no mistaking that face,” he says. A nearly 10-foot long great white shark was just four feet away. Sharks tagged with tracking devices have been documented off the U.S. coast of Maine, but Skerry thinks this is the first underwater photo of one here. Once rare, great whites are now flourishing in the Gulf of Maine, which stretches from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to Nova Scotia, Canada. While these growing numbers might make it easier to see or photograph a shark in nearby waters, experts say the risk of being bitten by a great white remains low.
MAINE PUBLIC • July 14, 2025
A federal appeals court has agreed that Maine's voter-approved law dealing with foreign spending on elections is unconstitutional. In November 2023, roughly 86% of voters supported a ballot initiative that sought to ban foreign governments from spending to influence candidate elections or referendums in Maine. The initiative was a response to the tens of millions of dollars that Central Maine Power and Hydro Quebec spent to defeat an earlier referendum trying to block a controversial power line project through western Maine. CMP, Hydro Quebec and Versant Power challenged the law. In early 2024, a U.S. District Court judge blocked the state from enforcing the law. And on Friday, two judges with First Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with that decision in separate but concurring opinions. They said the law would likely violate the campaign activity and, therefore, the free speech rights of U.S. corporations that have foreign shareholders.
MAINE PUBLIC • July 14, 2025
L.L.Bean has announced that Stephen Smith will leave the company early next year after ten years as president and CEO. In a press release issued Monday, the Freeport-based retailer credits Smith with modernizing operations and helping the company navigate the pandemic, during which it earned record profits. The company's Board of Directors has initiated a search for Smith's successor.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 14, 2025
Maine loves its outdoors, in all its fascinating and multifaceted glory. The Maine Outdoor Film Festival (July 23-27) expands that love to the rest of our teeming, diverse and sadly imperiled world with a five-day movie masterpiece of documentaries, shorts, Maine-made movies and other cinematic explorations of the word around us.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 14, 2025
The Chebeague and Cumberland Land Trust acquired 77 acres of forest in Cumberland known as Watson Woods through a land purchase. The parcel — a mile from downtown Cumberland — had long been eyed by the trust. “CCLT and the town have waited decades for the opportunity to conserve this stunning parcel,” said CCLT Executive Director Penny Asherman. The parcel features a cascade waterfall and abundant wildlife. Adjacent to the trust’s Rines Forest and Read Family Farm and Woods, the combined parcels will create a conserved block of more than 450 acres. The trust will construct trails and a small parking area on the Watson Woods property over the next year. Watson Woods is part of a multi-town conservation and recreation corridor stretching over 2,000 acres from Windham through Falmouth, Cumberland and beyond.
SUN JOURNAL • July 14, 2025
The Select Board plans to announce Thursday the critical need to construct an office and garage for the Parks and Recreation Department on Hosmer Lane. The flood of December 2023 caused an estimated $2 million damage to the department office, equipment and garage.
MAINE PUBLIC • July 14, 2025
Camp safety is in the spotlight after flooding killed dozens of campers and counselors in Texas. The state of Maine oversees the licenses for 168 summer youth camps and inspects them every other year to assess safety, sanitation, how food is prepared, and health. The state just updated its regulations for camps in May for the first time in nearly 20 years. Jennifer Jamison, Associate Director of Community Health at the Maine Center for Disease Control, said her biggest concern this summer is heat. "Based on climate change, I think it is the heat advisories," Jamison said. "The Maine CDC sends out advisories to the camps to let them know there's going to be excessive heat and what to monitor and when children need to be seen."
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 14, 2025
It took sweating through a flannel at an apple orchard in Gorham a few falls ago for me to finally admit defeat. Left feeling unsatisfied in a way that even virtual hearts couldn’t have fulfilled, I decided right then I was done picking my own anything. As we learned this summer, the problem was bigger than me. We wannabe farmers-for-a-day have taken a toll on U-pick operations, demanding bathrooms, food and other forms of entertainment, forcing actual farmers into becoming amusement park operators. Some of them are putting an end to the madness by closing to the public, not because there’s a lack of business but because whatever we spend isn’t worth the hassle. ~ Leslie Bridgers
