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 • May 19, 2025
Seven years after it was proposed and amid growing doubts about its future, the backers of a land-based fish farm in Bucksport say they are still discussing a project there. Whole Oceans, which initially planned to produce 20 metric tons of Atlantic salmon annually on the site of the town’s former paper mill, let its local building permits expire last year. Since then, there has been skepticism about whether a facility will still be built and if the company will stay in town. Local officials recently said they were preparing for the possibility of the company selling its property or scaling down the proposal significantly. But Whole Oceans says it is not departing Bucksport and it still plans to build in town.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 19, 2025
Chadd Brewin, 33, had been fishing on Cobbosseecontee Stream in West Gardiner with his father-in-law, 67-year-old Claude Latouche on Monday when Brewin fell over the side of the boat. His father-in-law held onto Brewin while steering the boat back to shore. When Latouche got close to the shoreline, the boat capsized and he also fell into the water. Latouche was able to get both himself and Brewin to shore, before calling 911. Brewin was still alive when emergency medical services arrived and provided medical aid. Brewin was transported to Maine General, where he later died.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 19, 2025
Rolland F. Perry, for whom Bangor City Forest is named, died Thursday at the age of 89. Perry was the city’s forester for 42 years and was responsible for planting many of the trees lining Bangor’s streets today. By the time he retired in 2006 when he was 70, he had planted 812,809 of them. His goal was 1 million. But Perry’s legacy has far outlived his career. Perry established tree nurseries to replace thousands of trees along residential streets. “Rolland has bestowed the city of Bangor with shady, mature tree-lined streets, as well as left his legacy behind in many of the city’s parks, cemeteries and municipal properties in the form of planted and pruned trees,” said Ben Arruda, the city’s current urban forestry manager.
ASSOCIATED PRESS • May 19, 2025
A vanishing species of whale gave birth to few babies this birthing season, raising alarms among scientists and conservationists who fear the animal could go extinct. The whale is the North Atlantic right whale, which numbers only about 370 and has declined in population in recent years. The whales give birth to calves off the southeastern United States from mid-November to mid-April, and federal authorities have said they need to have at least 50 calves per season to start recovering. The calving season produced only 11 mother-calf pairs.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 19, 2025
A clam fisherman is missing off the coast of Milbridge. Alton Wallace, 51 of Milbridge was reported missing about 4 p.m. Sunday when he failed to return home after a day on the water, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Searchers found his 14-foot skiff near Pinkham Island.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 19, 2025
The May 3 column by Chris Sargent, “It was my secret fishing spot. Then a land trust bought the property and ruined it.” implies: Beware fishermen, the land trusts are after you and they must be stopped! The use of the word “my” in the headline denotes some inherent exclusive right of possession. Does he own the property? Does he have some Indigenous right to it as his and his only? I think not. This “me, my, mine” culture grows daily. A safeguarded area of land, without secret caches and misplaced rights of ownership, is a good thing. ~ Cheryl Harry, Orono
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 19, 2025
Maine has a controversial and outsized role when it comes to Atlantic salmon. It’s the only remaining state where what’s known as the King of Fish can be farmed in ocean net pens. But it’s also the only state where endangered wild Atlantic salmon survive, in a handful of rivers. To salmon conservationists, those two are at odds, pointing to concerns that the pens could be contaminating surrounding waters and putting wild salmon at risk. Wild-caught Atlantic salmon hasn’t been sold commercially since the fishery was closed in 1948, but Maine companies have been raising them since the 1970s. Proposals for multiple land-based fish farms in Maine have failed to take shape in recent years. The biggest threats to wild salmon conservation efforts are dams and culverts blocking the fish from good upstream habitat, along with international fishing and changing water conditions.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 19, 2025
People of all stripes have long flocked to the Moosehead Lake region to get away from everyday life, making the region prized for its privacy for regular Mainers and high-income outsiders alike. The pandemic-era real estate market has tilted things more toward wealthy buyers, something that has been a slow trend in the region’s long tourism history. Property has remained affordable because of inaccessibility. But the pandemic changed that dramatically. Home values in Greenville have increased over 75 percent. Luke Muzzy, executive director of the Moosehead Historical Society, doesn’t worry about the region changing forever because of new buyers. “You’re looking at an area larger than the size of Rhode Island that will always remain undeveloped,” he said. “The overall footprint of where development has occurred in the last 100-plus years is relatively unchanged. Never will change.”
MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • May 18, 2025
Maine is the only state with wild populations of Atlantic salmon. Yet these sea-run fish face significant threats as they attempt to migrate thousands of miles from the ocean to their natal waters to spawn. Barriers such as dams and inadequate culverts that block their safe passage have impeded the recovery of this ecologically and culturally important species. In 2003, the Appalachian Mountain Club launched the Maine Woods Initiative to promote multiuse conservation and recreation in the famed 100-Mile Wilderness. This initiative included one of the largest fisheries restoration projects in the country, helping protect and enhance the habitat that salmon, brook trout, alewives and many other species rely on. Restoration efforts have already demonstrated early signs of success. ~ Steve Tatko, Appalachian Mountain Club
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 18, 2025
Three of the state’s eight hatcheries are undergoing major renovations, including its oldest facility in New Gloucester built in the 1940s and not updated since the early 1990s. The other two facilities are in Grand Lake Stream, which is the most difficult to reach because of its remoteness, and in Embden, which was the state’s first round tank farm and had a major renovation in the early 2000s. The state is using more than $25 million in one-time American Rescue Plan Act funding for the renovations. The hatcheries produce approximately 1 million fish that are released in some of Maine’s 6,000 lakes and ponds. The public can learn what lakes and ponds the DIF&W stocks, with what fish and when on the department’s stocking report online.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 17, 2025
Maine has long embodied its motto — Dirigo (I lead) — in environmental policymaking. Real leadership, however, requires a willingness to adapt when necessary to ensure policies remain effective, practical, and aligned with evolving realities. In 2021, Maine led the nation by passing a landmark law, shifting the financial burden of managing packaging waste away from municipalities and taxpayers and onto the producers that generate it. The Board of Environmental Protection in December 2024 voted on a detailed rule outlining how the Stewardship Program for Packaging will be implemented. However, the rule didn’t undergo legislative review. That decision has left critical concerns raised by Maine’s business community unresolved. LD 1423 would clarify the law’s definitions, better align Maine’s program with national peers, and prevent unintended economic harm. ~ Ashley Luszczki, Maine State Chamber of Commerce
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 17, 2025
Gorham is home to one of southern Maine’s most robust and thriving deer herds, but our town officials, if allowed to continue on their present track, are pushing the entire herd into extinction. The deer herd in the Narragansett Game Sanctuary has been protected by state law since 1927, but our present crop of elected and appointed officials seem hell-bent on sidestepping the law’s protections and killing off the herd by systematically destroying its habitat. Rezonings have then been followed by massive development proposals. ~ Roger Brown, Gorham
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 16, 2025
Facing delays in receiving federal funds, the Maine State Preservation Commission has canceled more than half a dozen grants in an attempt to avoid laying off nearly half its staff. The terminations included about $145,000 worth of grants to nonprofits and municipalities, which were canceled last week. Developers and preservation advocates say that a potential loss of funding and personnel would be devastating to historic rehabilitation projects that rely on the commission to secure major tax credits. In recent years, the state office has received about $870,000 annually from the federal government, which is distributed by the National Park Service. The National Park Service has been subject to widespread staffing cuts.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 16, 2025
Quit reading this. Grab your binoculars, and get outside. We’ve arrived at peak bird-finding season. Here are my top three places to go in the immediate Bangor area. Rolland F. Perry City Forest. If I could bird only one place in the area, it would be here. There are so many different trees at various heights that habitat is plentiful for every woodland bird. The Orono Bog Boardwalk offers an entirely different habitat for bog specialists. This boardwalk is as good as it gets. Essex Woods is my second favorite birding spot in Bangor. The walking path around the wetland is awesome for birding. Rounding out my top three: Caribou Bog Conservation Area in Orono. It was always good for birding. It’s now extraordinary, thanks to land trust efforts to reclaim the wetlands and improve the paths. ~ Bob Duchesne
MAINE PUBLIC • May 16, 2025
A Canadian-owned saw mill in Aroostook County has agreed to pay $240,000 dollars to resolve water pollution violations. The state Department of Environmental Protection says Daaquam Lumber Maine Inc. failed to control stormwater runoff, illegally discharged wastewater and had an improperly sited and unregistered sand salt pile. The owner, Quebec based Lebel Groupe, has since corrected the problems. The mill was sold to J.D. Irving Limited in 2025, according to Lebel's website. The company did not respond to a request for comment. The company was fined $99,000 and will pay another $141,000 to enhance fish habitat in a nearby stream.
MAINE PUBLIC • May 16, 2025
Residents of Saco’s Camp Ellis neighborhood are hoping they may finally get relief from severe coastal erosion that has plagued them for generations. $23 million in the federal budget will pay for construction of a 750-foot stone jetty spur intended to reduce wave force and sand loss. Shoreline damage is blamed on a nearby Saco River jetty expanded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the 1950s.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 16, 2025
As a retired middle school teacher and lifelong educator in Maine, I strongly support LD 1543, “An Act to Establish the Green Schools Network.” This bill offers an opportunity to advance sustainability, save money, and, crucially, address the mental health needs of our students. Climate anxiety is real and rising, especially among teens. They’re deeply worried about the future, and too often, they feel powerless. This bill can help turn that anxiety into action by giving students a sense of agency and purpose. ~ Carey Hotaling, Freeport
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 15, 2025
Since the rights to many sectors of the best salmon rivers are still privately owned by individual people, corporations or the provincial government in Canada, average fishermen would have to take out second mortgages on their houses to lease fishing rights for a week. But Mainers have a less expensive option nearby known as black salmon fishing. Black salmon are Atlantic salmon that moved from the ocean into their home river to spawn during late summer and fall, and then spent the winter in that river or its feeder lake. New Brunswick and Quebec are the best answer to a Maine salmon angler’s prayer. It’s possible to catch half a dozen a day. The Canadian rivers are close to Mainers, the price is fair and the fish take flies fast and furious from mid-April through May.
MAINE PUBLIC • May 15, 2025
Under questioning from Maine Congresswoman Chellie Pingree today, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin testified that the agency's decision to remove maximum contaminant limits on four PFAS chemicals in drinking water was because of a procedural error made when the standards were set. The agency also announced Wednesday that it will delay the timeline for enforcing the remaining two standards. "The science is sound, and there's no question that PFAs is harmful to human health," Pingree said. "So why is the EPA not fully committed to defending all PFAS rules? Pingree also questioned him about cancelled PFAS research grants for the University of Maine and the Central Aroostook Soil and Water Conservation District. Zeldin said he agrees that the research is important, and implied that the grants could move forward under a different office in the future.
