MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • April 9, 2026
Richard Barringer, was a passionate champion for Maine's environment and the well-being of its citizens over a more than a 60-year career of public service. He and his colleagues reclaimed 600,000 acres from paper companies and established public reserved lands. He was appointed commissioner of the Department of Conservation in 1975. He served as Governor Brennan's state planning director from 1981 to 1986. After his government service, Mr. Barringer joined the University of Southern Maine as a research professor and graduate teacher in public policy, becoming the founding director of the Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service. In retirement, he joined with other stewards of the outdoors to establish the Allagash Wilderness Waterway Foundation in 2011. He consulted on the New England Clean Energy Connect project from 2019 to 2022. He also contributed to the development of Portland Harbor Commons, a new public park along the Portland waterfront at the bottom of India Street. (Item 5-44)