The most comprehensive online source of conservation news and events in Maine and beyond, edited by Jym St. Pierre
LINCOLN COUNTY NEWS • March 28, 2020
MVLT Founders Preserve consists of 107 acres and has some of the hilliest terrain found in Lincoln County. Combined with the 320-acre Quarry Hill Preserve, owned by the Town of Waldoboro, it forms a wildlife corridor of more than 400 acres that supports an abundance of species with its diverse habitat.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 29, 2020
Maine saw a bigger jump in unemployment filings than any state but New Hampshire from one week to the next this month as the coronavirus epidemic has proven especially damaging to an economy built on hospitality and small business. Many of the restaurants, hotels and other services in Maine are small businesses, which can make them more vulnerable to economic shocks.
SUN JOURNAL • March 28, 2020
Since the lockdown started on March 9, the levels of toxic nitrogen oxide in northern Italy have plunged dramatically. When China closed down its industry and told residents in the infected areas to shelter in place, the satellites noted a large drop-off in China’s air pollution. This is a call for the world’s industrialized peoples to breathe deeply and think: Smog causes lung disease. And a byproduct of cleaning the air is a lowering of planet-warming gas emissions. An economy in deep recession is bad for people’s health. But reduced pollution gives us a window into what we could experience daily were the environment cleaner. ~ Froma Harrop
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 28, 2020
I disagree strongly with the move to close so many public state parks. I have walked at several of these parks over the last week. I have not observed anyone congregating in a way that negated the 6-foot rule. I have observed families or couples who came together being closer, but all walkers have stayed much greater distances apart than the 6-foot minimum. These closings will exacerbate the situation. By making fewer places for people to exercise and get fresh air, other places will be more crowded. Please reconsider this move. ~ Valerie Rasza, Gray
SUN JOURNAL • March 27, 2020
in the era of COVID-19 and social distancing, some of the activity has been worrying city staff and elected officials. On Friday, officials in Auburn decided to close a number of city parks, playgrounds, basketball courts, and athletic fields due to large groups of people using them in close proximity. Lewiston officials had already closed the basketball courts and skatepark at Kennedy Park for the same reason, and on Friday afternoon, the city closed its tennis courts at the Franklin Pasture Complex after dozens of people were on site Thursday. The rest of the school district’s athletic fields had already been closed.
MONING SENTINEL • March 27, 2020
The University of Maine Cooperative Extension and the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association are in search of short-term workers to help small dairy farms during the coronavirus pandemic. Workers are needed in the event that farmers who run smaller scale operations and don’t have back-up labor get sick with COVID-19.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 27, 2020
Gov. Janet Mills announced Friday that the deadline to register boats has been extended to April 30. Boat owners are allowed to operate without a current 2020 registration and milfoil sticker. “With some town offices closed, and state offices closed to walk-in business due to the civil state of emergency, it made sense to relax the registration requirement until we can work out all the logistical details,” MDIF&W Commissioner Judy Camuso said.
KENNEBEC JOURNAL • March 27, 2020
Central Maine farms have been adjusting to a changing marketplace in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. While restaurant accounts may have dried up with forced closures of dine-in eateries, there has been a growth in people seeking out locally-grown food. In response, the University of Maine Cooperative Extension has created a large directory of farms.
PHYS.ORG • March 27, 2020
Incentivizing both sequestration and avoidance of emissions— using a carbon rental or carbon tax and subsidy approach—versus only a carbon tax encourages protection of natural forests by valuing the standing stock, according to a new study. In their study, the research team—which included Adam Daigneault, University of Maine E.L. Giddings Assistant Professor of Forest, Conservation and Recreation Policy—addressed the impacts of woody biomass demand on forest harvests, prices and related timber management issues.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 27, 2020
Most years, mid-March is a slow time for the Winter Buying Club at Bahner Farm in Belmont, as the season winds down and the amount of produce available dwindles. Not this year. When the farmers were able to catch their breath, they realized gross sales for the week were more than double their Thanksgiving sales week — and a more than tenfold increase from their typical March business. But in a world reeling from the coronavirus pandemic, the unexpected is quickly becoming the norm. Along with farms such as the Bahner Farm, local businesses Johnny’s Selected Seeds in Winslow and Fedco Seeds in Clinton have been overwhelmed by sudden demand.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 27, 2020
Maine has a long history of contentious fights over power, public lands, and dams—many of them in the western Maine mountains. There are still people around who remember battles over CMP’s construction of the Flagstaff Dam in 1950. A lot more remember the proposal to develop Bigelow Mountain as a ski resort in the 1970’s, and Great Northern’s planned Big A dam on the West Branch Penobscot in the 1980’s. CMP’s proposed powerline looks like it may be the same kind of battle. Let’s hope Maine makes the right choice. ~ Jeff Reardon
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 27, 2020
Dogs soon must be on leash most of the day at Baxter Woods [to protect the wildlife]. At a time when we are seeing the ill effects of social isolation, it behooves the City Council to rethink the leash law. And, by the way, the Parks, Recreation and Facilities staff have yet to provide a legitimate reason as to why they are recommending this. ~ Tonia Medd, Portland
MAINEBIZ • March 26, 2020
Land once slated for a controversial development in the Moosehead Lake region has come a step closer to being preserved. Weyerhaeuser, which owns the 400,000-plus acres, submitted a petition to terminate the the Moosehead Region Concept Plan in September, and on March 9, the Land Use Planning Commission determined that the petition is complete for processing. The LUPC announced the decision Thursday. Those who want to submit comments or request a public hearing must do so by May 15. Rezoning that allowed the development was approved in 2009 after years of opposition by conservation advocates.
MAINE PUBLIC • March 26, 2020
The Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands (BPL) has announced that it will close nearly a dozen coastal state parks and beaches on Friday to protect the health and safety of visitors from the threat of COVID-19. The parks will be closed until April 8, but that could be extended. The Bureau said overcrowding in the past few weeks has made it difficult for members of the public to achieve appropriate social distancing, which has been shown to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
MAINE PUBLIC • March 26, 2020
Parks and beaches throughout the state have become even more popular than usual for people looking to get out of the house and combat the isolation of social distancing. But so many have flocked to Acadia National Park that this week Superintendent Kevin Schneider took the unusual step of closing the park. Schneider told Maine Public’s Nora Flaherty that it needed to happen to protect visitors and staff.
ASSOCIATED PRESS • March 26, 2020
Emergency management officials in New England can scratch spring flooding off their list of concerns, for the most part. One area of concern, however, is northernmost Maine where there's a heavy snow pack and normal concerns about on ice on the St. John, Aroostook and Allagash rivers.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 26, 2020
Even during this time of social distancing and concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, small farms, homesteads and backyard hobbyists are planning for the arrival of this spring’s batch of poultry chicks. For some people, this will be the first time they’ve purchased chicken, duck or turkey chicks to raise for meat or egg laying. For others, it may be the first time they are adding new chicks to an existing mature flock. In either case, there are a few things to consider as you prepare to welcome new chicks.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 26, 2020
Starting Friday Maine will close until April 8 the 10 coastal parks in southern Maine and the midcoast in response to the COVID-19 outbreak: Reid State Park, Popham Beach State Park, Fort Popham, Fort Baldwin, Kettle Cove State Park, Two Lights State Park, Crescent Beach State Park, Scarborough Beach State Park, Ferry Beach State Park and Mackworth Island.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 26, 2020
The Dedham Trails, also known as the Kiski Trails, is a network of gravel roads and trails located on the 680-acre Kiski Lot in Dedham. Located right off Route 1A, the property is co-owned by the Town of Dedham and Lucerne-in-Maine Village and is open to the public for mountain biking, hiking, hunting and fishing.
SUN JOURNAL • March 26, 2020
Brother and sister Bill and Susan Broadbent and their company Entosense heard last summer that food distribution giant Sysco was looking for edible insects. They reached out, and now they’re on the menu. Grocers and restaurants can buy a pound or more of eight different offerings, including gourmet black ants, Manchurian scorpions, grasshoppers and bee pollen. All of the insects are coming from outside suppliers. Entosense shut down its Hill Mill cricket farm last year after deciding it needed to either be a lot larger or they should focus just on sales, Broadbent said. They may revisit the farm as a separate business in the future. The five-year-old company’s been on a good growth trajectory,
