The most comprehensive online source of conservation news and events in Maine and beyond, edited by Jym St. Pierre
SUN JOURNAL • May 11, 2020
An adult, black bear has killed eight goats and destroyed three beehives at homes in Chesterville, Jay, New Sharon, Wilton and Vienna, the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife said Monday. There have been complaints from 10 residents, MDIFW spokesman Mark Latti said. The bear has been roaming the area for more than three weeks and appears to be working alone. Two bear traps have been set.
MAINE PUBLIC • May 11, 2020
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Land Use Planning Commission signed off today on vital land use permits Central Maine Power needs for its proposed 151-mile power line through western Maine. The permits include dozens of conditions the agencies say will mitigate damage to forest values. Several environmental groups, including Trout Unlimited and the Natural Resources Council of Maine, are not satisfied with the permit conditions. But the Nature Conservancy and the Conservation Law Foundation are supportive of the permit.
MORNING SENTINEL • May 11, 2020
A total of $141,100 will be given to 76 farms across the state to help with issues brought on by the coronavirus. The program, which was launched last month, is a collaboration between the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association and the Maine Farmland Trust to help farms navigate issues brought on by the pandemic.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 11, 2020
Weekly evening Summer Concerts at Mill Creek Park, the July 4th celebration at Bug Light Park and the Summer Movie Night Series at Bug Light Park will not be held in 2020. A decision on whether the city will host the 41st annual Art in the Park event will be made by the end of May.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 11, 2020
Central Maine Power Co. on Monday received the third key state permit needed for its proposed transmission corridor stretching from the Quebec border to Lewiston, although a challenge awaits the project at the ballot box this November. The state Department of Environmental Projection issued a permit, building on two other permits CMP has received from the state. The Maine Land Use Planning Commission voted to grant the project a land-use certification in January, and the state’s public utilities commission approved its permit for the project in April 2019. CMP has been actively pursuing the project despite the looming referendum challenge in November.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 11, 2020
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has issued a permit to Central Maine Power Co. for construction of the New England Clean Energy Connect transmission corridor project through western Maine. The $1 billion project now only needs approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and a presidential permit to cross the Canadian border. The Maine Land Use Planning Commission and Public Utilities Commission already have issued their own respective permits for the project, but opponents of the corridor are seeking to have the PUC’s approval overturned via a voter referendum on the November ballot.
TURNER PUBLISHING • May 11, 2020
Mahoosuc Land Trust volunteers arrived at Rumford Whitecap to do needed work on some of the trails in early May. For more than three hours, numerous volunteers built a new bog bridge, refreshed trail blazes, cleared away debris and in general did the work needed to ensure a pleasant, safe hiking experience. All of this was done while complying with social distancing requirements. “Hats off to all of the volunteers that work behind the scenes making sure MLT’s trails are maintained and open for all to use,” MLT officials said.
MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • May 11, 2020
The International Dark-Sky Association has designated Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument as the first International Dark Sky Sanctuary on the eastern seaboard. The skies above Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument are among the darkest East of the Mississippi River. Friends of Katahdin Woods and Waters has released a new edition of the Dark Sky Guide online.
ACADIA ON MY MIND BLOG • May 11, 2020
The pandemic has delayed openings at Acadia National Park and indefinitely postponed operation of shuttle buses, but leaders are forging ahead with plans for a trial run this fall of a parking reservation system for Cadillac Mountain and Ocean Drive, with people allowed to make online reservations in August. The dry run for parking at a reserved site at Cadillac and along Ocean Drive near the entrance to Sand Beach will be held in October. Reservations to park can be made well ahead of the test run, probably as early as Aug. 1 over the same web-based system currently used for reservations at National Park Service campgrounds. Acadia is also planning a reservation system to park at the north lot of Jordan Pond starting not before 2022.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 11, 2020
On Monday, all public beaches reopened, including Drake’s Island Beach, Crescent Beach, Wells Beach and Moody Beach. Mainers are only allowed to swim, fish, walk, work out and surf at the beaches. Visitors must maintain a 6-foot distance from others, and no large groups are allowed to congregate. A 14-day quarantine remains in effect for visitors from out of state, as well as for Mainers returning to the state.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 11, 2020
A federal agency has rejected a private company’s application to relicense three dams on the Mousam River that the Kennebunk Light and Power District no longer wants to operate. The future of the Kesslen, Twine Mill and Dane Perkins dams remains unclear as the Kennebunk Light & Power District waits to hear from the the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission about its application to surrender the three dams, which had generated power in Kennebunk for a century or more. The fate of the dams has been debated for close to a decade as district trustees analyzed whether to relicense and operate them, remove them or face potentially costly upgrades to build fish passages.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 11, 2020
A dozen or more of Maine’s more than 270 summer camps– including overnight, day and town recreation department camps – have already decided not to open this year. Reasons include the fear of exposing campers, staff and local communities to COVID-19, and worries that they could not meet state restrictions about group sizes and quarantines. Others are hopeful they can open, but are awaiting specific state guidelines and answers to their questions.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 11, 2020
Spring has tumbled into Maine again, all green and gold and pink – when it’s not raining or snowing. But hey, the days are longer, the birds are back, the trees are beginning to get green, and there are cute baby animals to see. So grab your mask in case there’s a crowd, keep your distance, go outside, find that host of golden daffodils, get some vitamin D, and listen to the birds sing.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 11, 2020
May 11, 1966: The Maine Legislature passes the Allagash Wilderness Waterway statute, providing protection for northern Maine’s Allagash River, contingent on passage of a bond issue intended to supply funding for the protection. Maine voters approve the bond on Nov. 8. In 1970, the U.S. Department of the Interior designates the 92-mile, northward-flowing waterway as the first state-run component of the National Wild and Scenic River System. The 19th-century writer Henry David Thoreau explored the Allagash in 1857 in the company of his Concord, Massachusetts, friend Edward Hoar and Penobscot guide Joseph Polis.
MORNING SENTINEL • May 11, 2020
Millions of people self-isolating in their homes for fear of catching the deadly COVID-19 virus is not normally a sign of a healthy environment. Yet air pollution levels were sometimes 30% lower during March. The Clean Air Act of 1970 led to regulations that have gone a long way to reducing the effects of smog, ozone and acid rain as environmental problems, though air pollution below EPA standards continues to kill 200,000 people per year in the U.S. Alas, we have become so addicted fossil fuel energy that atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations are now almost 50% higher than when our civilizations started. The extra CO2 now causes additional heating equivalent to the explosion of five atomic bombs per second. As we recover our economy from the pandemic, we urgently need to switch to clean energy sources. ~ Peter Garrett, Winslow, Sustain Mid Maine Coalition and Citizens Climate Lobby
STAR HERALD • May 11, 2020
It’s become a familiar sight in The County — Pineland Farms Potato Co. distributing hundreds of boxes of food to people who are struggling under the economic effects of COVID-19. The company has handed out 9,500 boxes and about 300,000 pounds of food across The County in 10 different giveaways since it began in Mars Hill on April 13.
WASHINGTON POST • May 11, 2020
For decades, advocates from chefs to doctors have tried to get Americans to change the way they eat. In a matter of weeks, a virus appears to have done what they could not. Since mid-March small farms have seen a spike in subscriptions to community-supported agriculture operations, or CSAs, which deliver prepaid weekly bundles of seasonal produce. Buyers stocked up on seeds and plants for their lockdown “victory gardens.” Sourdough starters became “America’s rising pet,” and the nation awakened to the fact that you can grow scallions using leftover roots in a jar on the windowsill. Perhaps all we needed was a pandemic to shake us from our dependence on mass-produced, processed, factory-farm-driven diets. Not so fast. ~ Jane Black and Brent Cunningham
TURNER PUBLISHING • May 10, 2020
Maine organizations that support animal welfare have been awarded $110,000 in grants as part of the Maine Community Foundation’s COVID-19 crisis response. “These 16 grants support animal shelters, humane societies, and pet rescue and adoption services across the state that are responding to increased demand for pet food and supplies, increased surrenders and need for sheltering due to the virus, and increased need for financial support for medical needs,” said Director of Grantmaking Laura Lee. MaineCF also is accepting grant applications now for the Animal Welfare Fund from Maine organizations that address population control for cats and dogs.
TURNER PUBLISHING • May 10, 2020
The Maine Tourism Association, the organization that represents all segments of Maine’s largest industry, has released a video of members talking about the challenges of the pandemic crisis, what they are doing to survive the current situation, and their optimism about an eventual recovery. The release of “Voices of Maine Tourism” coincides with the start of National Travel and Tourism Week, an annual celebration created by Congress to underscore the economic power of travel in the U.S.
TURNER PUBLISHING • May 10, 2020
University of Maine Cooperative Extension is offering guidelines for community gardens during the COVID-19 outbreak based on CDC recommendations. Community Garden Guidelines in the Time of Social Distancing includes recommendations for at-risk individuals, how to support social distancing, manage the numbers of gardeners, and suggested changes for garden operations and routine maintenance during the growing season.
