Central Maine Power gets approval from DEP for transmission line project

DAILY ENERGY INSIDER • May 13, 2020

Central Maine Power Company (CMP) got a permit from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to build the New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) project. The project includes a 145-mile electric transmission line that runs from Beattie Township near the Quebec border to a new converter station in Lewiston. It also includes several upgrades to CMP’s existing electrical transmission network between Lewiston and Pownal, Windsor and Wiscasset, and in Cumberland. Roughly two-thirds of line is proposed to be built along CMP’s existing transmission corridor. The new portions of the line would run through commercial timberland in western Somerset and Franklin counties.

Maine CDC Urges Precautions Against Tickborne Diseases

MAINE GOVERNMENT NEWS • May 13, 2020

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC) urges Maine people to take precautions against ticks during May, Lyme Disease Awareness Month. This year's Lyme Disease Awareness Month theme is "Tick Tock," which reminds Mainers to slow down and take time to practice tick and tickborne disease prevention. Deer ticks, which can carry the germs that cause tickborne diseases such as Lyme, anaplasmosis, and babesiosis, are most commonly found in wooded, leafy, and shrubby areas, meaning most Mainers are at risk every day. Individuals and families spending more time outdoors, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, should take steps to limit their exposure to ticks. Ticks are already active in Maine. 

Opinion: A staycation may be just what you and the Maine tourism industry need during this pandemic

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 13, 2020

In this crisis time, no major economic sector in Maine is more threatened — or more in need of a resilience strategy — than tourism and recreation. Just last year, Maine tourists spent more than $6 billion, supporting more than 100,000 jobs and contributing more than $600 million to state revenues. The current crisis is set to be far more devastating than the 2007-09 Great Recession, when it took five years for tourist numbers, visitor spending and employment to return to pre-recession levels. For the coming summer tourism season we should revive a marketing idea from the last recovery period: the “ Staycation.” In 2020, Mainers fortunate enough to have good health and secure incomes should make a special effort to explore rural Maine’s many attractions — natural, cultural, adventure and culinary. And spend! ~ David Vail 

Maine Climate Council’s Natural and Working Lands Working Group seeks public comments

KENNEBEC JOURNAL • May 13, 2020

The Natural and Working Lands Working Group, one of six working groups responsible for developing and recommending mitigation and adaptation actions to the Maine Climate Council, seeks public comments on its draft strategies. Public comments can be emailed by May 13 to Tom Gordon, staff for the Natural & Working Lands Work Group, at tom.gordon@maine.gov.

Column: Getting outdoors more important than ever

KENNEBEC JOURNAL • May 13, 2020

I feel sorry for the folks from away who spend the summer and sometimes the fall in Maine at their camps and houses. I understand the need for them to quarantine for two weeks after they arrive. But too many Mainers are sending them nasty messages. One summer resident in Mount Vernon got a message that someone was going to burn down their camp. 80% of the property taxes in our town are paid by our summer residents. When I raised money to build an addition to our library, 80% of our individual donors were summer residents. I’m also afraid most nonresident hunters and anglers will not be coming to Maine this year, and that will be devastating for guides, sporting camps, and lots of small businesses. I recommend that you get outdoors a lot. And I hope your yard is full of wild animals, like ours is. ~ George Smith

Column: Pandemic offers opportunity for food system reform

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 13, 2020

Those who grow, sell and serve our food are essential workers, and we should treat them as such. There are many policies the states simply cannot change without the federal government’s cooperation. One of them is improving our national food supply chain and another is protecting the workers who’ve been deemed essential. Local farms and food producers have not had the privilege of receiving funds from the Trump administration’s farm trade bailouts. My bill, the bipartisan PRIME (Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption) Act, would change federal regulations to make it easier to process meat locally. ~ Rep. Chellie Pingree, is an organic farmer and member of the House Agriculture Committee

Six Maine Trails You Need to Hike

92MOOSE RADIO • May 12, 2020

We asked Moose listeners to tell us about their favorite their favorite nature walks and hikes. Here are some of the highlights:
• Augusta Greenway Trail - Trail runs from East Side Boat Landing to the old arsenal building along the Kennebec River.
• Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Area - An expansive trail system in Phippsburg.
• Devil's Back Trail - Trail system on Orr's Island in Harpswell.
• Gardiner Waterfront - Trail head at the south end of Gardiner's Waterfront Park.
• Lake George Regional Park - 10 miles of trails partially encircling Lake George near Canaan.
• Mount Pisgah Conservation Trails - Two miles of trails, part of the Kennebec Land Trust. 

Groups cheer on Milltown Dam Removal, St. Croix River Restoration as fish start spring migration

MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • MAY 12, 2020

Indigenous Nation and NGOs representing thousands of people in Maine and New Brunswick are united in support of NB Power’s decision to remove the Milltown Dam, the oldest hydroelectric facility in Canada, and restore free flow to the lower Skutik (St. Croix) River. The dam removal is part of a comprehensive, collaborative river restoration effort which includes habitat enhancement and planning for improved fish passage at other dams and barriers throughout the watershed. Ensuring native searun fish (fish that swim between the ocean and rivers and lakes) have access to their native habitat is a cornerstone of successful restoration. 

Column: The Woodpecker Tree

FREE PRESS • May 12, 2020

By early April, I begin hearing the male sapsucker’s shrill, squealing calls and distinctive drumming rhythms that announce his presence. Typical drumming cadences begin rapidly but, near the end of the sequence, slow to dragged-out, countable taps. Male sapsuckers seek the most resonant-sounding posts, such as telephone poles, dead hollow branches, and even metal street signs, to amplify the effect. ~ Don Reimer

York plans ‘soft opening’ of town beaches on May 18

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 13, 2020

York will begin the process of reopening its beaches next week for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic led to a statewide shutdown that prohibited large groups of people from gathering. The town said it will allow active use of the town beaches – walking, running, fishing and surfing – as part of a “soft opening” on May 18.

Tourism groups ask Mills to reconsider 14-day quarantine as summer approaches

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 12, 2020

Groups representing Maine tourism businesses want Gov. Janet Mills to allow them to reopen and rescind a requirement that out-of-state visitors self-quarantine for 14 days when they arrive. In an open letter to the governor posted online Tuesday, seven groups said Maine’s tourism economy is on the verge of collapse. They said they are working on a plan to reopen and welcome visitors safely, and asked Mills to drop the quarantine requirement. The industry is worried about a collapse of Maine's multibillion-dollar tourism economy, but the state says a quarantine is the only tool it has to stop the coronavirus' spread from Northeast hot spots.

Lower Barker Mill Dam licensing opens up Auburn recreational opportunities

TURNER PUBLISHING • May 12, 2020

The Lower Barker Mill Dam has been licensed after a six-year effort by the city, Androscoggin Land Trust, National Park Service, Bates College, Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands, American Whitewater, Trout Unlimited, Atlantic Salmon Federation and many federal and state fisheries related agencies and others. The biggest benefit of this is increased recreation opportunities for the public, those involved said. “The recreation potential this brings to Auburn is the ‘big win,'” said Eric Cousens, Auburn deputy director of economic and community development.

Poll Shows Strong Majority of Maine Voters Support Climate Action and Clean Energy

NATURAL RESOURCES COUNCIL OF MAINE • May 12, 2020

A strong majority of Maine voters support bipartisan action on clean energy and transportation to address climate change, even as the state faces the coronavirus pandemic, according to a public opinion survey by the Portland-based research firm Critical Insights. The survey released today by the Natural Resources Council of Maine shows that Maine voters are increasingly concerned about the impacts of global warming, and more than 80% support reducing pollution by expanding solar energy and creating a statewide public transportation network connecting cities and towns with bus service. Mainers want their elected officials to work across party lines to address global warming and support the ongoing work of the Maine Climate Council to develop a strong Climate Action Plan.

Common Ground Fair Will Be Virtual

FREE PRESS • May 12, 2020

Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association’s Common Ground Country Fair will be offered in a virtual format this year. The annual celebration of rural living is held the third weekend after Labor Day and in past years regularly attracted more than 60,000 visitors to MOFGA’s fairgrounds in Unity. MOFGA will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2021, and Executive Director Sarah Alexander said the organization hopes to come back with an even bigger in-person celebration then. 

Maine approves transmission line

UTILITY DIVE • My 12, 2020

The Maine DEP reviewed the Clean Energy Connect project for more than two years, before issuing permits that included additional environmental mitigation elements. "Collectively, the requirements of the permit require an unprecedented level of environmental protection and compensatory land conservation for the construction of a transmission line in the state of Maine," DEP said in a May 11 statement.

Maine Lobstermen’s Association gears up for legal battle in federal court

PENOBSCOT BAY PILOT • May 12, 2020

Thousands of Maine’s family-owned lobstering businesses are at risk of extinction due to a recent federal court ruling citing a violation of the Endangered Species Act by the National Marine Fisheries Service, according to the nonprofit Maine Lobstermen’s Association/Maine Lobstermen’s Community Alliance. The MLA has initiated a fundraising drive to help with its legal defense fund.

Letter: Maine GOP has history of environmental protection rollbacks, too

FORECASTER • May 13, 2020

The effort by Maine’s Republican Party to roll back environmental protection laws was much alive prior to Trump and recognized years ago by former Maine state Sen. and House Majority Leader Harrison Richardson when he stated in a previously undisclosed letter in 1995 to Republican Jeff Butland, president of the Maine Senate: “As a life-long Republican I am very concerned that some of the leadership of the party seems to believe that the way to succeed at the polls is environmental bashing. I think that it is a mistake and a very bad one….the word ‘conservation’ is really an extension of the term ‘conservative.'” When will they ever learn? ~ R. John Wuesthoff, Portland

Hampden waste plant needs to borrow $10M after reporting low revenues

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 12, 2020

The group representing 115 Maine communities that send their waste to a new plant in Hampden has made a loan of $1.5 million to the facility to help it make improvements after its first six months of regular operations brought in lower-than-expected revenues. Since starting commercial operations near the end of last year, the Coastal Resources of Maine plant has struggled to bring in revenue in part because it still doesn’t have the state permits that are necessary to resell two different products — plastic fuel briquettes and cellulose pulp — that it makes from the waste it receives.

Three-day-old harbor seal pup makes remarkable recovery after beach stranding

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 11, 2020

In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Marine Mammals of Maine announced Monday that it has some goods news to share with supporters of the Brunswick-based marine rescue organization. A harbor seal pup that washed up on Scarborough Beach last Wednesday suffering from dehydration, kidney problems, a respiratory infection and lethargy has recovered and will be transferred this week to a long-term care facility in Massachusetts, according to Executive Director Lynda Doughty. Doughty and Marine Mammals of Maine received national recognition in March when CNN chose her as a nominee for the cable network’s Hero Award for 2020.

Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth reopens, with restrictions

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 11, 2020

Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth reopened Monday, with restrictions, after being closed for more than a month because of the coronavirus outbreak. Cape Elizabeth Community Services said the 90-acre oceanfront park, which features world-renowned Portland Head Light, will be open only to pedestrians and cyclists.