UMFK unveils new natural resources concentration

FIDDLEHEAD FOCUS • May 21, 2020

The University of Maine at Fort Kent has announced the creation of a new natural resources concentration within the conservation law enforcement bachelor of science degree program. “This new concentration creates a more comprehensive education that will open many doors in natural resource conservation professions in Maine and beyond,” said Marilyn Epp, UMFK professor of conservation law enforcement. “Some of the more commonly known professions this would pertain to are: GIS technicians, Game Wardens, Forest Rangers and Park Rangers.”

High Peaks Alliance collaborates with motorized clubs of Franklin County’s Unorganized Territory

DAILY BULLDOG • May 21, 2020

“Trails contribute to the nature-based tourism economy of the region,” said Betsy Squibb, a long-time member of the High Peaks Alliance. The Alliance, a local non-profit volunteer organization that has spent the last 13 years dedicated to keeping public access to the region, successfully submitted a request to the Franklin County Economic Development Council for a $64,000 TIF grant to support the trail maintenance projects of five clubs in the unorganized townships of the region. The Alliance also successfully submitted a $17,750 grant to the Council that involved the Center for Community GIS in Farmington transforming GIS data the clubs' collected into a series of planning maps as the basis for trail relocation, continual maintenance and future club maps.

Enjoy the great outdoors this Memorial Day weekend, but do it safely

BRIDGTON NEWS • May 21, 2020

With some outstanding weather ahead for this Memorial Day weekend and next week, biking, boating, hiking, fishing, birdwatching and other outdoor activities are great ways to stay healthy in the age of COVID-19 – provided they are conducted in accordance with all public health restrictions and guidance. 

South Portland Land Trust to distribute free tree seedlings

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 21, 2020

The South Portland Land Trust will distribute free cedar tree seedlings to local residents over the next two Saturdays. The trust has received a donation of 1,000 Northern White Cedar seedlings that will be distributed in pre-bundled sets of 10, said Richard Rottkov, trust president. Every young tree absorbs about 13 pounds of carbon dioxide per year, and full-grown trees absorb four times that amount. Trees also host a variety of birds and other animals, prevent erosion and mediate the effects of flooding, drought, summer heat and storm surges.

Two wildfires in northern Maine consume over 200 acres

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 21, 2020

Firefighters were battling two wildfires in northern Maine on Thursday afternoon and warned of bad fire conditions on Friday. One fire in Island Falls on the slope of Robinson/May Mountain burned more than 100 acres and was 30 percent contained late Thursday afternoon. A second fire in Baxter State Park was expected to grow to more than 100 acres by dark Thursday. Officials said they didn’t have any information on containment.

These farm animal stereotypes are debunked with science

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 22, 2020

It wonder: Do the common sayings and stereotypes about farm animals have any basis in fact, or are they pure slander? I reached out to livestock experts around the state of Maine to find out the truth. Here’s what they had to say.

Pigs are dirty: FALSE

Pigs eat “like pigs”: TRUE

Cows are stupid: FALSE

Bull in a china shop: TRUE

Goats eat anything: FALSE (SORT OF)

Chickens are “chicken”: TRUE (SORT OF)

CMP corridor opponents seek info gathered during alleged police spying

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 21, 2020

Opponents of the Central Maine Power corridor project, who were among those allegedly targeted for surveillance by a secretive state police intelligence unit, are asking for the release of any information gathered about their group. In a letter sent Thursday to Gov. Janet Mills and CMP Board Chairman David Flanagan, anti-corridor campaign director Sandra Howard wrote, “As you can imagine, this is a scary notion for us. We are not doing anything that deserves the heavy hand of state police intervention.”

Biologists propose all-time record 109,890 any-deer permits

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 21, 2020

The state’s wildlife biologists have proposed a 61.2 percent increase in the number of any-deer permits allotted this year. If the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s advisory council approves the plan, 109,890 hunters will be allowed to shoot deer without antlers during the firearms hunting season. That’s an increase of 41,745 from the 68,145 permits handed out in 2019, and more than 25,000 more any-deer permits than have ever been issued under the system in Maine in a single year. 

Bicyclist struck, killed in Rumford; driver arrested

SUN JOURNAL • May 21, 2020

A bicyclist was struck and killed Thursday morning on U.S. Route 2, and the driver of the car involved was charged with manslaughter and operating under the influence of drugs. The identity of the adult female bicyclist, who died at the scene, is not being released until Friday so her next of kin and extended family can be notified. Alger M. Aleck, 37, of Mexico was arrested on charges of manslaughter and criminal operating a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs which caused a death.

Rabid fox attacks Lisbon woman

SUN JOURNAL • May 21, 2020

A rabid fox attacked and injured a local woman Tuesday afternoon as she sat in the yard of her Keay Road home, police said. The 76-year-old woman told police the fox suddenly appeared and charged at her. As she struggled to control the fox, it bit her on her legs and hand, Hagan said. Her husband heard her cries for help and worked with her to get control of the fox and eventually kill it.

Column: Climate change is making tropical storms more severe. It will only get worse.

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 25, 2020

A study by researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Wisconsin at Madison, published last Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, confirms that there is a direct link between warmer oceans, more water vapor in the air and bigger storms. MUCH bigger. It can only get worse, as will almost every other climate impact. The point will come, as with most of the other climate changes, when the local environment is no longer compatible with a normal human lifestyle. ~ Gwynne Dyer

Auburn’s Mount Apatite updated and ready for responsible use

TURNER PUBLISHING • May 20, 2020

The City of Auburn, in partnership with the Friends of Mount Apatite and Central Maine New England Mountain Bike Association, have announced improvements — and reminders — as spring weather entices users to Mount Apatite Park. Mount Apatite Park, a 325-acre wooded park in the western portion of the city offers a wide variety of recreational opportunities not often found in municipal park settings, and features approximately four miles of trails for non-motorized uses such as hiking, mountain biking, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing.

Jenni Judkins wins Maine teaching award

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 20, 2020

The Belfast Bay Watershed Coalition’s Natural Literacy Educator Jenni Judkins has won the Philip Marcoux Award given by the Maine Science Teachers Association for her enduring contribution to educating students in  BBWC’s Natural Literacy program. She was nominated by two different teachers whose classes she has worked with this year. You can watch Amy Hafford’s 3-minute video of Natural Literacy with her 3rd graders.

A Maine loon killed a bald eagle by stabbing it in the heart

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 20, 2020

A wildlife biologist at the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, D’Auria got word of a dead eagle found at Highland Lake in Bridgton. The bird had been found with a puncture wound in its chest and, because it is illegal to kill bald eagles, D’Auria had the bird radiographed for a possible bullet wound at Norway Veterinary Hospital. The evidence collected from the radiograph, and a pathologist’s examination at the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wisconsin, indicated that the big bird had been stabbed through the heart by the beak of a loon.

Phippsburg Land Trust gains 241 acres of protected land

TIMES RECORD • May 20, 2020

The Phippsburg Land Trust acquired two parcels, totaling 241 acres, doubling in size. “These large, unbroken chunks of land are really valuable for maintaining animal habitats,” said Brenda Cummings, president of the Phippsburg Land Trust. The land trust’s goal is to connect the pieces of land and create a walking trail from the north end of Phippsburg down toward Popham Beach at the end of the peninsula.

Maine Voices: Pandemic underscores urgency of taking action on climate change

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 20, 2020

As we begin to reopen from the pandemic lockdown, we can return our focus to the most significant threat our planet faces: climate change. Continued burning of fossil fuels will raise the greenhouse gases in our atmosphere and drive temperatures around the world to unprecedented levels. This threatens our lives in many ways: Rendering parts of the Earth uninhabitable, raising sea levels enough to swamp global cities, spreading tropical diseases worldwide, threatening global food supplies, causing drought in some areas and flood in others and making forest fires more frequent, deadly and damaging.

Letter: Time to renegotiate on CMP corridor

MORNING SENTINEL • May 20, 2020

I understand that the Central Maine Power/Hydro-Quebec project will provide “clean energy.” However, because the numbers don’t add up, I can’t support the project. The CMP ads don’t tell us that Quebec will receive $22 billion. Over 40 times more for them than for us, and $60 million a year for 40 years gets wired to Iberdrola shareholders in Spain. CMP and Hydro-Quebec can’t make their billions without us. That’s what their million-dollar ad campaign is about. The corridor question will be on the ballot this November. The people of Maine will have the final say. We have “leverage.” I say we renegotiate the deal. ~ John Nale, Waterville

Petition threatens to derail solar incentives across New England

PINE TREE WATCH • May 19, 2020

As the coronavirus pandemic ripples across the world, the solar energy industry faces a threat in the shadows. The New England Ratepayers Association recently introduced a petition to change the industry’s regulatory structures and reduce the amount of money solar users receive for the energy they produce but do not use. The petition specifically aims to roll back net metering, which allows solar customers to use the energy their fixtures produce and receive credit for any extra energy they generate.