How you can catch 20 American shad in just a few hours

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 28, 2020

As soon as Edwards Dam on the Kennebec River in Augusta was removed in 1999, Willie Grenier of Waterville was among the anglers trying to figure out the new fishery that would result. Some of his old haunts for brown trout fishing weren’t as productive, but other spots — and other species — quickly teemed with fish. Among the fish that flourished: American shad, which were suddenly able to swim into waters that they’d not had access to in more than 100 years. For people like Grenier, who have spent time figuring out the habits of shad, the fishery provides the opportunity to tangle with dozens of hard-fighting 4- and 5-pound fish in just a few hours far upstream.

Letter: Save the dam at Thompson Lake

SUN JOURNAL • May 28, 2020

Thompson Lake is man-made, supported by a dam now ancient and urgently in need of repair. The dam is the linchpin in a huge and thriving community, without which that community would cease to exist as we know it. The dam is threatened by age, neglect and by climate change. One massive rainfall in one moment can destroy everything. The total cost of such an increasingly likely event is budget-busting. Residents need to act now to save Thompson Lake. ~ Hubert Kauffman, Oxford

The Maine Climate Council: Everything You Need to Know

MAINE CONSERVATION VOTERS • May 27, 2020

On May 27, organizations from across the state hosted a webinar on the Maine Climate Council, which is drafting a new Climate Action Plan for Maine this year. That plan will include recommendations to reduce Maine's greenhouse gas emissions by at least 45% by 2030 and at least 80% by 2050. It will also include recommendations for the state to aid communities in adapting to climate change, and to create a clean energy economy for everyone across our rural state. Sign our petition calling for a strong and equitable Climate Action Plan for Maine.

Questions raised about Auburn’s new Agriculture Committee

SUN JOURNAL • May 27, 2020

Two Auburn farmers are claiming they were left off a new Agriculture Committee for previously criticizing the city’s effort to modernize zoning rules. Former mayoral candidate Joe Gray and farmer Michelle Melaragno, who were among seven applicants for a new Agriculture Committee, said this week that despite being qualified.

Old Orchard Beach, Scarborough Beaches To Open For Recreation

MAINE PUBLIC • May 27, 2020

Beaches in the towns of Scarborough and Old Orchard Beach will be open for recreation Wednesday. That is a change from a walking-only rule the towns had put into place to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. On their web sites, both towns are asking people to practice social distancing and limit the size of their gatherings in line with state guidance.

Some summer camps in Waterville area to open this summer

MORNING SENTINEL • May 27, 2020

Many summer overnight camps in the Waterville area plan to operate this summer despite the coronavirus pandemic, while others have decided not to open their doors. Children who come to camp from outside Maine must quarantine before and after arriving. Ron Hall, executive director of Maine Summer Camps, a nonprofit organization based in Portland that represents 147 camps in Maine, said the coronavirus pandemic has presented a tough situation for camp owners. “Financially, this is a devastating summer for camps, whether they open or don’t open this summer,” he said. “Every camp is going to be losing money, and it’s going to take years for camps to recuperate and, unfortunately, there will be camps that won’t survive this.”

Pandemic has Maine officials in a quandary over conducting elections

PINE TREE WATCH • May 28, 2020

Administrators in cities and towns across Maine are scrambling to determine the best way to safely conduct the July primary. The issue has become a political firestorm in recent weeks, fueled by President Trump’s efforts to undermine mail-in voting efforts across the country. The Maine Voting & Elections Coalition, which represents more than a dozen organizations, including the Maine Conservation Alliance, has submitted 2,334 petition signatures to Gov. Janet Mills, calling on her to sign an executive order providing for several measures, including that an absentee ballot be mailed to every registered voter with return postage.

Column: Ticks have already started their summer invasion

MORNING SENTINEL • May 27, 2020

It’s only mid-May. We have already twisted several ticks out of our bodies. At least the black flies mostly stay outside and will subside in a week or so. The ticks ride right into the house with you or the cat and won’t go away until about November. Not even then, really. If you can’t remember ticks being much of a problem when you were a kid, it’s because they weren’t. ~ Dana Wilde

Maine’s top court denies expansion of contentious Lamoine gravel pit

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 27, 2020

A contentious, seven-year dispute over whether a local contracting firm should be able to expand a gravel-mining site in Lamoine appears to be over after the state supreme court denied the firm’s application for a permit. In a decision released last week, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled in favor of Friends of Lamoine, a group organized to stop Harold MacQuinn Inc., from expanding a 65-acre gravel pit to 108 acres. Residents have raised concerns about the impact the pits have had on Lamoine’s groundwater and quality of life.

BikeMaine 2020 Cancelled

MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • May 27, 2020

The Bicycle Coalition of Maine today announced the cancellation of its BikeMaine 2020: Katahdin Frontier event, citing the safety of riders, volunteers, host communities, and staff during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. BikeMaine, held annually in a different region of Maine since 2013, was scheduled to take place this year from Sept. 12-19, 2020, and visit the host communities of Old Town, Lincoln, Patten, Millinocket, and Dover-Foxcroft. The ride is capped each year at 450 riders, but also includes more than 70 volunteers. Registered riders have the option of rolling over their registration to 2021, requesting a refund, or donating all or part of their registration.

Scallop Fishing Off New England To Be Limited For Months

ASSOCIATED PRESS • May 27, 2020

Federal regulators say scallop fishing off New England will be subject to limitations for about the next 10 months. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it has closed the northern Gulf of Maine fishing area, which means vessels fishing under federal regulations can’t fish for or possess scallops in the area until March 31. NOAA says closure is necessary because of projections that the total allowable catch for the area has been spent. There are exemptions for Maine and Massachusetts vessels that fish only in state waters.

Opinion: Avangrid versus the people of Maine

SUN JOURNAL • May 26, 2020

The news that Avangrid, the parent company of Central Maine Power, has filed suit against its customers to deny them the right for self-determination in a citizens’ initiative is a shocking development in the CMP corridor debate. A foreign company (81.5% owned by Iberdrola, a Spanish conglomerate) is litigating against its own customers and their neighbors to take from them the ability to vote on the future they wish to have as a people. Our own business and political leaders are telling Maine people: “The needs of the capital markets do not allow you to weigh in on a matter that will affect you and you families for generations. Just be silent and obey.” ~ Richard Bennett, Oxford, has 25 years of experience leading companies specializing in corporate governance

Column: When home life goes wild

KENNEBEC JOURNAL • May 27, 2020

When battles with wild critters move into the home, things can get ugly. I’m not just talking about mice, although we’ve done battle with plenty of them. My mouse stomping record is eight, in a two-week period. After getting educated to the benefits bats bring to the neighborhood, I started catching them in a long-handled fishing net, and gently releasing them outside. Then there were the snakes, red squirrels, raccoons and a rabid fox. Choosing to live in and around our homes in rural Maine, we must expect, occasionally, that these wild critters will like our homes. Some we can live with. Some not so much. ~ George Smith

Letter: CMP corridor threatens ‘Forest of the Enchanted’

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 27, 2020

New England Connect Transmission Corridor or “Forest of the Enchanted”? This forest is 1.6 million acres with only one paved road as access, the Old Canada Road National Scenic Highway. This distinguishes Maine as not just a coastal tourist state but as the only state east of the Mississippi that is wilderness as well. The old timers called this “The Forest of the Enchanted” because there are places where streams disappear only to pop up miles away. I prefer the name “Forrest of the Enchanted.” You decide in November. ~ Ed Buzzell, Old Canada Road National Scenic Byway, Pittsfield

Letter: Tourism industry puts profits ahead of public health

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 27, 2020

Whoever drafted the letter from the Tourism Alliance tells us several things. The most salient is that the primary concern of the group is money, not the people of Maine. The second is that the desires and comfort of visitors from out of state are of far greater importance than those of the people of Maine. The third is that they don’t know our very capable governor or anything about her. Repairing the economy is very important, but never at the expense of the lives of the people of Maine. Visitors can be welcomed again when we have a vaccine that is available to all. ~ Judith Pollock, Yarmouth

Red’s Eats to open Saturday

TIMES RECORD • May 27, 2020

Red’s Eats, a summer staple in downtown Wiscasset, will open on Saturday, May 30, but customers in line will be asked to keep 6 feet of space between them and others in line. Necessary social distancing due to COVID-19 could produce more traffic, both pedestrian and vehicular, around the establishment than usual.

Opinion: Coming clean with real benefits

SUN JOURNAL • May 27, 2020

In a recent guest column, Tom Saviello asked Hydro-Québec to come clean on the benefits of the New England Clean Energy Connect. I offer some fact-checking that demonstrates the economic and environmental benefits of the project. It will generate 1,600 jobs for the duration of the project. In addition, the NECEC has awarded more than $300 million in contracts to companies that do business in Maine. The most important point is that the project will bring almost a billion dollars in benefits to the state and will inject another $250 million directly into the state’s finances. Another fact: hydropower is much cleaner than natural gas or coal. Is there any other project in Maine that will offer as much while another state foots the bill? ~ Serge Abergel, Media and External Affairs, Hydro-Québec

Into the woods: The unique conservation story of a Maine hut-to-hut hiking trail

ROADTRIPPERS • May 26, 2020

I’m walking through Maine’s Carrabassett Valley. Maine Huts and Trails (MH&T), the nonprofit behind the trail I’m walking on, is one of the keepers of this wilderness. The idea for the trail system was born in the 1970s by Larry Warren, and inspired by the hut-to-hut trails he’d seen in the European Alps. So, how did this system find its way to the middle of Maine, oceans away from the original trails that inspired it? The answer is a unique story of protected lands and public access.

Proposed Lakeville Expansion of the Downeast Lakes Community Forest ranked first in nation by USFS

MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • May 28, 2020

The U.S. Forest Service has ranked the Lakeville Expansion project of the Downeast Lakes Community Forest first out of 22 applications from across the country to the Community Forest and Open Space Program. Local communities in eastern Maine, Downeast Lakes Land Trust, and The Trust for Public Land are working to protect 2,025 acres to create the Lakeville Expansion of the Downeast Lakes Community Forest .