The most comprehensive online source of conservation news and events in Maine and beyond, edited by Jym St. Pierre
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 3, 2020
State officials are hoping to replace the 14-day quarantine requirement for out-of-state visitors with a “layered” approach that will allow tourists to safely enter the state. On Tuesday, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services announced a new public education campaign called “Keep it Maine” on Tuesday. The campaign promotes physical distancing, the use of cloth face coverings, and hand hygiene in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
SUN JOURNAL • June 2, 2020
NexAmp Solar, LLC out of Boston is proposing a 5-megawatt, 17,874-panel solar array on 82 acres at 1115 Riverside Drive in Auburn. It’s the first application the city’s seen since adopting a new Ag-Zone solar ordinance. The project, named Auburn Renewables, according to its application, would affix tilted, non-rotating panels on 35 of the 82 acres and connect into an existing Central Maine Power Co. distribution line. Nearly 17 acres of land would have to be cleared of trees, and long-term, sheep would graze under the panels to keep the grass down.
FREE PRESS • June 2, 2020
Recently, partners from Midcoast Conservancy, the Town of Alna, Atlantic Salmon Federation and The Nature Conservancy met at Head Tide Dam in Alna. The dam was modified in 2019 to improve fish passage in the Sheepscot River and enhance public safety and access. No one saw any fish, which means the Head Tide project was successful. Large numbers were reported to be higher up in the watershed, indicating alewives were readily reaching their spawning grounds.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 2, 2020
Baxter State Park plans to increase recreational access June 15, opening its two main gates for vehicle access. “We recognize that connecting with the natural world is an important salve in this time of anxiety, and we look forward to partnering with the public to make this a safe season,” Baxter State Park Director Eben Sypitkowski said in a statement. Beginning June 15, Baxter State Park will open Togue Pond and Matagamon gates from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily for vehicle access on the park’s Tote Road.
ACADIA ON MY MIND BLOG • June 1, 2020
Bracing for an unprecedented year and facing a projected decline in visits and revenues from entrance and concession fees, Acadia National Park during the pandemic is opening the Park Loop Road to traffic and offering limited visitor services beginning today, a month and a half later than normal.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 2, 2020
Four-year-old Violet Hamner has a new best friend and like many BFFs, the two are inseparable. But what makes this friendship so unique is that the little girl’s pal is a tiny 2-week-old duckling named Furry. “Everyone keeps telling me what a special duck he is,” Violet’s mom Loni Hamner said. “But he’s just doing what ducks do.” What Furry did was “imprint” on Violet Hamner after he was the only duck to survive out of a clutch of 10 eggs the Hamners had in a mechanical incubator in their home.
FREE PRESS • June 2, 2020
Each mid-April through May, Maine birders await the annual stream of vibrantly colored spring warblers. The timing and pace of warbler migration, spread across the span of six weeks or so, varies slightly from year to year, depending on ambient weather factors. The overall patterns of movement hold true, however. Spring migration follows a condensed and rapid schedule, as birds sense an urgency to claim nesting territories and get down to business. ~ Don Reimer
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 2, 2020
A national carbon pricing bill – the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (HR 763) – is currently in the U.S. House and has bipartisan support from over 70 co-sponsors, including Rep. Chellie Pingree. While regional initiatives are indeed laudable, we need national policy to prevent neighboring states from polluting our air. Furthermore, HR 763 mandates the carbon proceeds to be returned to each taxpayer as a monthly dividend check which creates a positive feedback loop where we are all incentivized to invest in a cleaner future. A national carbon fee and dividend – or “carbon cash-back” program – is projected to have the U.S. exceed our Paris protocol goals within eight years, create 2.1 million U.S. jobs and predominantly benefit low- and middle-income Americans. ~ Peter Dugas, Citizens’ Climate Lobby, Portland
MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • June 1, 2020
The Maine Mountain Collaborative (MMC) received a grant from the Innovative Finance for National Forests Grant Program to support an ongoing project that connects private impact investment capital to long term forest management in western Maine forests. The Exemplary Forestry Investment Fund is a timber investment fund that addresses two challenges: declining public/private funding for land conservation in Maine, and declining forest conditions necessary for healthy ecosystems. The MMC is a group of nine land conservation organizations working in the western Maine mountain region. The $120,000 grant to the MMC, which is being matched by an anonymous private foundation.
MORNING SENTINEL • June 1, 2020
The Planning Board postponed making recommendations Monday night to the City Council on whether two properties should be rezoned to allow solar farms, after the link the public used to join the meeting failed 21 minutes into the virtual session. The board also postponed to June 22 a recommendation to the council on whether to change the zoning ordinance to create a new Solar Farm District, in which the only permitted use would be solar farms.
SUN JOURNAL • June 1, 2020
Beware the $26 Bean boot. An L.L.Bean warehouse sale advertised on Facebook selling deeply discounted boots and shoes is a scam. Credit care charges are made to a computer software store in Singapore. L.L.Bean is actively working with Facebook and others to have this site, and any others, removed as soon as possible.
MAINE PUBLIC • June 1, 2020
Acadia National Park reopened to motorized traffic on Monday. The park’s access road and many of its trails had been open previously for walkers and bicyclists. The park’s carriage trails are still closed, pending restoration of some winter damage. The wide expanse of Phippsburg’s Popham Beach easily absorbed the two-dozen or so people there Monday afternoon. To help ensure adequate social distancing, the state is limiting parking at lifeguarded beaches such as Popham and Reid State Park by 50 percent, and is sealing off some public bathroom stalls as well.
ASSOCIATED PRESS • June 2, 2020
An outdoor group will use $1 million in federal funds to conserve more than 16,000 acres near the Gulf of Maine. Appalachian Mountain Club will receive the money from the North American Wetlands Conservation Act and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, officials said. The conservation work will protect more than 100 migratory bird species
ASSOCIATED PRESS • June 1, 2020
Maine’s season for baby eel fishing is coming to a close with the lowest prices in a decade. Fishermen are averaging $525 per pound this year. Last year’s price was almost $2,100 per pound. And the seasons almost over, as it’s scheduled to end on June 7 or on the day fishermen exhaust the annual quota.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 1, 2020
Atlantic salmon have been protected under the federal Endangered Species Act since 2000. But the fish has been absent from the Maine state list. Now, a group has come together to urge the state to change that. Ten conservation groups and six individuals with years of experience in fisheries issues have sent a letter to the commissioner of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, requesting the inclusion of Atlantic salmon on the state’s list of endangered species. That would help align the state with the federal government’s conservation efforts.
GEORGE SMITH’S OUTDOOR NEWS • June 1, 2020
DIFW Fisheries Biologist Wes Ashe recently reported on an illegal introduction of invasive Bluegills in Turner Mills Pond (Somerville), Long Pond (Windsor), and Sheepscot Pond (Palermo).
TURNER PUBLISHING • June 1, 2020
State park campgrounds open today, and the state Bureau of Parks and Lands has been working behind the scenes to plan this year’s season, which is affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. June camping is restricted to Maine residents and non-residents who have met the 14-day in-state quarantine requirement. Baxter State Park is not included in the June 1 opening. Targeted opening for that park is July 1. For the latest information about camping at Maine State Parks and reservations, visit CampWithMe.com. Statewide camping guidance is also available on the Department of Economic and Community Development website.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 1, 2020
None of us has prior experience of a genuine climate crisis, and although we have known enough about what’s going to happen to justify urgent action for 30 years now, we have done nothing decisive about it. We have lots of “clean” technology, but total demand for energy has grown so fast that we are still getting a steady 80 percent of our energy from fossil fuels. Realistically, this is not going to change much. We are who we are, shaped by millions of years of evolution, and our ancestors didn’t do long-term planning; they had to concentrate on acute short-term problems. A truly serious response to the climate threat will therefore come only when it is actually starting to hurt. Unfortunately, by then it will probably be too late. ~ Gwynne Dyer
SUN JOURNAL • June 1, 2020
The Fryeburg Fair organizers announced Monday it will not be in operation this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The fair was scheduled for Oct. 4-11, but organizers said they plan to resume the fair in 2021. Fryeburg Fair is one of Maine’s oldest and largest agricultural fairs, having operated at its present location since 1885.
InsideClimate News • June 1, 2020
David Falatko, an environmental engineer, discovered that under an EPA a consent decree Global Partners, a Massachusetts-based company that owns some of the 120 tanks in South Portland, had the potential to emit roughly twice the amount of VOCs as the company’s permit allowed, in violation of the federal Clean Air Act. Armed with Falatko’s discovery, local environmental advocates feel they have proof that Global is violating its emissions permit and perhaps even exceeding the 50-ton limit that would require regulation as a major source. The big question: Why did Global choose to use the vapor pressure value that it did? It’s still unclear what the state will do with Falatko’s findings.
