Senators Announce National Parks Study Showing Restore Our Parks Legislation Will Support More Than 100,000 Jobs Over Next Five Years

MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • June 5, 2020

Today, U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH), Mark Warner (D-VA), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), and Angus King (I-ME) announced that a new National Parks Service (NPS) study of their Restore Our Parks legislation found that the legislation will support an average of 40,300 direct jobs and a total of 100,100 direct and indirect jobs over the next five years to help address the more than $12 billion backlog in long-delayed maintenance projects at the NPS. Next week, the Senate will consider S. 3422, the Great American Outdoors Act, landmark legislation to address the deferred maintenance backlog across the federal land management agencies and to provide permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

Trump Opens Atlantic Marine Monument To Fishing During Maine Roundtable

MAINE PUBLIC • June 5, 2020

President Donald Trump signed a proclamation in Bangor on Friday that he says will undo most of the fishing restrictions President Barack Obama ordered for a 5,000-square-mile swath of submerged canyons and mountains off the Atlantic coast that’s prized for its biological diversity. Trump said he would take the “no fishing” sign down from the Monument’s waters. A legal battle is expected. Obama established the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument in 2016. Obama actually provided a 7-year exemption for lobster and crab fishermen. There are no Maine vessels fishing now in the area.

Letter: Plenty not to like in Trump’s policies

SEACOAST ONLINE • June 5, 2020

A recent letter writer whined about how those of us who dislike Trump should focus on his policies and not his many personality faults. How about this? Trump has reversed, revoked or rolled back 60 environmental policies. Examples - loosening regulations on methane admissions; repealing clean water rules; weakening Endangered Species Act; rolling back off-shore drilling safety regulations; weakening climate plan to help coal plants stay open; weakened rules to restrict auto pollution. ~ Marilyn Johnson, Kittery, Maine

Trump takes another illegal action against protected monument areas

WILDERNESS SOCIETY • May 5, 2020

A proclamation issued by President Trump today threatens the fate of national monuments, and a bedrock conservation law, by using an unprecedented attempt to undermine the Antiquities Act. The President traveled to Maine to meet with a small group of fisherman and issued what is believed to be an illegal proclamation that would open the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Marine Monument to commercial fishing. These limits were put in place for these sensitive ocean areas in 2016 to protect deep-sea coral, a number of fish species, endangered whales, and rare seabirds.

Trump signs order opening Atlantic monument to fishing, but he may not have the authority

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 5, 2020

President Donald Trump signed a proclamation opening a national marine monument off the Gulf of Maine to commercial fishing during his Friday visit to Bangor, although he may not have the authority to do so and the move invites a legal challenge. The order would allow fishing to resume in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument while canceling a planned phase-out of lobster and crab fishing in the area. It was supported by fishing interests but risks a legal showdown with environmentalists.

Trump Illegally Eliminates Protections for First and Only Monument in the Atlantic Ocean

NRDC • June 5, 2020

Just one day after issuing an executive order that allows polluters to skirt bedrock environmental laws, President Trump signed an order today—in the middle of a nation in crisis—this time stripping essential protections from the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. Located off the coast of Maine, these nearly 5,000 square miles in the Atlantic are home to more than 1,000 remarkable species. Today’s decision is an illegal attempt to open the region back up to commercial fishing.

While in Bangor, President Trump moves to allow commercial fishing in conservation area

WABI • June 5, 2020

President Donald Trump has taken action to allow commercial fishing at the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts off the New England coast. The conservation area comprises 5,000 square miles east of Cape Cod that contains vulnerable species of marine life such as right whales and fragile deep sea corals. Trump used a visit with Maine fishermen on Friday to make the announcement. Environmental groups vowed to push back against the president’s actions. Following this event, Senator Angus King said: "The President’s decision today to roll back the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument designation won’t improve the prospects for our fishermen a fraction as much as reconsidering the tariffs that have wiped out years of time, toil, and energy invested by our seafood industry in developing new markets around the globe.”

Remarks By President Trump In A Roundtable On Supporting America’s Commercial Fishermen

THE WHITE HOUSE • June 5, 2020

We’re joined by Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt and a very good friend of mine, former governor Paul LePage. Under the last administration, commercial fishermen and Maine lobstermen were suddenly informed that nearly 5,000 square miles of ocean off the coast of New England would be closed to commercial fishing, without justification. Is that right? Five hundred — no, you got to be kidding. Is that right? This action was deeply unfair to Maine lobstermen. Threatened to cripple family businesses. It cost America’s fishermen millions of dollars. So they closed 5,000 square miles of ocean off your coast, right? That’s amazing, Paul.  How did you let that — how did they let that happen?

Webinar: Introduction to Climate Science

MAINE CONSERVATION VOTERS • June 5, 2020

Dr. Karl Kreutz, Professor at the School of Earth and Climate Sciences and the Climate Change Institute at UMaine, gives an introductory course in climate science. He covers how global warming works, the current period of climate change we are experiencing, and its impacts —  both globally and in Maine.

Trump Administration Moves Ahead with Plan to Strip Bird Protections

DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE • June 5, 2020

Despite nearly 200,000 public comments defending the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), the Trump administration is pushing forward with its plan to cement into law a hotly disputed proposal to strip protections from migratory birds from harms caused by industrial activities, dramatically undercutting the law’s ability to conserve birds.

Eastern Trail hires new executive director

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 5, 2020

The board of directors of the Eastern Trail Alliance and the Eastern Trail Management District announced this week the hiring of Jon Kachmar as its next executive director. The mission of the Eastern Trail Alliance is to build, maintain, and promote the use of the Eastern Trail, a recreation and transportation greenway from Casco Bay to the Piscataqua River in Kittery. 

June 5: Strawberry Moon lunar eclipse

MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • June 5, 2020

Sharp-eyed skywatchers in parts of the world may be able to catch a slight lunar eclipse today (June 5) as Earth embarks on a new "eclipse season," although North American viewers will be out of luck. Today's eclipse will be what astronomers dub a "penumbral eclipse," which occurs when the outer ring of Earth's shadow just grazes the moon.

June 5: World Environment Day

MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • June 5, 2020

World Environment Day is the most renowned day for environmental action. Since 1974, it has been celebrated every year on 5 June; engaging governments, businesses, celebrities and citizens to focus their efforts on a pressing environmental issue. In 2020, the theme is biodiversity.

EXCLUSIVE: Trump reportedly to change or kill New England Marine Monument

MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • June 5, 2020

President Trump will arrive in Bangor, Maine, today at around 1:50 p.m. He will go into a discussion at the airport with commercial fisheries stakeholders who the White House has refused to identify. However, inside sources tell Maine Environmental News that Trump is expected to undermine the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument off the coast of New England on the edge of Georges Bank. He may even “torpedo” it. It was created by President Barack Obama in 2016 as the first U.S. national marine monument in the Atlantic Ocean in response to citizens requesting the area be protected, due to its importance as a biodiversity hotspot, habitat for numerous rare and endangered species, and a valuable scientific and historical site. Two years ago, the Trump administration defended the monument asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit from fishermen trying to eliminate it.

Important info and discounts for Maine sporting camps

GEORGE SMITH’S OUTDOOR NEWS • June 5, 2020

Here’s a great chance for you to help – and enjoy – one of our struggling Maine sporting camps. The Natural Resources Council of Maine has a great relationship with a group of our best sporting camps. Check out NRCM’s info about those camps, and take advantage of the discounts being offered.

Letter: Reclassify the Androscoggin

SUN JOURNAL • June 5, 2020

It is past time to recognize the enormous progress that has been made to clean up the Androscoggin River. Once a national disgrace, it has been transformed into a tremendous resource for river communities. I strongly support upgrading the classification of the river in recognition of this progress. It is time to recognize that improvement by reclassifying the river. ~ Peter Driscoll, Turner

Column: The unusual wonders of skeleton shrimp

TIMES RECORD • June 5, 2020

Tide pool creatures are not the best at social distancing. One particularly strange species is particularly bad at this practice. They gather in large numbers and like to stick to each other as well as just about everything else. You may not have ever noticed them before because, although they may be there in great numbers, they are perfectly camouflaged among thread-like seaweeds and other tiny plants and animals. Perhaps that’s why they are sometimes called “ghost” shrimp. More commonly, they are known as skeleton shrimp. ~ Susan Olcott

Medway man who made his mark as an Allagash ranger dies of coronavirus

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 5, 2020

Tom Coon, a dyed-in-the-wool outdoorsman from Medway, reveled in canoeing, fishing, fiddleheading and the quarter century he spent as a ranger on the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. And when the 63-year-old died Sunday of complications from COVID-19 at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, it was in a hospital room with a view of the Penobscot River down below. According to Matt LaRoche, the Allagash Wilderness Waterway Superintendent, Coon, a colorful character who did his job memorably and well, didn’t hold back if he saw something that didn’t seem right. “He’d just tell it like it is.“