The most comprehensive online source of conservation news and events in Maine and beyond, edited by Jym St. Pierre
UNDERCURRENT NEWS • June 19, 2020
The US offshore lobster and Jonah crab industry is responding to the interim plan put forth Thursday by Pew Charitable Trusts for better protecting endangered North Atlantic right whales from getting snared in their vertical trap lines. The Pew strategy, they say, would backfire and lead to more whale deaths.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 19, 2020
Picking your own berries at a local farm is a summer staple in Maine that spans generations: Customers go into the fields, leisurely picking strawberries to take home and probably sneaking a few bites along the way. But this year, picking your own fruit – like just about everything else – will look and feel different. Farms will follow now-familiar COVID-19 guidelines, such as asking customers to wear masks, stay 6 feet apart and avoid cash payments if possible, with a few additions specific to pick-your-own-operations, such as a first-in, first-out rotation.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 19, 2020
Hydro-Quebec’s Serge Abergel claims their electrical power is clean by presenting self-serving studies. Other unbiased sources tell a very different story. Hydro-Quebec has a long history of creating environmental disasters. In 1984, a New York Times story describes 22,000 caribou being killed during their annual migration below one of Hydro-Quebec’s mega dams. An independent 2016 Harvard study projected that the impact of the bioaccumulative neurotoxin methylmercury at 22 Canadian hydroelectric facilities would increase 10-fold. NECEC’s proposed route would destroy one of the last truly wild places with intact ecosystems left in Maine. If Massachusetts really wants Hydro-Quebec’s dirty, “deal with the devil” power, it needs to go through the already-permitted and approved Vermont route. ~ Steve Brooke, Farmingdale, was coordinator of the Kennebec Coalition
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 19, 2020
Tony Marple’s recent column (June 1) included numerous false statements about the proposed transmission line that Central Maine Power is promoting through its multimillion-dollar campaign to sell Mainers a project they don’t want. First, CMP wants Mainers to think that an MIT study justifies its project when, in fact, it does the opposite. Second, Mr. Marple and CMP vilify the natural gas industry but fail to mention that CMP’s parent company owns six Northeast natural gas companies. They are not only complicit in bringing polluting fracked gas to our region; they actively profit from it. Finally, CMP disrespects western Maine by downplaying the enormous negative impact 53 miles of new, permanently cleared transmission corridor would have on the North Woods. Don’t be fooled by CMP’s greenwashing. ~ Sue Ely, Natural Resources Council of Maine, Augusta
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 18, 2020
A national environmental group is asking federal regulators to ban traditional lobster fishing in areas of the Gulf of Maine where the endangered right whale is known to feed during its annual migration, including the waters off Mount Desert Rock, Jordan Basin and Jeffery’s Ledge. In a petition submitted to the U.S. Department of Commerce, The Pew Charitable Trusts said the continued use of surface-to-seabed buoy lines in the lobster and Jonah crab fisheries poses an existential threat to the right whale, whose numbers have dwindled to about 400 as a result of deadly ship strikes and fishing gear entanglement.
EARTH ISLAND INSTITUTE • June 18, 2020
Wild Hope, a publication of Earth Island, has just released its Spring/Summer 2020 issue. Published biannually in a print format (and released simultaneously this time in a digital edition), the magazine is beautifully curated with content by naturalists, conservationists, biologists, ecologists, nature writers, photographers, and artists.
NATURAL RESOURCES COUNCIL OF MAINE • June 18, 2020
Maine’s wild places are part of what makes living and visiting here so special. This summer the Natural Resources Council of Maine is celebrating two areas that exemplify the value of wilderness to our wellbeing, to the Maine way of life, and to ecosystem health more broadly.
July 17, 2020, is the 50th anniversary of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway (AWW) receiving federal designation as a wild and scenic river.
August 11, 2020, is the 20th anniversary of the state’s Ecological Reserve System.
OUTSIDE • June 18, 2020
While you’re looking for moose at Baxter State Park, you can also top out on the state’s highest peak, 5,267-foot Mount Katahdin, or hike any of the park’s more than 220 miles of trails. Baxter is known as a common breeding ground for moose, the official state mammal, so look out for them in the fall near wetlands along the Russell Pond Trail. Or get a moose pass at Togue Pond Gatehouse, 17 miles northwest of Millinocket, to take the quick 1.5-mile round-trip hike into Sandy Stream Pond, though note that rangers limit the number of visitors to reduce crowds.
SUN JOURNAL • June 18, 2020
Crews from several area towns were battling a forest fire Thursday night after flames spread through the woods along Rice Road in North Waterford. Fire and weather officials have been warning of fire danger in recent weeks as dry conditions persist across the area. According to the National Weather Service in Gray, the last significant rainfall the region has seen was on May 15 when roughly half an inch fell. “This year has been the driest on record for this period at all locations,” the NWS reported. “Typically late spring tends to be the wettest time of year in terms of number of rainy days, but 2020 has bucked that trend.”
NATURAL RESOURCES COUNCIL OF MAINE • June 18, 2020
Six young changemakers have received Brookie Awards as part of NRCM Rising’s new program to recognize and celebrate young environmental leaders who are creatively and effectively tackling environmental issues across Maine. These young changemakers represent what is best about Maine’s environmental movement – leaders who are using their unique voice, energy, and perspective to protect the nature of Maine.
MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • June 18, 2020
Michael Soulé died this week after suffering a massive brain hemorage. Michael was the founder of "conservation biology" as a scientific field distinct from "ecology." Where ecology is a neutral pursuit, he defined conservation biology as a "crisis disciple" anchored in expressly biocentric values and devoted to saving species from extinction and ecosystems from destruction. Michael was a founder and first president of the Society for Conservation Biology as well as a cofounder of The Wildlands Network.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 18, 2020
A long, narrow body of water that features interesting rock formations and plenty of beaver activity, First Pond is the lowermost of a chain of four ponds in the town of Blue Hill. These ponds — First, Second, Third and Fourth — are connected by Carleton Stream. A public hand-carry boat launch is located at the south end of First Pond, providing access for small boats such as kayaks and canoes when the water level is high enough.
SEAFOOD SOURCE • June 18, 2020
The Pew Charitable Trusts submitted a petition for rulemarking to U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on 18 June urging him to take immediate action “to protect North Atlantic right whales from entanglement in federal waters off of New England.” In a letter to Ross, Pew proposed a series of fisheries closures it says are “designed to afford the greatest protections for right whales, while minimizing the impact on fishermen.” The organization identified four areas off of New England where fisheries employ high-risk gear – such as lobster and crab traps with thick vertical ropes – and suggested that Ross designate closures during times when right whales are likely to be present.
TURNER PUBLISHING • June 18, 2020
Ryan Martin will take the executive director reins of the Viles Arboretum beginning in July. Martin replaces Mark P. DesMeules. Martin comes to the position from the Tilton School of New Hampshire, where he has been director of the Summer Institute, a residential/day summer school program. Earlier in his career, he worked for the Isleboro Adventure Camp and the Maine Trust for Education, both heavily focused on environmental education.
ISLAND AD-VANTAGES • June 18, 2020
Groups representing Maine lobstermen will for the first time make their case to a federal judge on June 18 in the second phase of a lawsuit about protecting North Atlantic right whales. The Maine Lobstermen’s Association (MLA) and the Maine Lobstering Union (MLU) will file briefs by June 18 in U.S.District Court in Boston. Neither has been heard by the court. During the first phase of the suit, the court allowed only environmental groups and the federal government to make their cases. But now the lawsuit has entered the second phase, and the court granted intervenor status to the MLA and MLU.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 18, 2020
On a list of cuddly or lovable creatures, the sea lamprey likely ranks just about at the bottom for most people. Lamprey are ugly, eel-like beasts that can latch onto their prey with a sucker disk mouth, then use their “rasping tongues” to suck nourishment from their hosts. In reality, lamprey are important, and provide all kinds of benefits to river and ocean ecosystems. And (don’t be afraid) the Penobscot River is full of ’em right now.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 18, 2020
Raising a dozen raccoons in your basement is noisy, messy and extremely rewarding, according to Wendy Clark, a wildlife rehabilitator in Baldwin who is currently doing just that. She’s also currently caring for six baby squirrels and two groundhogs, all while holding down a full-time job. It may sound hectic, but for her, it’s all in a day’s work. Clark is one of 44 licensed wildlife rehabilitators listed in Maine as having the permission to care for injured, sick and orphaned wildlife, from flying squirrels to black bears.
SUN JOURNAL • June 18, 2020
Some say the pandemic has become a permanent ally in the fight against climate catastrophe. It has jump-started a drop in the burning of fossil fuels, and that will continue. Others say this is short-term thinking: The public may abandon its concerns over global warming as it tries to climb out of the economic hole left by the COVID-19 lockdowns. Let’s accentuate the positive. Wouldn’t the lower prices for oil and gas make this a good time to do away with their government subsidies? The environmentally backward Trump administration would do no such thing. On the contrary, it’s been engineering various taxpayer bailouts for fossil fuel companies. ~ Froma Harrop
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 18, 2020
Once again, why are Maine governing bodies supporting the interests of Hydro-Quebec (Canadian) and Iberdrola (Spanish)? If the Public Utilities Commission, Department of Environmental Protection and other administrative agencies were acting on the behalf of Maine citizens, they would have supported an energy plan that directly benefited the U.S. economy. Instead, millions are being spent on misleading advertising for a project that primarily benefits another country, another state, and investors. The New England Clean Energy Connect project does not pass the smell test for people in any other community who enjoy the way life should be. ~ Douglas Yohman, East Waterboro
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 18, 2020
Under state law, landfilling is considered the worst possible way to dispose of waste. Yet the public continues to tolerate the Municipal Review Committee, representing some 115 cities and towns, hiding behind the screen that “legal obligations under the current contract” prevent them from negotiating with PERC for a logical and common-sense resolution of their dilemma. Since the Maine Department of Environmental Protection appears unable to enforce state policy, it’s now time for concerned citizens to speak up, demanding action from their municipal leaderships. ~ Alan Baker, Orrington
