Opinion: Amidst A Health Crisis The Last Thing Maine Needs Is International Trash

LINKEDIN • June 24, 2020

People are bewildered by trash being brought in from another country and strategically disposing it in their “backyard.” The concern is heightened since the COVID pandemic and the idea that trash is being transported internationally and imported to Maine. The the Penobscot Energy Recovery Co. (PERC) in Orrington, plans to import trash from Ireland and in the process, be paid generously for it. ~ Paula Pinto

Rock Row plans for largest conference center in Maine

AMERICAN JOURNAL • June 24, 2020

Rock Row — a large commercial and residential development under construction — plans to build what it says will be the state’s largest conference center by far, company officials announced this week. The conference center in Westbrook will be modeled after a venue in Georgia that has a capacity of more than 8,000 people

Bold ambitions meet rocky realities in blue states

E&E News • June 24, 2020

A handful of Democratic-led states passed sweeping climate legislation last year. Greens now say states are making uneven progress. Maine's Climate Council has been particularly active. Maine committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050.

Celebrating a Watershed Moment

THE NATURE CONSERVANCY • June 24, 2020

Efforts to restore fish passage on rivers in Maine have been unprecedented. On the Penobscot, more fish are reaching more parts of the watershed than likely at any time since the Civil War. In 2007, the Maine Forest Service directed the first season of road-stream crossing survey work. The Nature Conservancy took on full management responsibility of the project in 2011. We have completed the survey, documenting information about 26,328 culverts and dams in Maine. The result is one of the largest databases of its kind in the world.

Column: Milk snakes often mistaken for timber rattlesnakes

SEACOAST ONLINE • June 24, 2020

There are nine species of snakes in Maine, none are venomous. There are fewer snakes the further north you go because snakes are cold-blooded and they don’t do well in northern climates. So the chance of encountering a venomous snake becomes less and less likely. You should assume that if you see a snake around here that you think is a rattlesnake, it is most likely a milk snake. ~ Susan Pike

Column: The tale of a little boy and a grass spider

KENNEBEC JOURNAL • June 24, 2020

Sometimes I get chills when my mind homes in on the fact that spiders are sentient. Arachnologists curious to find out what spiders know and how they know it have shown that some species of wolf spiders, for example, develop individual personality traits involving bravery, timidity and learned social tasks. It’s also well-known that females of most species choose and reject males in courtship rituals and that among a few species, mates live together in the web and communicate with each other by vibrations of thread. ~ Dana Wilde

Column: Great stories on moose hunting

KENNEBEC JOURNAL • June 24, 2020

Even though ticks are killing some moose, we still have a high population, between 60,000 and 70,000, so we can offer moose hunting. This year, moose hunting applications reached a 15-year high, at 65,634. Roger Lambert and his clients certainly know this. Roger has lots of wonderful moose hunting stories, and I am very pleased that he has published some of them in his book, “The Great Maine Moose Hunt.” Subtitled “Celebrating 40 Years of Modern Moose Hunting in Maine,” it is all of that and lots more. ~ George Smith 

Opinion: CMP’s proposed transmission corridor is not a fire risk

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 24, 2020

Sen. Scott Cyrway’s argument that the New England Clean Energy Connect line should not be built because transmission lines have the potential to pose a fire hazard is a dishonest argument. Data show that the fires in Maine involving power lines are not predominantly associated with transmission lines. To argue that the unconstructed NECEC is too dangerous to one day operate because of potential fire hazards is to argue that all transmission lines everywhere are too dangerous to exist. ~ Rep. Scott Strom, Pittsfield 

Maine Forest Service dealing with unprecedented number of wildfires

WGME-TV13 • June 23, 2020

The Maine Forest Service is dealing with an unprecedented number of wildfires, and the wildfire season is just getting started. Forest rangers say so far this season, they've already responded to more than 700 fires that have burned almost 871 acres. That's the second highest count in a decade. The Maine Forest Service is banning all online burning permits.

Oquossoc Storybook Walk will feature ‘I Am Birch’

TURNER PUBLISHING • June 23, 2020

The Rangeley Region Guides and Sportsmen’s Association Tim Baker Trail will open on Wednesday, July 1, and this year’s Storybook Walk will feature the book “I Am Birch” by Scott Kelley. A brief overview of the story reads “As dark rumors swirl through the woods, animals start to panic — storing nuts, hoarding berries, taking down trees — until a birch tree stump uses wisdom and humor to put their fears to rest. The birch emerges as the unlikely champion and protector of the forest in this story inspired by Wabanaki tales.” Chilren and their adults may take a short walk in the woodsand experience the book surrounded by nature.

Maine Forest Service Temporarily Suspends Online Burning Brush Permits

MAINE GOVERNMENT NEWS • June 23, 2020

 Due to increased wildfire risk, fire occurrences, and staffing shortages, the Maine Forest Service is temporarily halting issuing online open burning permits required for the outdoor burning of brush and wood debris. These conditions will remain in effect until the state sees an adequate level of precipitation. Also, MFS Director Patty Cormier is urging Maine's fire chiefs and town forest fire wardens to use extreme caution or suspend the issuance of written open burning brush permits. Campfire permits, required for some remote campsites in unorganized towns, remain available. Recreational campfires on one's own property, unless prohibited by local ordinance, do not require an open burning permit and are not subject to this suspension. The suspension of online permits for brush burning will continue until further notice.

CMP Transmission Line Faces New Legal Challenges, Including One Over Public Lands

MAINE PUBLIC • June 23, 2020

There was more legal action Tuesday in the fight over Central Maine Power’s (CMP) proposed powerline through the state's western woods. One well-financed opposition group called Stop the Corridor filed suit Tuesday in an ongoing dispute over whether it can keep its funding sources secret. And on a new front, a multi-partisan group of past and present lawmakers, nonprofit groups and individual Mainers is mounting a court challenge to a lease the state signed with CMP for public lands along the route of the controversial project.

Southern Aroostook Soil and Water Conservation District plans tree survey

THE COUNTY • June 23, 2020

Aside from their visual beauty, trees are vital in so many ways that we can’t actually see, such as acting to filter pollutants, soaking up carbon dioxide, redirecting stormwater and providing positive mental health, and so much more. Studies have been conducted that show that trees in urban areas, in particular, may reduce the prevalence of asthma and crime, while increasing real-estate values. “Taking Stock: Planning Houlton’s Tree Growth,” will survey street trees within designated neighborhoods in Houlton this summer, relying on volunteers to gather specific data information. 

The Comeback

THE NATURE CONSERVANCY • June 23, 2020

Maine’s rivers are experiencing an incredible comeback. In 2009, only 2,331 sea-run fish were counted migrating up the Penobscot River and its tributaries. In the spring of 2017, the count had exploded to 1.9 million fish, thanks to the efforts of many partners and supporters. Maine is one of the last places along the East Coast where sea-run fish migrations can still be restored on a grand scale. 

CMP corridor opponents sue to shield donors from public view

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 23, 2020

The Maine Ethics Commission voted last month to require Stop the Corridor to disclose its financial information to the commission so it can determine whether the group should have been required to register as a political committee. If it makes that decision, the nonprofit’s donors would have to be disclosed under state campaign finance laws. A lawsuit, filed in Cumberland County Superior Court, argues that the commission does not have the jurisdiction to investigate the anti-corridor group’s finances.

New Hampshire Fish and Game Seeks Bear in Unprovoked Attack

ASSOCIATED PRESS • June 23, 2020

New Hampshire Fish and Game officers are trying to trap a bear that injured a man in Canaan in what is being called a rare, unprovoked attack. The man had deep cuts from the encounter but he managed to scare the bear off. The victim was not identified. If the bear involved in the attack is found it will be euthanized.

As Price For Catch Falls, Maine Lobstermen Seek Ways To Prevent Crash

MAINE PUBLIC • June 23, 2020

Dock prices for lobster in Maine are dropping as low as $2.30 a pound, and lobstermen and regulators are looking at options to prevent a full-fledged crash. Anti-glut tactics might include limiting days at sea, narrowing size limits or barring the catch of single-clawed lobsters to reduce the overall haul. In an online meeting Monday, Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher told Downeast lobstermen that he's found no consensus on the best course of action.

Opinion: Federal COVID-19 relief package for logging, trucking companies deserves support

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 23, 2020

In order to sustain the supply chain, the 34 member associations of the national American Loggers Council, which includes the Professional Logging Contractors of Maine, have coalesced around a proposal that would provide direct federal assistance to both professional timber harvesting businesses and log trucking businesses. Maine loggers and forest truckers have seen what has been done to help their sisters and brothers in the farming and fishing industries, even before the impact on those industries had been realized, and now they hope that their representatives in Washington, D.C., will do the same for them. ~ Dana Doran, Professional Logging Contractors of Maine