Phippsburg votes to renew lease of Fort Popham pier

TIMES RECORD • July 15, 2020

Phippsburg voted 504-5 to authorize the town’s selectmen to renew a license agreement with the Maine Department of Parks and Recreation to allow public use of the Fort Popham Pier for the next 30 years. Officials needed to renew the license so the town can apply for a Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands grant to fund maintenance and improvements to the pier and surrounding area. The grant application requires the town to have a minimum of 25 years left on its lease, but the town’s previous license expires in 16 years, according to Amber Jones, Phippsburg town administrator.

Three arrested in Skowhegan drug bust, alligator confiscated

MORNING SENTINEL • June 15, 2020

Three people face drug charges after officials from three agencies searched the car and home of a Skowhegan woman, seizing about $12,000 worth of heroin and other drugs, as well as a live alligator. The 2-foot-long alligator, which was being housed in Rubbermaid tubs, was taken by the Maine Warden Service, he said. Having an alligator in Maine is illegal if someone does not have proper permits.

Despite COVID-19, Some Hikers Go The Distance On The Appalachian Trail

MAINE PUBLIC • June 15, 2020

Every year, several thousand adventurous souls set out to hike all 2,190 miles of the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. But in March, thru-hikers were asked to put their dreams on hold because of the pandemic. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy said there were concerns hikers would infect each other or spread the virus to rural towns where they went to pick up food and supplies. The decision of thru-hikers not to follow the Conservancy's guidance generated harsh criticism in the online trail community. Kristen Glennie said, "Right at the peak when everything was getting worse, people were throwing around like 'Grandma Killers' and stuff like that." Glennie and Mary Szatkowski, both from Maine, finished their 2,200-mile journey on July 4 at Katahdin in Maine's Baxter State Park. 

The Clark Island Project

MAINE COAST HERITAGE TRUST • July 15, 2020

Thanks to the generosity of many, Maine Coast Heritage Trust conserved 120 acres on Clark Island in St. George in early July. “This place is beloved by the Midcoast community, and we’re grateful to all who made generous gifts to make this project possible,” says Steve Walker, MCHT Land Project Manager. “We’re also extremely thankful to the Nickerson heirs for their long-term stewardship of this property, their generous practice of permitting public use over the years, and their willingness to sell the land at a discounted price for permanent conservation.” 

Trump looks to scale back environmental reviews for projects

ASSOCIATED PRESS • July 15, 2020

President Donald Trump is expected to announce in Georgia on Wednesday a new federal rule to speed up the environmental review process for proposed highways, gas pipelines and other major infrastructure, a move that critics are describing as the dismantling of the 50-year-old National Environmental Policy Act, one of the country’s bedrock environmental protection laws. The president’s trip comes as the state has seen coronavirus cases surge and now has tallied more than 12,000 confirmed cases and more than 3,000 deaths.

6 ways to improve your camping experience in Maine

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 15, 2020

Before you hit the road for a few nights under the stars, here are a few ways you may be able to improve your camping experience:
• Put some thought into your sleeping arrangements
• Get creative with campfire food
• Protect yourself from flies and ticks
• Don’t leave food or fragrant items unattended
• Pack games
• Reduce your impact

Warm water doesn’t deter Atlantic salmon as Penobscot count tops 1,300

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 15, 2020

The water in the Penobscot River has been about 80 degrees Fahrenheit for the past few weeks — a level that’s less than optimal for Atlantic salmon — but the run of migrating fish is still the best in nine years, with 1,369 salmon being counted as of Monday, July 13. Atlantic salmon in all of Maine’s rivers are listed as endangered, by the federal government and fishing for them is prohibited.

On this date in Maine history: July 15

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 15, 2020

July 15, 1980: Cub Scout Todd Rogers draws the first winning entry from a giant rotating drum during Maine’s inaugural moose lottery at the Bangor Civic Center. The state was reviving moose hunting, which had been discontinued in 1935. The number of hunters authorized for 1980 was about 700 – less than one-fourth the total in most recent years. The Maine Public Broadcasting Network put the drawing on live television and uniformed Cub Scouts picked names out of the bin. While most of the 32,000 people seeking a permit wound up empty-handed, all six applicants from the Clemens family on Ocean Avenue in Portland heard their names selected while watching the drawing at home.

Column: Politics has turned nasty

I am very disappointed in how political campaigns have changed since my political career began in the 1970s. Today everything is so nasty that, by election day, we don’t like any of the candidates. After a lifetime as a Republican, two years ago I switched to the Democratic Party to vote for Jared Golden and Janet Mills. After the vote, I did not return to the Republican Party, because it had changed so much. When I began my political career, Republicans were conservation leaders, and I worked on many conservation and environmental projects. Today our Republican president has repealed more than 100 rules protecting our environment including our rivers and national parks. I just can’t be a member of a political party that supports that destructive behavior. ~ George Smith

Commentary: Lawsuit necessary to stop illegal land grab by CMP

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 15, 2020

In 2014, Maine’s Bureau of Public Lands granted Central Maine Power a lease, in violation of the Maine Constitution, to cross 36 acres of public reserve land in the West Forks area to construct their destructive corridor to deliver power from Quebec to Massachusetts. I know this to be true because I was an architect of the constitutional amendment this lease violates. While I don’t like the idea of suing our state, I believe that it is my duty, as someone who helped put these protections in place, to hold the bureau, and CMP, accountable to the people of Maine. Our public lands ensure that our natural resources will always be there for future generations of Mainers. ~ Richard A. Bennett (R), candidate for Maine Senate

Burger King addresses climate change by changing cows’ diets

ASSOCIATED PRESS • July 14, 2020

Burger King is staging an intervention with its cows. The chain has rebalanced the diet of some of the cows by adding lemon grass in a bid to limit bovines contributions to climate change. By tweaking their diet, Burger King said Tuesday that it believes it can reduce a cows’ daily methane emissions by about 33%. Cows emit methane as a by-product of their digestion, and that has become a potential public relations hurdle for major burger chains.

Hundreds of cars damaged at Sanford dealership during hail storm

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 14, 2020

CBS 13 - Hundreds of cars were damaged at a Sanford dealership Tuesday when they were pelted with hail. The people at Marc Motors said they have never seen anything like it. They were afraid the windows would break in the building. There was so much hail that workers plowed it up in piles like snow banks.

Biden unveils $2 trillion climate plan with energy revamp

ASSOCIATED PRESS • July 14, 2020

Joe Biden released a $2 trillion plan Tuesday aimed at combating climate change and spurring economic growth in part by overhauling America’s energy industry, with a proposal to achieve entirely carbon pollution-free power by 2035. It reflects ideas embraced by some of Biden’s more progressive allies during the primary, like Jay Inslee, whose campaign centered on the issue of climate change. But it doesn’t go as far as the Green New Deal, the sweeping proposal from progressives in Congress that calls for achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across the economy by 2030.

Tarantulas and a bunch of other big, hairy spiders seized from Norway motel

ADVERTISER DEMOCRAT • July 14, 2020

Inn Town Motel manager Andrew Coombs found dozens of unwanted guests when he tried to collect payment from one of his motel customers Saturday. A total of 53 hairy spiders in plastic cases were arranged throughout the room on stands and tables. Tim Coombs of the Maine Warden Service cited Sean Schoomaker for possessing three tarantulas that are illegal to possess in Maine. The other 50 arachnids were confiscated and transported to a facility for exotic animals in Lewiston for further identification. In Maine there are only three types of tarantula that are legal to possess.

Jay river walk trails vandalized

SUN JOURNAL • July 14, 2020

Police are investigating vandalism at the French Falls River Walk where signs were damaged and a chair possibly thrown into the Androscoggin River last week. Don Leclerc of Jay, had researched the river’s history, laminated and framed the information and nailed the signs to trees. “They had to work to get them off the trees,” Leclerc said Tuesday as he showed a pile of broken signs and glass. One of three Adirondack chairs wired together to a tree in case of flooding was missing. Leclerc said he believed the chair was thrown in the river.

Bath man arrested for allegedly hitting bicyclist, driving away

TIMES RECORD • July 14, 2020

Police arrested 27-year-old Daniel Willey of Bath after he allegedly struck a bicyclist with his vehicle and drove away Monday night. The collision happened around 10 p.m. at the intersection of Middle and Russell streets in Bath. The 33-year-old bicyclist, who had the right of way, was seriously injured. Relatives of Willey, the driver of the vehicle, contacted police after he returned home and told them what happened.

Editorial: Make an example of plover killers

MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • June 14, 2020

For more than three decades, Maine has worked to restore the endangered Piping Plover. The fragile population of the birds has grown from 15 breeding pairs in 1986 to 89 pairs in 2019. The species has benefited from fencing around nests, leashing dogs, posting caution signs, reducing predation, and asking beachgoers to modify their activities near birds and fenced areas. But some people think they know better. The Maine Warden Service and United States Fish and Wildlife Service are investigating two cases of vandalism at the bird enclosures on beaches in Saco and Old Orchard Beach, which resulted in the abandonment and death of chicks. The incidents ought to be televised on North Woods Law and the culprits buried up to their heads in the beach for a day. If they admit their stupidity, they could earn a wire enclosure while buried.

Vandals destroy breeding enclosures of rare shorebird

BIRD GUIDES • July 10, 2020

Piping Plover nesting enclosures have been destroyed in Maine, United States, resulting in the abandonment and death of chicks. The Maine Warden Service and United States Fish and Wildlife Service are investigating separate cases of vandalism on the enclosures on beaches in Saco and Old Orchard Beach. Following some 35 years of conservation, Maine's population of Piping Plover has grown from 15 breeding pairs in 1986 to 89 pairs in 2019. The species has benefited from the widespread implementation of management practice, including installing symbolic fencing around nests, leashing dogs, posting caution signs, reducing predation and asking beachgoers to modify their activities near birds and fenced areas.

Commentary: Time for a Maine forest carbon program for forest landowners

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 14, 2020

Maine’s forests accumulate more carbon than they release. The annual accumulation is equal to about 60 percent of Maine’s annual fossil fuel emissions. Maine could develop a forest carbon storage program. Landowners who commit to manage their woodlots to promote carbon sequestration for decades – such as 25 to 30 years – would receive payments. There are national carbon markets where landowners can sell carbon credits and receive payments for long-term forest management that sequesters carbon. However, these programs are complex and expensive and not typically available for small forestland owners. Why not create a Maine program for small forestland owners? ~ Karin R. Tilberg, Forest Society of Maine, and a member of the Maine Climate Council’s Natural & Working Lands Group

Snap a pic of this spectacular comet now — it won’t be back for 6,800 years

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 14, 2020

The newly discovered comet NEOWISE is putting on a show in the early evening skies over Maine right now. It’s one of the rare comets to reveal its tail to anyone with a modest set of binoculars — and NEOWISE gets even more impressive when you take its picture.