These self-cloning ticks could spread to Maine, experts say

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 16, 2020

Maine tick experts are keeping an eye out for the Asian longhorned tick, a foreign tick species that can reproduce without mating and has been documented as close as Connecticut. Reported for the first time in the United States in 2017, this tick species has now established populations in at least 12 states, all of which are in the northeastern half of the country. The Asian longhorned tick is known to carry and transmit a variety of dangerous diseases in its home range.

KELT protects 27 acres in Richmond

KENNEBEC ESTUARY LAND TRUST • July 15, 2020

At the beginning of June, Barbara Vickery and family conserved a portion of her upland property with a conservation easement and donated to KELT half a mile of river front and shoreland nestled between the old rail line and the Kennebec River. The two conserved properties together protect a total of 27 acres, including upland forest habitat with a mix of red oaks, white pines, white ash, red maples, American beech, and maple-leaf viburnum. Within the upland forest lie forested wetlands that support four species of ferns and a rich canopy of yellow birch, red maple, and green ash trees. A stream runs through the upland forest, providing a home for salamanders and other amphibians.

One of Maine’s best known lighthouses is now part of Acadia National Park

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 15, 2020

Ownership of Bass Harbor Head Light on Mount Desert Island has been transferred from the U.S. Coast Guard to Acadia National Park, a move that should lead to improved public access as well as greater public education about the site’s historical significance.

3 teens catch massive 700-pound tuna after 7-hour ocean battle off Maine coast

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 15, 2020

When Wyatt Morse of Auburn named his new boat Fat 2na, it was a bold statement for the 17-year-old who has spent the past four years learning about fishing for tuna off the Maine coast. Over the course of seven hours, a monstrous bluefin tuna — it measured 109 inches from its nose to the fork of its tail — hauled the teens more than 10 miles in the 24-foot lobster boat as they attempted to tire it out and land it. It was Fat 2na’s first tuna-fishing trip, and provided an adventure the boys won’t soon forget.

Downeaster to make more runs daily between Maine and Boston starting Monday

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 15, 2020

The Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority said Tuesday the Downeaster would begin operating four round-trip trains between Brunswick, Maine, and Boston every day starting July 20. The move is part of the service’s restoration in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, which has disrupted train travel in New England and around the country. Amtrak said trains will be sanitized and disinfected every day with enhanced cleaning between trips. Face coverings will be required, and the number of passengers will be limited to no more than 50% of available seating capacity.

Trump reins in major environmental law to speed big projects

ASSOCIATED PRESS • July 15, 2020

President Trump announced Wednesday that he is rolling back a foundational Nixon-era environmental law that he says stifles infrastructure projects, but that is credited with keeping big construction projects from fouling up the environment and ensuring there is public input on major projects. He aims to make it easier to build highways, pipelines, chemical plants and other projects. “This may be the single biggest giveaway to polluters in the past 40 years,” said Brett Hartl, of the Center for Biological Diversity. Environmental groups say the regulatory rollbacks threaten public health and make it harder to curb global warming.

Maine salmon population highest in 9 years despite warm weather

ASSOCIATED PRESS • July 15, 2020

The number of Atlantic salmon swimming upstream in the Penobscot River is already the highest in nine years, despite warm water temperatures. On Monday, researchers with the Maine Department of Marine Resources said they counted over 1,300 salmon migrating upstream so far this year. Atlantic salmon are endangered in Maine, and fishing them is prohibited. The fish swim upstream to spawn. 

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.