Letter: CMP corridor won’t benefit Maine

MORNING SENTINEL • June 19, 2020

Whenever I hear about any proposed project being considered in Maine, I wonder what is in it for Maine. Applying this standard to CMP’s proposed corridor easily reveals the answer as “not much.” Since CMP is owned by Avangrid, which is in turn owned by Iberdrola of Spain, the majority of the profit will not stay in Maine. It will leave the state and go to a foreign company. As former Republican state Sen. Tom Saviello has said multiple times, the corridor will benefit Avangrid to the tune of $60 million annually for 20 years. On the November referendum, vote yes to protect our Maine way of life. ~ Linda Woods, Waterville

1 in 3 Maine lobstermen lands federal pandemic loan

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • July 19, 2020

Maine lobstermen reeled in more small federal emergency loans under the Paycheck Protection Program than members of any other industry in Maine, with about one out of every three commercial lobstermen landing one, but the average loan was barely large enough to cover a month’s worth of bait at the height of the summer fishing season. Right now, with much of the state’s 4,300 lobster boats just starting to set traps, wholesale prices are down 40 percent from this time last year.

Maine lobster industry’s large PPP loan recipients

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • July 19, 2020

$350,000 to $1 million:
Carver Shellfish Inc.
Maine Shellfish Co. Inc.
Greenhead Lobster LLC
Maine Coast Shellfish LLC

$150,000 to $350,000:
Cape Porpoise Lobster Co.
Taylor Lobster Co. LLC
Bean Maine Lobster Inc.
Greenhead Lobster Products LLC
Lobster 207 LLC
Mill Cove Lobster Pound Inc.
Maine Lobster Outlet LLC
Harbor Fish Market
S&M Fisheries Inc. (The Lobster Co.)
Higs Co. Inc. (Island Seafood)
O.W. & B.S. Look Inc. (Look Lobster)
Freedom Fish LLC
Math-Copper LLC (Bob’s Seafood)
Bristol Seafood LLC
Browne Trading Co.
A C Seafood Ltd. (Nova Seafoods)
Shucks Maine Lobster LLC
Maine Seafood Ventures LLC (Ready Seafood)
Sea Salt Products LLC
Acadia Seafood LLC
Maine Lobster Now LLC
D.C. Air & Seafood

Column: Some females seek a mate with prime real estate

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • July 19, 2020

Generalities about habitat preferences in birds don’t always hold. Red-wing blackbird males wants to grab one of the better patches for its breeding territory. The competition for the best territories is intense, probably explaining why males return to Maine in the spring a month ahead of the females. Downy woodpeckers prefer edge habitats when feeders are present but switched to a preference for deciduous forest when feeders are absent. Blue jays, house finches and American goldfinches prefer edge habitats when feeders are present, but that preference disappeared if feeders are absent. The closer we look at biological interactions, the more complicated they become. ~ Herb Wilson 

Column: You won’t get bored at Peaks-Kenny State Park

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • July 19, 2020

Peaks-Kenny State Park is a popular public playground in the Maine Highlands, a little more than halfway between Bangor and Moosehead Lake. The park features 7 miles of hiking trails, camping, swimming, paddling, boating, fishing and picnicking. Spend a day, a weekend or a week, and you’re unlikely to run out of things to do here and in the surrounding area. ~ Carey Kish

Opinion: They came, they saw, they trashed the place

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • July 19, 2020

Welcome to Summer of 2020 and the never-ending collision between the public good and “Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do!” For those of us who call Buxton home, Pleasant Point Park has long been, as the town website describes it, “a treasure right in our own backyard.” The park is closed and will remain so until further notice for one distressing reason: Over the past couple of weekends, it’s been overrun by mostly young people, many of them from out of state, who see it as a place to get drunk, leave behind a debris field of empties and other trash, even lob rocks at passing boaters on the river.

Opinion: Outdoor recreation needs sustainable funding

SUN JOURNAL • July 19, 2020

As a state that relies heavily on tourism and recreation as one of its primary economic forces, Maine has been squandering one of its most valuable assets for far too long: the land and open space that locals and visitors love so much. Many people see recreation as a “non-essential,” but during the COVID-19 crisis, people have seen just how important these resources are. The Great American Outdoors Act, which would permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund, may soon become law. With those funds requiring a 50% match, there is a great need for the state of Maine to pass legislation that would establish a sustainable revenue stream to help local and state applicants leverage the increased LWCF funding, as well as other federal conservation and outdoor recreation-related funding programs. ~ Matthew Foster, director of parks and recreation, Farmington

Maine bear hunters can start setting out bait soon

ASSOCIATED PRESS • July 18, 2020

The bear hunt in Maine lasts from late August to late November, but most of it takes place in the first few weeks, when it’s legal to lure bears with bait. Hunters are allowed to start laying bait on Aug. 1. The fall deer, moose and turkey seasons all follow the start of the bear hunt. Those animals make up the state’s “big four” game animals. Bear baiting is controversial in Maine, and opponents of the practice are in the midst of a drive to try to phase it out by the end of the decade.

Column: Still time for a shot-in-the-dark trip

SUN JOURNAL • July 18, 2020

A few days ago my sons and I, still thirsting for one more 11th hour trout trip before the warming water put the brookies into the silt and the spring holes, took a spur of the moment over-nighter to the West Branch (Penobscot River) country for salmon and trout. Although another trout season in Maine is fast fading into the fleeting “sweet of the year,” you still have a few evenings left to take a shot in the dark. ~ V. Paul Reynolds

Chipmunks, fattened up on acorns, are driving people nuts

ASSOCIATED PRESS • July 18, 2020

There were plenty of acorns this spring, and now the chipmunks are driving people nuts. Their frenetic activities can be entertaining. But this summer in New England the varmints are making a nuisance of themselves, darting to and fro, digging holes in gardens, and tunneling under lawns.

Letter: Pricing carbon key to climate solution

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 18, 2020

A recent editorial in the Press Herald cogently summed up the urgent need for action to effectively deal with the climate catastrophe that is bearing down on us all. Federal legislation that would impose a carbon fee on the fossil fuel industry needs to be an integral part of any comprehensive effort to counter the unfolding disaster. The dividends provided by the fees imposed on companies like Exxon and BP would financially protect and benefit most Americans, especially those in lower income brackets. The market forces resulting from its implementation would be a boon for alternative energy companies. I encourage readers to visit the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act website. ~ Tom Berry, Kennebunk

What 2 volunteers learned from counting Maine loons for more than 30 years

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 17, 2020

Peg Sudbury of Rumford and William Reid of Skowhegan, along with just a handful of other people, have participated in Maine Loon Count for each of its 37 years, and those 37 years have given them some unique insights into Maine’s iconic birds. Loons have been much more successful since locals created a floating platform for the birds to nest on. The return of bald eagles, which are known to predate loon chicks. Gulls are predators of loon eggs and chicks, but the gulls left when the landfill was capped in 1997. Since then, the average number of loon chicks on Wesserunsett Lake has more than doubled. Boaters, especially jet skis, are the new threat.

LL Bean Inks First Wholesaler Partnerships In US

ASSOCIATED PRESS • July 17, 2020

L.L. Bean is expanding direct-to-customer catalog and in-store sales with an agreement to sell products in Nordstrom, Staples and sporting goods chain SCHEELS. The company’s first wholesale agreements in the U.S. represent a push to get L.L. Bean products in front of more consumers.

Column: Here are some bird sounds to listen for in July

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 17, 2020

I used to be oblivious. To me, birds arrived in the spring and left in the fall. During the time in between, they were just here, hanging around, waiting for my casual identification. Then I started guiding. Everything is different when you absolutely have to find a bird. We’re in that period now when birds are singing less, but talking more. ~ Bob Duchesne

Historic Camp Bomazeen in Belgrade to be sold by Boy Scouts council in dire financial straits

KENNEBEC JOURNAL • June 17, 2020

The Pine Tree Council of the Boy Scouts of America has decided to sell Belgrade youth camp on the shores of Great Pond that has hosted scouts since 1945 so it can raise money to stay afloat.

The hawk that flew the wrong way permanently lands in this Maine park

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 17, 2020

he confused, Great Black Hawk that soared into Mainers’ hearts when it showed up in Deering Oaks Park in late 2018 will now live there forever — in bronze. A $28,000 statue commemorating the raptor, which died from frostbite complications in January 2019, was unveiled in the park Friday morning.

Popular Buxton park closed because of large crowds, dangerous behavior

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 17, 2020

The town of Buxton has temporarily closed a popular park because of large gatherings and reports that people were throwing rocks and debris at boaters on the Saco River. The decision to close Pleasant Point Park on Simpson Road was announced Friday after several weeks of increased disregard for park rules, including the use of alcohol, disregard for public property and dangerous parking practices on roads around the park, town officials said.

On this date in Maine history: July 17

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 17, 2020

July 17, 1939: Twelve-year-old Donn Fendler becomes separated from his family during a storm near the summit of Maine’s Mount Katahdin. Putting his Boy Scout skills to use, he survives nine days without food or proper clothing, then finds his way back to civilization in the town of Stacyville, having shed 16 pounds. July 17, 1977: Lightning strikes a cluster of dead trees – detritus left over from a 1974 storm – near Katahdin Stream Campground in Baxter State Park and ignites a forest fire that eventually consumes 4,400 acres in the park and nearly 2,000 acres outside it. July 17, 2008: FPL Energy Maine Hydro breaches the Fort Halifax Dam in Winslow, allowing sea-run fish species access to upper reaches of the Sebasticook River for the first time in a century.