The most comprehensive online source of conservation news and events in Maine and beyond, edited by Jym St. Pierre
ASSOCIATED PRESS • August 25, 2020
Jason Joyce of Swan Island's says, “As long as Trump is president, fishing families like mine will have a voice.” But Maine Democrats say the president has hurt the industry. Maine Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Marra said, “He promised us better trade deals, but instead he instead got played by China, and Maine workers got the bill.”
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 25, 2020
A dead minke whale was pulled from Saco Bay on Tuesday as part of a three-day recovery effort led by Marine Mammals of Maine. The Maine Marine Patrol and Scarborough officials assisted in the search and removal of the 20-foot-long carcass weighing about 2 tons. It was hauled from the water at Pine Point’s public boat launch in Scarborough on Tuesday afternoon and trucked to Gorham for further study to determine a cause of death.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 25, 2020
The group that oversees huge tracts of the state’s industrial forest is warning hunters and other potential travelers to expect plenty of company in the coming weeks, and is asking for visitors to be considerate during their trips to northern Maine. “While the woods were not very busy in May due to the virus, traffic picked up in June and use in July was 30 percent over last July,” said Al Cowperthwaite, executive director of North Maine Woods Inc. “All indications point to a very busy fall.” Add in low gas prices and the fact that traveling hunters are not allowed to travel to Canada, which is usually an option, and Cowperthwaite expects the North Maine Woods to be bustling.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 25, 2020
As the tide ebbs from Maine’s rocky coastline, pockets of saltwater are left behind, filled with a wide variety of aquatic creatures and plants. These tide pools present the perfect opportunity for people to easily observe ocean life. They’re like little natural aquariums, rearranged with each new tide. “They’re everywhere along the Maine coast,” said Helen Hess, an invertebrate zoologist and professor at College of the Atlantic. “Tide pools offer a refuge in the intertidal zone for those things that prefer to always be underwater.”
WCSH • August 25, 2020
Maine’s fishing industry took center stage Tuesday night at the Republican National Convention when lobsterman Jason Joyce of Swan’s Island spoke. "I have to confess: I didn’t support Trump in 2016,” Joyce said during his speech. Earlier this month during an interview with Fox & Friends, Trump said, “In theory, I should go down as a great environmental president.” Maine Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Marra said despite Trump's claims about helping Maine fishermen, "Mainers won't forget who's responsible for throwing our lobster industry into turmoil. Trump’s failed trade war with China upended Maine’s vital lobster industry and turned hardworking lobstermen and women into collateral damage."
MAINE PUBLIC • August 25, 2020
When a Maine lobsterman speaks to support President Donald Trump’s re-nomination at Tuesday’s Republican National Convention, it will cap a monthslong courtship of the industry by the president. Political observers say that by identifying himself with the iconic, independent lobster harvester, Trump could burnish his image as a fighter for the beleaguered working class, and maybe also bolster his chances of winning a key electoral vote from Maine’s red-leaning 2nd Congressional District.
PISCATAQUIS OBSERVER • August 25, 2020
Forest Society of Maine (FSM) has been permanently conserving Maine’s forestlands for people and wildlife for more than three decades. This week FSM proudly announced it has renewed its land trust accreditation showing its commitment to professional excellence and maintaining the public’s trust in its conservation work. One of the first land trusts in Maine to first earn accreditation back in 2009, FSM has maintained this mark of distinction ever since.
KENNEBEC JOURNAL • August 25, 2020
During this time of uncertainty with COVID-19, many individuals and families have come to rely on conservation lands as places where they can safely enjoy natural beauty and get some fresh air and exercise. These public lands have also become an important part of the local and state economy. An important source of funding for the acquisition of many of these recreation and conservation lands is the Land for Maine’s Future program. State senator Russell Black voted against L.D. 1851, a bill to send a bond issue to the voters to replenish the funding for LMF. The bill failed, depriving voters the opportunity to show their support for this very important program. Think about this when you cast your vote on Nov. 3.~ Becky Seel, Belgrade
MAINE PUBLIC • August 25, 2020
Includes a conversation with Keri Arsenault concerning her soon to be released book “Mill Town” about growing up in the paper mill towns of Rumford and Mexico, Maine. At 22:30-28:01.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 25, 2020
The Maine Board of Environmental Protection has issued draft permits to Nordic Aquafarms Inc., saying its pollutant, wastewater discharge and air emissions plans comply with federal guidelines. The Belfast Planning Board, which has spent more than a year reviewing Nordic’s lengthy permit application, also has advanced it for a final vote. Upstream Watch filed a memorandum to the Maine BEP, claiming that Nordic’s air emissions are likely to exceed the allowable limits because its modeling did not consider the company’s fish hatchery, fish rearing tanks, slaughterhouse, fish packaging and storage area, cement plant, heating and ventilation and more.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 25, 2020
Lobster dealer Hugh Reynolds almost couldn’t believe it when he heard the news on Friday that Europe had agreed to eliminate tariffs on U.S. lobster – 8 percent on live lobster and up to 20 percent on frozen or value-added lobster products – as part of a trade deal. The industry, with its processing and wholesale arms, pumps $1.5 billion a year into the state economy. The trade deal, which still needs ratification by the European parliament and its 27 member nations, would put U.S. lobster dealers back on a level playing field with their Canadian rivals.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 25, 2020
Maine’s regulatory agencies got it wrong for NECEC, but there’s still time to overturn their misguided permit decisions. NRCM appealed the Department of Environmental Protection permit for the CMP corridor because DEP failed to protect the health of our forests, waters and wildlife, and failed to assess the veracity of CMP’s claim that the project would reduce global greenhouse-gas emissions. Given the widespread harm this project would have on western Maine forests and brook trout habitat, Mainers deserve to know whether CMP and Hydro-Quebec are telling the truth. Maine voters should have been allowed to vote to overturn the PUC permit, and the DEP permit should be struck down on appeal. ~ Lisa Pohlmann, Natural Resources Council of Maine
TIMES RECORD • August 25, 2020
Protecting the portion of the Brunswick Landing currently being considered for commercial development is certainly an opportunity worth fighting for. This parcel offers the chance to not only complete the Brunswick Landing Perimeter Trail, but also to create interconnectivity between trails in The Brunswick Town Commons and the Kate Furbish Preserve. During the pandemic, we have seen a substantial increase in the use of open spaces and preserves as people look for ways to get some fresh air and keep sane. This situation has highlighted just how valuable recreational trails are to communities. This parcel will be an asset to the town of Brunswick and its citizens and visitors. ~ Kris Haralson, Brunswick
MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • August 24, 2020
The torrent of news continues about the power-mad Chump who wants to be President for life and his merry band of money-grubbing anarchists: Creepy creatures are abandoning the Trump swamp, the Gropper-in-Chief has been screwed by a porn star again for $44,000, more Trump Mob grifters have been caught stealing millions for personal gain, his AG has turned the Justice Dept into the Injustice Dept, his Postmeister General is messing with the mail to disenfranchise voters, his plan for pandemic pandemonium persists, and his promise to rescue Maine's lobster industry from his self-inflicted tariff wars has sunk to the bottom of the sea.
It is hard to keep up with the Trump Gang’s spree of organized crime and disorganized chaos in plain sight, so here in no particular order, since there is no particular order to the Trump chaos, is a cheat sheet (pun intended) about the status of some of his croniest cronies.
Steve Bannon - Former investment banker, and former executive chairman of far-right Breitbart News. Served as Trump’s 2016 campaign CEO, then as Trump’s chief strategist for seven months until fired in August 2017. Rejoined Breitbart. In 2018, he was slimed by Trump for admitting the Trump Organization was a "criminal enterprise." In August 2020, Bannon was arrested for fraud and money laundering. "I feel very badly," Trump said, fearing he too may be prosecuted for his crimes.
Paul Manafort - Trump’s second 2016 campaign manager. Serving a 7-year sentence for tax fraud and conspiracy, witness tampering, and foreign-lobbying violations.
Kellyanne Conway - Trump’s third 2016 campaign manager. Before Trump loses reelection and is indicted, in August 2020 she said she is quitting as Counselor to the President.
Michael Cohen - Disbarred lawyer and Trump’s personal fixer (2006-2018). Sentenced to 3 years in federal prison and ordered to pay a $50,000 fine for paying hush money to hide Trump's pay-for-sex assignations and other campaign finance violations as well as tax and bank fraud undertaken at the direction of Trump "for the principal purpose of influencing" the 2016 presidential election.
Roger Stone - Trump’s political advisor and a legendary political operative lower in the hierarchy than garden slugs (with apologies to actual slugs). Sentenced to 40 months in federal prison for witness tampering, lying to Congress, and other crimes. Unsurprisingly, in July 2020 Trump commuted his sentence.
Brad Parscale - With scant relevant experience, Parscale was hired as Trump’s 2016 campaign digital director. He funneled $39 million in campaign funds to companies he controlled.
Corey Lewandowski - Worked for the Koch Bros.-funded Americans for Prosperity (2008-2015) before being named Trump’s first campaign manager. Was demoted in April 2016 and forced out that June. Arrested on misdemeanor battery charges (2016). In 2018, he met with the Polish government to set up a U.S. military base in Poland, called "Fort Trump," to benefit the Polish arms industry. Lewandowski remains at large.
Rick Gates - Trump's 2016 campaign deputy. Sentenced to 45 days in jail on a plea bargain for making false statements charges of conspiracy against the United States.
George Papadopoulos - Trump’s former foreign policy advisor. Sentenced to 14 days in prison with a year of supervised release for lying to FBI agents about his contacts with Russian intermediaries during the 2016 campaign.
Michael Flynn - Trump’s National Security Advisor for a few days in 2017. Pled guilty to the felony of "willfully and knowingly” lying to the FBI. In May 2020, Trump’s Attorney General, Bill Barr, said the Justice Dept would drop all charges against Flynn.
William Barr - Former CIA operative (1973-77), Justice Dept lawyer in the Reagan Administration (1980s), and Attorney General for President George H.W. Bush (1991-93), became a multimillionaire as a corporate lawyer (1994-2008), named AG again (2019). He mischaracterized the summary of the Mueller report, intervened in the guilty convictions and sentences of Trump cronies Roger Stone and Michael Flynn, and removed Justice Dept attorneys who were investigating Trump’s corruption. His reign of injustice continues.
Rudy Giuliani - Former mayor of New York City. Trump’s personal attorney, best known for trying to sabotage the Mueller investigation. Violated the law by failing to register as required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Current whereabouts unknown; possibly in Ukraine.
Scott Pruitt - Trump’s first Environmental Protection Agency Administrator (2017- 2018). As an ultra reactionary former Attorney General of Oklahoma, he dismissed the scientific consensus on climate change and sued the EPA more than a dozen times. Pruitt resigned in July 2018 in disgrace while under at least 14 separate federal investigations over his spending habits, conflicts of interest, extreme secrecy, and management practices, and other wrongdoings.
Ryan Zinke - Trump’s first Secretary of the Interior (2017-2019). A former U.S. Navy SEAL (1986-2008) and U.S Rep. from Montana (2015-2017). He opened federal lands for oil, gas and mineral exploration and extraction. He resigned in disgrace while facing numerous federal probes, including a "Montana land deal" in which a foundation of Zinke's and the chairman of energy firm Halliburton were accused of wrongdoing in relation to a development project in Zinke's home town of Whitefish, Montana. The Dept of Justice also was investigating his use of personal email.
Jared Kushner - Real-estate developer and Trump’s son-in-law. After his father's conviction and incarceration for fraud, he took over management of Kushner Companies. With zero relevant experience and in violation of nepotism rules, he was appointed as Trump’s senior advisor. Kushner authored a peace plan that failed to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He got the Trump campaign to illegally funnel nearly $100,000 of donor money to pay his legal bills.
Ivanka Trump - Daughter of Ivana and Donald Trump. Despite no relevant experience and in violation of nepotism rules, along with her husband, Jared Kushner, she was appointed senior advisor to the President (2017). While serving in the White House, she continued to operate her clothing brand business, violating conflict of interest norms.
Donald J. Trump Jr. - Eldest kid of Ivana and Donald Trump. Currently serves as executive vice president of the Trump Organization, running the company with his younger brother Eric. During their father's presidency, the brothers have continued to do deals in foreign countries and collect payments to their U.S. properties from foreign governments, in violation of a pledge not do so. He likes to illegally hunt endangered species and push conspiratorial theories of white supremacists. May be genetically afflicted with the same mental illness as his father.
Eric Trump - Second son of Ivana and Donald Trump. Runs the Trump Organization with his older brother, Don Jr. During their father's presidency, the brothers have continued to do deals in foreign countries and collect payments to their U.S. properties from foreign governments, in violation of a pledge not do so. Likes to illegally hunt endangered species. His Eric Trump Foundation has illegally shifted hundreds of thousands of dollars donated for cancer patients to his family's businesses. With his sister, Ivanka, he is under investigation by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia for their role in non-disclosed donations from foreign entities in violation of U.S. criminal law.
MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • August 24, 2020
On August 24, 2016, President Barack Obama proclaimed the establishment of Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. It was the direct result of a campaign for a National Park unit in the Maine Woods that was launched in 1994 by RESTORE: The North Woods.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 24, 2020
As the Maine Lobster Union representative who works with fellow lobstermen everyday, I’m deeply concerned about the impact President Donald Trump’s failed leadership has had on our industry. His trade war led China has proven especially devastating on top of a poorly managed pandemic that has led to the worst economic crisis in recent memory. While demand for lobster has declined, the costs associated with lobster fishing have continued to increase, as Trump’s reckless trade war has made it more expensive to purchase the materials used to construct boats and lobster traps. The future of lobster fishing here, the future of all small businesses here in Maine, is on the ballot. If we elect Biden president, I know our state will be on a roll once again. ~ Dave Sullivan, Richmond, Maine Lobster Union
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 24, 2020
Observing the ineptitude of our country in failing to respond to COVID makes me think about how business as usual in general has failed to prioritize the essential. Nature and community, the two most obvious essential aspects of life on Earth, have increasingly suffered. Ecologically, we face decades of ruin to come if we continue cutting the ground out from under us. I hope my fellow peers in the millennial generation, who number around 80 million, along with Generation Z, numbering around 85 million, will be involved to reclaim local control of the essential in areas such as food, energy, commerce and health care. The Maine Power for Maine People initiative to give Mainers control over foreign-owned Central Maine Power would be a great start. ~ Dan White, Georgetown
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 24, 2020
Aug. 24, 2016: President Barack Obama proclaims the establishment of Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, which occupies 86,563 donated acres in northern Maine. The site includes a 17-mile loop road that offers clear views of Mount [sic] Katahdin, Maine’s highest peak, to the west. It offers trails for hiking, mountain biking and snowmobiling, as well as canoeing and kayaking in the East Branch of the Penobscot River. The land is a gift of Burt’s Bees consumer products magnate Roxanne Quimby, who hoped to turn the site into a national park. When faced with local opposition, she changed her focus to getting it accepted as a national monument. She and her foundation, Elliotsville Plantation Inc., began buying land for the project as early as 2001.
ASSOCIATED PRESS • August 24, 2020
Cod fishing is tightly monitored because the fish’s population off the Northeast has dramatically declined in recent decades. However, NOAA said the recreational fishing rules “can be liberalized somewhat” without risking exceeding fishing quotas. The old rules limited cod fishing to Sept. 15 to 30. The new rules expand the season for private boats to include April 1 to 14. The season for for-hire boats will be expanded to Sept. 8 to Oct. 7 and April 1 to 14. NOAA is also expanding the open season for haddock, another sport fish found off New England.
ASSOCIATED PRESS • August 24, 2020
Maine’s annual bear hunt will look slightly different when it begins in a week. The hunt begins on Aug. 31. The state is continuing to recommend that hunters observe social distancing practices in the woods. The hunts for deer and moose are also coming up this fall. The Mills administration has encouraged people to participate in outdoor activities such as hunting as long as they can practice social distancing while doing so. Out of state hunters will be expected to comply with the Maine lodging guidelines that apply to everyone. The state requires a negative coronavirus test or a two week quarantine period for visitors from states other than New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Connecticut and New Jersey.
