The most comprehensive online source of conservation news and events in Maine and beyond, edited by Jym St. Pierre
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 15, 2020
Acadia National Park got busier as the summer rolled along, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, getting only 10 percent less traffic in August than it did in the same month last year. It’s another data point showing that a Maine tourist season that got off to a slow start in the spring, when the state was largely shut down to out-of-state visitors, picked up speed as the summer continued. Acadia is estimated to have had roughly 682,000 visits in August.
TIMES RECORD • September 15, 2020
The Desert of Maine, which receives too much rainfall to actually be classified as such, consists of a 20-30-acre “desert” of silt – not sand– that functioned as a successful farm until overgrazing sheep caused widespread erosion, exposing the silt beneath the topsoil. Marketed as a tourist attraction for nearly 100 years, Mela Heestand, who bought the property with her husband Doug Heestand in December 2018, is hoping to showcase instead the wide educational opportunities in the “desert.” Students will work with Heestand as well as with a geologist and ecologist to provide expert-led lessons as they seek to answer questions like “why is there a desert in the middle of a Maine forest?”
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 15, 2020
Chris Fogg, the former head of both the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce and the Maine Tourism Association, died of a heart attack on Saturday at age 54. A Farmingdale resident, Fogg took command of the Maine Tourism Association as its CEO in 2015, after eight years as executive director of the Bar Harbor chamber. Last year, Fogg was elected to the U.S. Travel Association’s board of directors as an at-large director for 2019-21. In May, Fogg launched Fogg Association Management Consulting.
ASSOCIATED PRESS • September 15, 2020
The $2.1 million is earmarked for the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, which operates the Downeaster. The Downeaster runs from Boston to Brunswick daily and is running at limited capacity due to the coronavirus pandemic. The money will help the Downeaster make improvements that enhance safety, efficiency and reliability.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 15, 2020
A Boston-based solar energy developer with a growing presence in Maine has acquired 10 solar projects still under development in what it called the largest acquisition of community solar assets in Maine. Nexamp Inc. said Tuesday that it is taking over the 10 projects, each with a rough generating capacity of 5 megawatts, from Dimension Renewable Energy of Atlanta for an undisclosed price. Among the locations are Milo, Limerick, Lisbon, Livermore, West Paris and Madison.Among the locations are Milo, Limerick, Lisbon, Livermore, West Paris and Madison.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 15, 2020
Maine is not immune to the detrimental effects of climate change. This past July was the hottest month on record in Portland. Maine has had a 170 percent increase in wildfires so far this year over 2019. The University of Maine report on Maine’s Climate Future concluded that Maine’s sea level will rise 2 to 3 feet by 2050 and 8 to 11 feet by 2100. On Sept. 9, the Maine Climate Council reconvened after months of receiving public comments on its proposed recommendations to review their climate change strategies. Unfortunately, these strategies do not get us to our goal achieving carbon neutrality by 2045. In fact the first draft of the strategic framework states that by 2050, Maine’s total emissions will be 7.3 million metric tons, 3 million metric tons higher than the 2050 target. This is unacceptable. We have a moral obligation to act now. ~ Sarah Leighton, Sierra Club Maine
PROPUBLICA • September 15, 2020
According to new data from the Rhodium Group analyzed by ProPublica and The New York Times Magazine, warming temperatures and changing rainfall will drive agriculture and temperate climates northward, while sea level rise will consume coastlines and dangerous levels of humidity will swamp the Mississippi River valley. Taken with other recent research showing that the most habitable climate in North America will shift northward and the incidence of large fires will increase across the country, this suggests that the climate crisis will profoundly interrupt the way we live and farm in the United States.
TIMES RECORD • September 15, 2020
The Maine Climate Council is shaping a strategy to reduce Maine’s contribution to warming and adapt to inevitable adverse shocks. Such farsighted state strategies are critically needed. But since climate change’s causes are global, so must be the solution, and American leadership is crucial. With a climate denier in the White House, Americans face a stark presidential choice this November. Decisive international action will not happen without American leadership. The Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) proposes a three part strategy: a gradually rising fee on carbon emissions, carbon tax revenues returned to households as equal dividends, and import tariffs to prevent exploitation of by foreign nations that fail to impose a comparable carbon price. I would advocate the CCL’s dividend proposal with an added commitment to global equity. ~ David Vail, professor of economics emeritus, Bowdoin College, and Economics Policy Network, Citizens Climate Lobby
FREE PRESS • September 15, 2020
Nordic Aquafarms is hoping a new analysis of Penobscot Bay mud will lay to rest concerns about dredging for a pipeline to serve the land-based salmon farm the company hopes to build in Belfast. The tests, conducted by Aqua Survey, Inc., using a plan written by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, found lower levels of mercury than earlier tests by Nordic, which had been disputed by opponents of the project on grounds that they weren’t from the actual pipeline route. While the new tests appear to check many of the boxes for independent oversight and affirm Nordic’s original tests, company representatives doubt that will sway the people who demanded the additional testing, a group they believe will remain against the salmon farm no matter what.
TIMES RECORD • September 15, 2020
The Maine “Bottle Bill” program began in 1978. The program now includes:
1. a 15¢ refundable deposit on spirits and wine beverage containers, and
2. a 5¢ refundable deposit on beer, hard cider, wine coolers, soda, or noncarbonated water beverage containers, and alcoholic or noncarbonated drinks sold in the State.
Beverages that are NOT covered under the Bottle Bill:
1. Milk, dairy-derived products
2. Maine-produced apple cider and blueberry juice
3. Seafood, meat or vegetable broths or soups
4. Instant drink powders
5. Products designed to be consumed in a frozen state
6. Liquid syrups, concentrates or extracts
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 15, 2020
When I was growing up here in the 1960s and 1970s, Casco Bay at times had a distinct odor to it. If the tide was out and the breeze was blowing in, it smelled like an open sewer – largely because that’s what it was. It was one of Maine’s own citizens who led the effort to address the problem. Ed Muskie grew up in Rumford and saw firsthand what pollution was doing to the Androscoggin River. As chair of the Air and Water Subcommittee in the U.S. Senate, Muskie ushered in, among other laws, the Clean Water Act. President Richard Nixon vetoed the bill, but Sen. Muskie achieved an override. America’s waterways are much cleaner today, but the work of keeping waterways clean goes on. ~ Jeff Brown, Portland
MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • September 13, 2020
There tend to be more birds, and in larger groups, in the fall. And opposed to the spring hunt, turkeys are active throughout the morning and afternoon. ~ Bob Humphrey
MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • September 13, 2020
Birds aren’t the only fall migrants. Keep an eye out for migrating insects as well. The remarkable migration of the monarch butterfly is well known but painted ladies and red admirals migrate through Maine in some years. Dragonflies get in on the act as well. However, most birds are nocturnal migrants. There are three advantages to migrating at night. First, the risk of predation by hawks, eagles and falcons is eliminated. Second, the atmospheric currents are typically smoother at night. Lastly, the cooler night-time temperatures help birds with their heat balance. ~ Herb Wilson
MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • September X, 2020
Depending on what criteria you use, Mooselookmeguntic ranks as the fourth largest lake in Maine. Canoeists will want to be adept at paddling in windy conditions and choppy waves should a calm day suddenly turn into a windy one. If you decide to paddle Mooselookmeguntic next summer as a multi-day adventure, there are 60 spacious tent sites on the lake, all part of the 6,000-acre Stephen Phillips Memorial Preserve. ~ Michael Perry
NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO • September 11, 2020
NPR and PBS Frontline spent months digging into internal industry documents and interviewing top former officials. We found that the industry sold the public on an idea it knew wouldn't work — that the majority of plastic could be, and would be, recycled — all while making billions of dollars selling the world new plastic. The industry's awareness that recycling wouldn't keep plastic out of landfills and the environment dates to the program's earliest days. Yet the industry spent millions telling people to recycle, because, as one former top industry insider told NPR, selling recycling sold plastic, even if it wasn't true. Analysts now expect plastic production to triple by 2050.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 10, 2020
Over the Labor Day weekend, Edie Smith of Glenburn and her son, Ezra Damm of Brunswick, headed to Camp Phoenix on Nesowadnehunk Lake on the edge of Baxter State Park. When Damm returned from climbing Katahdin, he captured an up-close video of the cow. Smith said the moose got to within about five feet of the dock, but didn’t seem to care about the crowd that had gathered. Approaching wildlife can be dangerous. Smith said she and Damm were careful to avoid harassing the moose.
TIMES RECORD • September 11, 2020
When a friend Ken Gordon contacted me about a sea kayak trip circumnavigating Swans Island near Mount Desert Island, I didn’t have time for the four-day endeavor. Soudenly, tentative plans were canceled. Tax consulting deadlines extended. Essential chores postponed. Within 24 hours, I’d blocked off the requisite timeframe for the ambitious undertaking. Ours turned out to be a memorable voyage in one Maine’s most scenic coastal regions. ~ Ron Chase
NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO • September 11, 2020
Human activities have caused the world's wildlife populations to plummet by more than two-thirds in the last 50 years, according to a new report from the World Wildlife Fund. The decline is happening at an unprecedented rate, the report warns, and it threatens human life as well. Scientists have long-warned that the world is entering a sixth mass extinction, driven by humanity's consumption of wildlife and wild spaces, and the burning of fossil fuels.
ASSOCIATED PRESS • September 11, 2020
Maine’s scallop fishers who plan to participate in the coming fishing year will be allowed the same harvesting levels as last season. The Maine Department of Marine Resources said scallopers who work most of the coast will be limited to 15 gallons per day. Fishers in the Cobscook Bay area will be limited to 10 gallons per day. Those are the same limitations as the 2019-20 scallop season.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 11, 2020
A different type of learning is taking place at East Grand School in Danforth, one that doesn’t happen within the confines of a traditional classroom. In a wooded area behind the school, children run around freely and build forts out of logs and planks. Kids in pre-kindergarten enjoy the fresh air while working on coloring projects. Older students sit around an outdoor fireplace and learn about social studies. These new applications to learning are part of an outdoors-based developmental program for children, known as TimberNook. East Grand School is just the second public school in the United States to adopt this program. It’s held at the school once or twice a week for two-hour sessions, after which the children return to the classroom.
