The most comprehensive online source of conservation news and events in Maine and beyond, edited by Jym St. Pierre
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC • June 9, 2023
Car license plates in Maine bear the slogan “Vacationland.” It’s a fitting nickname for the northernmost state in New England, where 3,500 miles of rocky coastline, dozens of historic lighthouses, and bird- and moose-filled wild spaces draw around 15 million visitors a year. Here are 10 of the top ways to experience it.
MAINE GOVERNMENT NEWS • June 9, 2023
On Wednesday, at the 2023 Northeastern Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NEASDA) Regional Meeting held in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, Amanda Beal, the Commissioner of the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, was elected to serve a one-year term as NEASDA President.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 9, 2023
Next Tuesday, June 13, Union voters will have the opportunity to show their support for regulating and controlling industrial metallic mining in our residential town. It is crucial that all Union voters show up to vote “yes” on Article 4 (land use ordinance amendment to regulate and control metallic mining) and Article 5 (moratorium on any mining activity while the town aligns other governing documents). Union not only needs these articles to pass; residents need to show their overwhelming support. ~ Bill Stinson and Kathy Wellen, Citizens Against Residential Mining Activity, Union
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 9, 2023
I’ve been finding strange things along hiking trails recently. While hiking Whitecap Mountain last week, I came across a giant bone, one larger than my forearm. My best guess is that it was a moose leg. It’s either that or part of a sasquatch. Similarly, someone placed a deer skull on a tree branch along a trail in Bangor this spring. Other strange sights in the wilderness are entirely natural. Last week, for instance, I was puzzled to see a turtle perched on a hillock of moss beside a woodland trail in Ellsworth. ~ Aislinn Sarnacki
MAINE PUBLIC • June 9, 2023
A proposed transmission line connecting Aroostook County to the New England power grid has passed another hurdle at the State House. The Maine Senate voted 24-9 on Thursday to give preliminary approval to a bill authorizing construction of a 1,200-megawatt transmission line. The $2 billion project would carry electricity from a massive wind farm proposed for commercial timberlands near Oakfield. Maine ratepayers are expected to pick up about $1 billion of the cost, although supporters say the glut of low-cost wind energy will ultimately lower electricity rates. The bill faces additional votes in the House and Senate. And both the northern Maine transmission line and the so-called King Pine wind farm project require additional regulatory approvals.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 9, 2023
The Legislature’s Environment and Natural Resources Committee has approved an amendment to L.D. 1363. It would allow the developer of a mineral deposit to proceed under quarry rules instead of much-stricter mining rules. There will be no legal restriction on its size and it allows for sediment to enter water sources through strip mining. Additionally, a mining company will be able to evade any excise tax on metallic minerals to fund the mitigation of health and environmental impacts. Mining is a net job loser and mine site remediation expenses from long-abandoned mining sites for Maine taxpayers are in the tens of millions of dollars. Alarmingly, this action comes when the Supreme Court is rolling back federal safeguards for wetlands under the Clean Water Act. ~ Nickie Sekera, Fryeburg.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 9, 2023
Irving Oil, the Canadian company that supplies about two-thirds of Maine’s gas, diesel and heating oil, surprised industry watchers Wednesday when it said it is undertaking a strategic review that could lead to a full or partial sale. Some speculate that younger Irvings — the company is in its third generation of family owners — may be signaling problems such as government policies to move from fossil fuels to net-zero technologies including electric vehicles. Irving Oil is sometimes confused with its sister company, J.D. Irving, which is Maine’s largest landowner with more than 1.25 million acres of timberland in the northern part of the state. The two companies are each run by an Irving family member but operate separately.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 9, 2023
A squirrel covered in oozing sores and scaly raised growths on its body has the symptoms of squirrel pox and there is nothing cute about it. Squirrel pox growths show up on the outside of the squirrel most commonly around their eyes, mouths, feet and genitals. If there are enough of them, they can transform a squirrel from a welcome backyard visitor to something that belongs in a summer B-horror movie about zombie rodents. there is no reason to “rescue” or interfere with any lumpy squirrel you see. Shevenell Webb, wildlife biologist and furbearer specialist with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, said, “It is naturally occurring and will run its course in time.” What people can do is stop providing the perfect place for the squirrels to pick up the virus — bird feeders.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 8, 2023
Searsport residents Thursday raised concerns about plans to potentially welcome a cruise ship this year to their small midcoast town, calling for more time and discussion with town officials. More than 80 people attended a Thursday town meeting about a vessel carrying more than 900 passengers that requested to dock in Searsport in October. The Searsport Select Board approved a proposal in May to pursue the security clearance necessary to allow international ships to come to port. But some residents Thursday said they didn’t even know about the plan until after it was approved.
THE TRAVEL • June 8, 2023
Each national park has its own unique environment, which in turn supports different types of wildlife. For those visiting national parks specifically to get an up-close view of these protected critters, Casago has conducted an in-depth study to determine which national parks have the greatest density of unique animal species. #5 Acadia National Park, Maine: Acadia remains one of the most popular US national parks year after year, and tourists aren't the only ones enjoying the scenery. Acadia is considered one of the best birdwatching locations in the US, and with over 330 different species to observe, everyone will catch a glimpse of a unique feathered resident. On the ground, Acadia protects 40 different species of mammals, including beavers, foxes, and bats, as well as a variety of amphibians, reptiles, and fish. Along Acadia's eastern edge, visitors can search the salt marshes for crabs, lobsters, and other tide pool dwellers.
WCSH-TV6 • June 8, 2023
This spring, a group of elementary school kids in Old Orchard Beach learned firsthand their voices can make a difference in Augusta. The fifth graders from Loranger Middle School successfully proposed, lobbied for and, in May, helped pass a bill in the Legislature; establishing the Pink-Edged Sulphur butterfly as the first-ever official state butterfly. Governor Janet Mills invited students to the State House for a ceremonial signing on Wednesday. On Thursday, they squeezed in one final field trip before summer vacation. Maine Audubon biologists invited the kids to the Kennebunk Plains Preserve, just down the road from Old Orchard. There, each summer, the students will be able to spot the insects, which were chosen not only for their looks, but because they can be found all across the state, and they often base their life around access to Maine's native blueberries.
WABI-TV5 • June 8, 2023
Over the last few days, hundreds of salmon have been released into the wild. “Maine’s rivers support the last remaining populations of Atlantic salmon in the United States, but they are listed as endangered. We work together the Department of Marine Resources along with NOAA Fisheries, US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Penobscot Indian Nation to try to help jump-start recovery and put the species on the path towards hopefully one day delisting entirely,” said Dr. Danielle Frechette, marine resource scientist. “The East Branch Penobscot River has some of the best habitat in the Penobscot River drainage…for the juveniles to grow up in and themselves grow up to that smolt stage,” Frechette said.
MAINE PUBLIC • June 8, 2023
There's been growing interest in the study of white sharks in Maine waters. Researchers are trying to better understand their movements and behavior, so that lifeguards and public safety officials can respond if a shark is spotted near shore. Both the University of New England and the state have deployed passive receivers in Maine's coastal waters, but they only provide notifications of a shark detection after the fact. Earlier this week, a team of students from UNE tested an acoustic telemetry device near Camp Ellis that can listen for the presence of white sharks that have already been tagged by researchers. John Mogan, a UNE marine sciences professor and his students said the real work of monitoring white sharks for the summer can begin in earnest. The Maine Department of Marine Resources has a second monitor-equipped buoy that's placed up the Maine coast near Popham Beach, which also provides real-time notifications.
MORNING SENTINEL • June 8, 2023
More than 200 people attended a conference in Skowhegan this week that included a talk by a climate expert who predicted Skowhegan and other inland communities in the coming decades will see an influx of climate migrants displaced by rising sea levels and temperature extremes. Nathan Phillips, an earth and environment professor at Boston University, was a primary speaker at Build Maine, a two-day series of lectures and workshops that focused on the future of urban planning in Maine.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 8, 2023
Maine beachgoers are starting to see the newly-hatched piping plover chicks take their first steps. The fuzzy chicks typically begin hatching in late May and early June. The plover eggs, which are laid directly on sand, are typically speckled and sand-colored, making them hard to discern among the dunes, according to Maine Audubon. Piping plover eggs are very vulnerable because of their coloration, and some of their nesting areas in southern Maine are marked, but not all. Beachgoers are warned to be on the lookout for the birds as they may nest outside of marked areas, and to avoid disturbing their nesting areas and flying kites near marked areas.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 8, 2023
Smoke particles from wildfires raging in Quebec will lower the air quality along the Maine coast on Friday. Moderate particle pollution will likely move along the eastern side of a low pressure system currently insulating the state from the worst of the smoke, making its way through the Gulf of Maine, according to the National Weather Service. Forecasters believe the smoke could move inland throughout the day.
MAINE PUBLIC • June 8, 2023
A legislative committee on Wednesday approved a bill to boost offshore wind power. The measure sets a goal for the Public Utilities Commission to contract for 3,000 megawatts of offshore wind energy installed by 2040. It has the support of a coalition of environmental groups. Eliza Donoghue, of Maine Audubon, says the threats posed by climate change are far greater than those posed by wind power. And she says the bill includes environmental safeguards.
MAINE GOVERNMENT NEWS • June 8, 2023
The Maine Forest Service announces Morten Moesswilde as the new Division Director for the Forest Policy and Management Division. He has been interim director since February 2023. Moesswilde brings almost three decades of experience in forestry and natural resource management to his new role. He holds a Master of Science in Forestry from the University of Maine in Orono and a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Williams College. He joined the MFS Forest Policy and Management Division in 1999.
SUN JOURNAL • June 8, 2023
A new framework for updating Auburn’s agriculture and resource protection zone, which encompasses some 20,000 acres, appears to have broad support as it heads to the City Council. The new zoning language would replace the long-held income standard with what many said is a “viable alternative,” tying residential construction to a “connection to the land.”
PENOBSCOT BAY PILOT • June 8, 2023
On Wednesday, Gov. Janet Mills held a ceremonial bill signing for LD 574, a measure sponsored by Rep. Morgan Rielly, D-Westbrook, and cosponsored by Rep. Vicki Doudera, D-Camden, that would expand the language of working waterfront covenants to include nonprofit corporations and charitable trusts that are authorized to hold conservation easements, further protecting Maine’s last remaining miles of working waterfront.
