Column: This is how Maine should protect the rare Arctic charr

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 6, 2023

I would suggest that Arctic charr should be protected under general law by a 10-inch minimum length requirement and a two-fish daily bag and possession limit. When you consider that 11 of 12 native Arctic charr waters in Maine currently have a two-fish limit, it would make sense that this would become the species-specific general law daily bag and possession limit for charr. While only one water would be affected and require a change from five fish to two fish, the aggregate daily limit and possession limit would be reduced from five fish to two. That would be prudent when you consider the rarity of the species and its increasing popularity with anglers. ~ Bob Mallard

Failed wind farm site is biggest land sale in Maine this year

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 6, 2023

The site of a failed 5,400-acre wind farm in northern Penobscot County that sold for $3.25 million recently is the largest and most expensive piece of land in Maine sold so far this year, according to real estate records. The Carroll Plantation plot includes both peaks and the ridgeline of Bowers Mountain and the northern slopes and most of the western and eastern terrain of Getchell Mountain. The location made news 10 years ago when the former owner and a subsidiary of First Wind wanted to build a 27-turbine wind farm called Bowers Mountain Wind that regulators rejected and then a pared down 16-turbine wind farm that also was rejected. The new owner is a Maine logger.

Column: Do we really need to travel?

SUN JOURNAL • July 6, 2023

The reality of today’s tourism is long waits. The economies in many hotspots live off the tourist dollar, but even their residents are frustrated by having to wend their way through the selfie-taking mobs to buy groceries. Quaint Bar Harbor, Maine, recently had to put limits on cruise ship visits. Some ships were so big, they would disgorge 4,000 passengers into this town of only 5,200 people. As for my plans for future travel, plans, yes, I have them. I plan to not travel. ~ Froma Harrop

The public relations battle over Maine’s generous solar incentives

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 5, 2023

Maine lawmakers have made some big deals while winding down their work for 2023, but a standoff over the state’s generous solar incentives remains unsolved. It’s unclear whether either side has the votes to break a deadlock between the chambers. That might be the worst thing for Maine’s electric ratepayers, who were hit last month by a $135.7 million annual increase that is mostly attributable to subsidies dating back to 2019. The Legislature has been full of surprises on this policy. The Senate may hold the keys to a fix. If it sticks by the Democratic-led version, that may force the House’s hand in approving a more incremental change. If Sen. Nicole Grohoski, D-Ellsworth can make progress with her colleagues, a Republican-led bill would make an improbable run to the front of the pack.

Earth may be experiencing some of its hottest days on record, UMaine analysis finds

MAINE PUBLIC • June 5, 2023

A University of Maine analysis suggests that global temperatures are setting new records. Maine State Climatologist Sean Birkel developed a website called the Climate Reanalyzer at the University of Maine Climate Change Institute. A recent temperature chart at the website shows that Monday and Tuesday were the hottest days on the planet since 1979, when the global mean daily temperature estimates were first recorded in the federal dataset the site uses. He says the temperatures are symptomatic of a climate that's warming rapidly due to greenhouse gas emissions.

How Newfoundland puffins helped save the bird's population in Maine

CBC RADIO • June 5, 2023

The Atlantic puffin population in Maine is fairly stable today. But as recently as the 1970s, hunting had made the seabird nearly non-existent in the state. "They used to breed on at least five other islands in Maine, but had not recolonized any of those islands on their own in about 100 years," said Steve Kress, former executive director of the Audubon Society's Seabird Institute. Kress partnered with the non-profit National Audubon Society to launch Project Puffin on July 4, 1973. Over the next decade and a half, they transported almost 2,000 puffin chicks from Newfoundland to two historic breeding sites on Maine: Eastern Egg Rock Island and Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge. Their efforts are paying off. The puffin population in Maine has increased tenfold since 1973 — and they're even colonizing new parts of the state.

Letter: Older adults should not foot the bill for solar incentives

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 5, 2023

AARP Maine is urging everyone who relies on Central Maine Power or Versant Power for their electricity to contact their state senators and ask them to pass LD 1347 and reform the state’s net energy billing program. Net energy billing provides overly generous subsidies to solar developers that we believe are not needed to aid the transition to renewable energy. The program will cost Mainers roughly $220 million annually and will continue for 20 years. AARP strongly supports the transition to renewable energy, but this transition cannot be funded by asking the most vulnerable Mainers, particularly older adults who live on low and fixed incomes, to foot the bill. ~ Alf Anderson, AARP

Seeing a Maine moose is all about knowing where to look

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 6, 2023

Coming to Maine this summer I wanted to see moose everywhere! We embarked on excursions to regions having populations of the much-loved massive Maine mammal. On Pleasant Lake in Stetson we didn’t spot any moose. We navigated the Bangor City Forest trails and Orono Bog boardwalk, and enjoyed strolls along the banks of the city’s beautiful Penobscot River. Still no moose. We chartered Jack’s Air Service in Greenville to fly us over Moosehead Lake. Although difficult to clearly make out in dark water from a moving airplane at over 1,000 feet, we followed the ripples to observe our first moose. At a boggy area at dusk just out of Shirley two shadowy figures were grazing some 300 feet away. In Baxter State Park we saw several swampy patches while driving for miles, but the moose proved to be scarce. In Bigelow Preserve, no moose. Near Rangeley: “Moose!” She promptly walked into the shadows but not before briefly staring at us with a “what are you staring at, bud?” ~ Nick Thomas

Don't confuse the blackpoll warbler with Maine's state bird

FOX NEWS • July 5, 2023

Mainers love their birds and so this summer we are telling you about a different bird each week with the help of Maine Audubon. In this Bird of the Week segment, Conservation Director Sally Stockwell discusses a bird that might trick you into thinking it’s the state bird. The blackpoll warbler is not to be confused with the black-capped chickadee or the black-and-white warbler. Compared to the chickadee, the blackpoll warbler has a longer beak, is less plump and is streaked with black and white on its back. The bird is famed for its migration, traveling the longest distance of any warbler. Stockwell says in the fall, blackpoll warblers fatten themselves on Maine insects in preparation for over three days of nonstop flying from Maine's coast to South America.

Solar Developer BlueWave Sees Panels Meshing With Many Types of Farming

LANCASTER FARMING • July 5, 2023

Farming and solar energy often compete for land, but a Northeastern solar developer is pioneering ways for the two industries to complement each other. Boston-based BlueWave is studying how squash, blueberries, and even corn and cows could be raised amid grid-scale solar arrays. BlueWave is launching four research projects this year — two with vegetables, two with hay and cattle grazing. Solar panels could also work in established perennial crop fields. BlueWave built a solar array in a wild blueberry field in Maine to determine the effects of construction traffic on the crop.

After court victory, Maine lobster industry expects status quo for a few more years

MAINE PUBLIC • June 5, 2023

The Maine lobster industry scored a major victory last month, when a federal appeals court ruled that the scientific assumptions used to regulate fishing and protect endangered North Atlantic right whales went too far. That means the status quo for Maine fishermen should remain for several more years. "The gear markings, weak links and other steps the fishery has taken in attempt to reduce entanglement risks will stay in place for the foreseeable future," says Patrice McCarron of the Maine Lobstermen's Association. The industry will now wait for the federal government to make new scientific models. Conservation groups have argued the right whale population will decline rapidly if additional measures aren't taken within the next five years.

World swelters to unofficial hottest day on record, UMaine scientists find

ASSOCIATED PRESS • July 5, 2023

The entire planet sweltered to the unofficial hottest day in human recordkeeping July 3, according to University of Maine scientists at the Climate Reanalyzer project. This global record is preliminary, but it is an indication that climate change is reaching into uncharted territory. It legitimately captures global-scale heating and NOAA will take these figures into consideration when it does its official record calculations. The global daily average temperature for July 3 came in at 17.01 degrees Celsius, or 62.6 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer, a common tool often used by climate scientists for a good glimpse of the world’s condition.

Baxter State Park offers many spectacular mountain hikes beside Katahdin

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 5, 2023

Each summer, hikers flock to Katahdin, the tallest mountain in Maine. It’s the most popular destination in Baxter State Park, and for good reason. But it may not always be the best hiking option for you. Fortunately, there are many other spectacular mountains in the park to hike. Baxter is home to more than 220 miles of hiking trails. And believe me, they’re all wonderful. Here are a few other mountain hikes in Baxter State Park: Mount OJI, Doubletop Mountain, The Owl, South Turner Mountain, Sentinel Mountain, Mount Coe and South Brother, North Traveler Mountain, Trout Brook Mountain, Horse Mountain.

Commentary: Legislators must recognize that not all solar is created equal

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 5, 2023

The Office of the Public Advocate and others have suggested that net energy billing is responsible for rapidly rising electrical prices. This is a diversionary tactic to distract attention from the actual causes, including high fossil fuel prices – especially natural gas. Net energy billing can and should be updated. Not all solar is created equal; out-of-state developers rushed into Maine because of its generous incentive program. Both sides of the political aisle agree that large-scale projects should be developed under competitive procurement, not net energy billing. L.D. 1986 would require utilities and the PUC to fairly account for the benefits of distributed energy projects, while also reducing the “losses” utilities claim and charge ratepayers for. ~ Johannah Blackman and Beth Woolfolk, A Climate to Thrive, Mount Desert Island

Bangor gets federal grant to clean up contaminated old Air Force building

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 5, 2023

Bangor received a federal grant last month to demolish an abandoned, contaminated former military building at the Bangor International Airport and repurpose the land. The $897,850 Brownfields Assessment Grant comes from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and doesn’t require a match from the city. The money will be used to rehabilitate the “Alert Building” at the airport leftover from its days as the Dow Air Force Base. The newly formed U.S. Air Force took control of the site in 1947 and it became Dow Air Force Base for servicemembers and their families. At its peak, the base was home to more than 5,000 people. In addition to chemicals and wildlife, the empty, decaying building is likely riddled with asbestos, mold and lead paint. Once remediated, the land will be available for the airport to use for potential freight or warehouse needs.

Aroostook hay farmers face significant losses from prolonged rain

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 5, 2023

Plagued by drought a few years ago, farmers would now likely give their right arms for a dry field. Persistent rain has affected crop planting, landscape work and recreation across the state, and It could lead to significant losses for Maine’s hay producers — up to half their income for some. In Aroostook County, farmers halted potato planting for about three days in May due to wet conditions. Constant rain closed ATV trails until after Memorial Day, and hunters may see fewer partridge because of the wet spring. The weather is also affecting hay, which is crucial for livestock forage.

Monday was the hottest day ever as global temperatures rise

BLOOMBERG • July 4, 2023

Global temperatures hit a record on Monday, underscoring the dangers of ever-increasing carbon emissions generated from burning fossil fuels. The average worldwide temperature was 17C (63F), just above the previous record of 16.9C reached in August 2016, according to data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction. The new high underscores the extremity of 2023’s summer in the northern hemisphere. The heat this summer has already put millions of people around the world at risk.

Understanding Maine's rainy summer: A deep dive into the unusual weather patterns

WGME-TV13 • July 4, 2023

We are now in the second month of summer and can only count the number of days with no rain on two hands. Now that we are in July, one would expect to see some dry and warm days. Instead, we are seeing the opposite, more rain. This is due to the constant upper-level low-pressure systems in the atmosphere above us. It is an unforeseeable cause-and-effect pattern. The low pressure causes the air to be cooler leading to cold air aloft. The cold air aloft weakens the atmosphere. When the atmosphere is destabilized, any little change can affect the weather. There are signs of dry and summer weather ahead.

First rabies case reported in Bath area since 2019-20 outbreak

TIMES RECORD • July 4, 2023

A rabid raccoon was recently found in West Bath, marking the area’s first documented rabies case since an outbreak in 2019-2020 that included several instances of animals attacking people. West Bath Animal Control Officer Todd Stead said he shot and killed the raccoon June 21 on Sea Kiss Point near Hill Road after workers building a house reported the animal acting strangely. State officials tested the animal’s brain and confirmed it had rabies.

Opinion: The future of solar energy in Maine hinges on passing LD 1986

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 4, 2023

The future of solar energy in Maine and our state’s climate goals could be at risk, depending on which of two bills is potentially enacted by the Legislature this week: LD 1347 or LD 1986. Both bills aim to address the way solar projects are compensated for the electricity they generate, but only LD 1986 will actually support solar development and our state’s clean energy goals. LD 1347 has been largely drafted to protect a few industrial interests. On the other hand, LD 1986 has been developed in close coordination with the Governor’s Energy Office and is supported by some ratepayers and solar providers. It proposes a correction in how new projects are paid, aligning them with a value established by the Public Utilities Commission. ~ Rep. Gerry Runte, York