Column: Midsummer birding is boring

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 4, 2023

Boring. Midsummer birding is boring. Songbirds aren’t singing. Nestlings have fledged and are becoming independent. Parents are more relaxed. Most birds are staying in the trees, obscured by the thick foliage of August. There are boredom exceptions, of course. Marshes are particularly lively right now. Still, birding adventures right now are tame, unless you know one secret: Watch their behaviors. Even in the doldrums of summer, there’s a lot to watch. You just have to know what you’re watching.

After helping prevent extinctions for 50 years, the Endangered Species Act itself may be in peril

ASSOCIATED PRESS • August 4, 2023

Enacted in 1973 amid fear for iconic creatures such as the bald eagle, grizzly bear and gray wolf, the Endangered Species Act, the bedrock U.S. law intended to keep animal and plant types from dying out, extends legal protection to 1,683 domestic species. More than 99% of those listed as “endangered” – on the verge of extinction – or the less severe “threatened” have survived. Fifty years after the law took effect, environmental advocates and scientists say it’s as essential as ever. Habitat loss, pollution, climate change and disease are putting an estimated 1 million species worldwide at risk. Yet conservative administrations and lawmakers have stepped up efforts to weaken it, backed by landowner and industry groups that contend the act s tifles property rights and economic growth. Members of Congress try increasingly to overrule government experts on protecting individual species.

Milk With Dignity: the movement urging food suppliers to seek better work conditions on dairy farms

MAINE PUBLIC • August 4, 2023

Milk With Dignity is a worker-driven social responsibility movement that has been pressuring Hannaford to join for years. The group has a code of conduct that sets housing and working condition standards that companies and farms agree to follow. Those standards are enforced by an independent council of investigators and lawyers. In turn, the companies pay the farms a premium to improve worker conditions. It was born after an employee died in a 2009 workplace accident at a Vermont farm suppling milk to Ben & Jerry's, the iconic Vermont ice cream brand. The company agreed to require suppliers to follow the code in 2017. Cheryl Pinto, the company’s lead on the topic, said farmworkers have already seen results. Now, Milk With Dignity is focused on Hannaford, Maine's second largest private employer, with nearly 200 stores throughout the Northeast.

King, Collins and Golden ask feds to halt consideration of wildlife refuge

SUN JOURNAL • August 4, 2023

Maine’s Congressional delegation has sent a letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service voicing “serious concerns” regarding a potential National Wildlife Refuge in the High Peaks Region of western Maine. In the letter, U.S. Sens. Angus King and Susan Collins, as well as U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, said the federal government should “terminate its evaluation of the High Peaks Region for inclusion in the National Wildlife Refuge system and instead, work with the established local conservation entities and the state to address any wildlife-related issues.” Franklin County Commissioners Bob Carlton said that an attempt 10 years ago to create a refuge in the area failed. He and others don’t trust the federal government, he said.

Belfast board ordered to reconsider challenge to commercial fish farm

MAINE PUBLIC • August 4, 2023

In December 2020, the group Upstream Watch appealed the Belfast planning board's issuance of several permits to Nordic Aquafarms for an estimated $500 million salmon facility. But on Thursday, Maine's Supreme Judicial Court said that a lower court erred when it upheld the Belfast Board of Zoning Appeals decision that Upstream Watch lacked standing. So the court is directing the board to re-consider that appeal. The law court also recently ruled that Nordic lacks right, title and interest to a key piece of property needed for the project.

Letter: Putting the brakes on greenhouse-gas emissions

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 4, 2023

We need many tactics to curtail greenhouse gases at this point, but the single most efficient and effective solution is to raise the prices of fossil fuels to reflect their destructive impact, and thereby curtail demand for them. Carbon pricing can be a logical and efficient way to reduce greenhouse gases by stimulating demand for cheaper green energy. ~ Cynthia Stancioff, Chesterville

Letter: A ‘government takeover’ of Maine energy has already happened

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 4, 2023

Central Maine Power is owned by Avangrid, which is an 81.5 percent owned subsidiary of the Spanish utility Iberdrola. The three largest shareholders of Iberdrola are Qatar Investment Authority, Blackrock Inc, and Norges Bank. Qatar Investment Authority and Norges Bank are financial institutions operated by the governments of Qatar and Norway, respectively, while Blackrock is a large investment fund based in New York City. The people funding the campaign against Pine Tree Power use what I believe to be fearmongering language about a “government takeover” of our electric utility, when that scenario isn’t too far from what already exists. It’s just that the governments benefiting from the profits from CMP aren’t in Maine, or even in the United States. ~ Timothy D’Angelo, Bowdoinham

Maine expands electrical vehicle charging stations statewide

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 3, 2023

The Maine Department of Transportation intends to install 12 more electrical vehicle charging stations across the state. Financing for the expansion comes from a first award of over $6 million from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program.

Wilton board opposes creating wildlife refuge in High Peaks region

FRANKLIN JOURNAL • August 3, 2023

The Board of Selectpersons voted unanimously Tuesday to sign a letter to U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King, and U.S. Rep. Jared Golden opposing a potential national wildlife refuge in the High Peaks Region of western Maine. Wilton officials joined Avon and Eustis in signing the letter. The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service is studying roughly 200,000 acres straddling the Appalachian Trail, and is looking to establish a refuge of between 5,000 and 15,000 acres, according to Nancy Perlson, a local conservation consultant working with USFWS. The area has 14 of Maine’s highest summits and the largest cluster of peaks over 4,000 feet in the state. The refuge would be in the high peaks region.

Hot and wet weather not expected to dampen blueberry yields

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 3, 2023

Maine’s commercial blueberry harvesters are anticipating a strong season despite an inauspicious start. The state’s signature fruit has proven resilient. Last year’s drought conditions stressed the plants in the first year of their two-year cultivation cycle, slowing and stunting the growth of some. Then, several frosts, including one in mid-May, wiped out several lower-lying blueberry fields entirely. Some worried that heavy rain in June and July would be another strike against blueberries and that growers could face the same disappointing start to the season as strawberry farmers.

Opinion: Saving Maine’s bees to pollinate our native crops

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 3, 2023

It’s easy to view bees and mosquitoes as pests. But ahead of Wild Blueberry Weekend, it’s worth learning about the powerful role they can play in our ecosystems. ~ Susana Hancock is an international climate scientist and polar explorer living in Maine.

Letter: We need to be concerned for Maine’s contaminated beaches

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 3, 2023

Ironically, our own Sen. Edmund Muskie sponsored the Clean Water Act. Fifty years later, many of our beaches remain contaminated. Willard Beach is one, and South Portland city officials continue to ignore or downplay citizen concerns. Extremely high levels in the stormwater runoff from a 36-inch drainpipe empty onto the beach and into the bay. Twice-weekly testing by city staff found contamination 9 out of 12 days. High levels of both dog and human fecal bacteria were found in the stormwater runoff, a catch basin and a drain manhole. Toddlers and day campers daily play in the runoff and surrounding shallow waters. No warning signs are posted. ~ Diane Gotelli, South Portland

Letter: First lesson at aquaculture center

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 3, 2023

The very first lesson students at the future University of Maine Sustainable Aquaculture Workforce and Innovation Center should be taught is the crucial and economically sustainable difference between an environmentally sensitive true RAS (recirculating aquafarm system) and an environmentally wasteful and destructive flow through faux “RAS” system. ~ Sidney Block, Northport

Letter: Encouraged by corridor construction

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 3, 2023

It is great news that construction on the New England Clean Energy Connect corridor is resuming to bring huge amounts of hydropower from Canada to the U.S. to help replace fossil fuel — gas made from petroleum. Fighting climate change is extremely important, and this is a big step in that direction. Many thanks to those who worked tirelessly to arrive at this historic day. ~ Albert Howlett, Yarmouth

Cape Elizabeth Land Trust serves critical role in community

SOUTH PORTLAND SENTRY • August 2, 2023

The Cape Elizabeth Land Trust (CELT) works to conserve and maintain land in the town as well as educate people on conservation and the importance of natural resources. The land trust currently has about 865 acres conserved across 35 properties. The properties are a combination of land CELT owns as well as properties with conservation easements.

Hundreds of thousands of rabies vaccine baits distributed in northern Maine to combat spread of disease

SPECTRUM NEWS • August 2, 2023

State and federal officials are gearing up for the annual rabies vaccine baiting distribution in Maine, to help control the spread of rabies among raccoon populations. The US Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services is working with the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention to distribute a total of 365,000 oral vaccines through parts of Aroostook, Penobscot and Piscataquis counties from Aug. 5-10.  Officials will also distribute another 50,000 in northern Franklin County. The bait will be spread by air and ground. Most bait resembles “a fishmeal-coated cube or sachet about one to two inches in size,” according to a statement. The baits distributed in Franklin County look like “a blister pack with a sweet, waxy coating. Humans and pets cannot get rabies from contact with the bait but should not touch or move them,” the health department said. 

Toxic ‘foaming’ watermelons are showing up in Maine

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 2, 2023

The foam emerging from watermelons bought in Maine stores is a sign the fruit inside is actively fermenting — a natural process that started far away. And it’s been affecting more watermelons this summer as the states in which the watermelons are grown have been facing above average temperatures. Most of the watermelons found at Maine stores come from Florida, Arizona, California, Delaware or Texas. At some point in the growing process in one of those states the melons pick up a bacteria. That bacteria combined with the natural sugars and yeast in the melons. Fermentation — the chemical breaking down of the melon’s insides — began. A watermelon that has started foaming or leaking liquid should never be consumed.

Regulators consider whether to bump up baby eel quota for Maine fishermen in 2025

MAINE PUBLIC • August 2, 2023

The eel management board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission announced on Tuesday that it will consider raising the number of baby eels fishermen can harvest in Maine. Maine fishermen harvest baby eels, also known as elvers, from estuaries and rivers, and sell them to aquaculture businesses in Asia. Those companies then raise the elvers to maturity, and sell them as a Japanese delicacy. As the eel population diminished in some waterways near Japan, the price of elvers skyrocketed to $2,000 per pound. Currently, Maine fishermen catch around 10,000 pounds of baby eels per year.

Climate change made July hotter for 4 of 5 humans on Earth, scientists find

ASSOCIATED PRESS • August 2, 2023

Human-caused global warming made July hotter for four out of five people on Earth, with more than 2 billion people feeling climate change-boosted warmth daily, according to a flash study. More than 6.5 billion people, or 81% of the world’s population, sweated through at least one day where climate change had a significant effect on the average daily temperature, according to a new report issued Wednesday by Climate Central, a science nonprofit that has figured a way to calculate how much climate change has affected daily weather. The day with the most widespread climate-change effect was July 10, when 3.5 billion people experienced extreme heat that had global warming’s fingerprints, according to the report. That’s different than the hottest day globally, which was July 7, according to the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer.

Deer Isle causeway will take years to rebuild, despite climate change concerns

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 2, 2023

After years of hearing concerns about the damage caused by climate change, the state has decided to rebuild the Deer Isle causeway. The low-lying causeway connects the islands of Deer Isle to Little Deer Isle, which is connected to the mainland by a bridge. The Route 15 causeway is the only way to get to and from the mainland other than by boat. Officials with the Maine Department of Transportation are beginning to study alternatives. Because the causeway winds for nearly a mile across the mudflats between Little Deer Isle and Deer Isle, and because island residents still will have to be able to drive on and off island while the project is underway, the full project is likely to last several years.