Maine hunters bagged some huge moose in the first week of the hunt

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 2, 2023

Moose hunters registered a handful of bulls weighing more than 1,000 pounds in September, according to logs at two of Aroostook’s three major tagging stations that weigh the animals. Gateway Trading Post in Ashland registered a bull at 1,024 pounds, while Up North Outdoors in Fort Kent had at least one animal weigh in at more than 1,000 pounds. This year, the state issued 4,106 permits. Early figures show that a total of 775 moose were taken during the weeklong hunt, Sept. 25-30.

Opinion: Community support essential to preserve farmlands and wildlands

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 2, 2023

Two significant reports, “A Regional Approach to Food System Resilience” and “Wildlands in New England: Past, Present, and Future,” produced by the New England Food System Planners Partnership and Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands, and Communities, respectively, provide important insights into the supply chains of the New England food system and the preservation of wildlands. Only by taking an integrated approach in partnership with rural and urban communities that simultaneously pursues a just and resilient food system while stewarding biodiversity through the conservation of wildlands, woodlands and more can we build a flourishing and democratic future. The good news is that we are not far off from realizing this approach. ~ Tom Kelly, UNH Sustainability Institute

Environmental groups demand emergency rules to protect rare whales from ship collisions

ASSOCIATED PRESS • October 2, 2023

A coalition of environmental groups is calling on the federal government to enact emergency rules to protect a vanishing species of whale from lethal collisions with large ships. The groups filed their petition with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in an effort to protect the North Atlantic right whale. The whale numbers less than 340 and has been in steep decline in recent years. The right whales were once abundant off the East Coast, but they were decimated during the commercial whaling era. They have been protected under the Endangered Species Act for several decades.

Montana is appealing a landmark climate change ruling that favored youth plaintiffs

ASSOCIATED PRESS • October 2, 2023

The office of Montana’s Republican attorney general is appealing a landmark climate change ruling that said state agencies aren’t doing enough to protect 16 young plaintiffs from harm caused by global warming. The state filed notice on Friday that it is going to appeal the August ruling by District Court Judge Kathy Seeley, who found the Montana Environmental Policy Act violates the plaintiffs’ state constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment. The 1971 law requires state agencies to consider the potential environmental impacts of proposed projects and take public input before issuing permits.

Sea kayak trip provides unique celebration Maine’s lighthouses

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 2, 2023

The U.S. Coast Guard, the Maine Office of Tourism and the American Lighthouse Foundation sponsored Maine Open Lighthouse Day on Sept. 9. Twenty famous Maine lighthouses participated including Goat Island Light in Cape Porpoise Harbor near Kennebunkport. A friend proposed a Penobscot Paddle and Chowder Society sea kayak trip to the island. My wife and I enthusiastically signed on. Climbing the narrow dark circular tower stairs to the railed platform at the top of the lighthouse was like taking a journey back in time. The views of the surrounding area were nothing short of phenomenal. A gentle tailwind helped propel us back to the causeway landing. ~ Ron Chase

A fast-growing vine is one of the newest invasive species identified in Maine

MAINE PUBLIC • October 2, 2023

The discovery of an invasive vine in Maine has alarmed state officials who keep an eye out for non-native species. It's called the mile-a-minute vine, and despite the name, it doesn't grow 60 miles in one hour. But it can grow up to six inches in a day. It's just one of many features that have enabled it to become established in the mid-Atlantic and southern New England — and identified in Maine. But there are efforts to keep it at bay.

Cottontail rabbits released in Maine refuge as part of effort to bring them back

MAINE PUBLIC • October 2, 2023

The Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge in Kittery is the first refuge in Maine to host New England cottontails after dozens of the rabbits were released there this year. New England cottontails are a protected species in Maine and conservationists say there are only 320 left, but there is evidence the species is rebounding. In September, volunteers planted 700 native plants on Cutts Island in Kittery as part of the refuge's program to restore New England cottontail habitat. It's been a 10-year process. Refuge Wildlife Biologist Kate O'Brien says vanishing habitat caused the once prolific species to decline over decades, but with help the population of the threatened rabbits is growing again.

Amid climate concerns, bill would curb Poland Spring’s long-term water extraction deals

MAINE MORNING STAR • October 2, 2023

In rural areas of Maine, local activists have long been concerned about resource extraction by bottled water giant Poland Spring, expressing worries about the environmental impacts and arguing that communities should have more control over their own groundwater supply given the escalating climate crisis.  Now, water rights advocates are lining up behind a bill that would significantly limit the contract length that companies like Poland Spring are allowed to sign with municipal utilities to extract groundwater. 

Maine’s top court will hear arguments about Sunday hunting

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 2, 2023

The legal battle over Maine’s 140-year ban on Sunday hunting will go before the state’s highest court this week. Attorneys for the state of Maine and the family suing the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife will make their cases before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court on Wednesday. At issue is whether a constitutional amendment enacted in 2021 granting a right to food means that Mainers should be able to hunt any day of the week.

Maine’s dueling utility referendums could create legal standoff

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 2, 2023

The conflicting referendums are Question 3, which would create a Pine Tree Power Co. that would buy out the infrastructure of Central Maine Power Co. and Versant Power and put it under the control of an elected board, and the CMP-backed Question 1 which attempts to slow the creation of any new utility by subjecting billions in borrowing to yet another vote. Perhaps the only thing certain about the dueling questions is the uncertainty over what could happen if Maine voters pass both measures. If Question 3 passes, a ratepayer watchdog expects five to 10 years of legal wrangling over constitutionality and the price of utility assets.

Column: Climate action – and the hope it conjures – can be found everywhere

KENNEBEC JOURNAL • October 1, 2023

Action is my favorite source of hope. In 2021, a neighbor and I decided to form a community climate group. Within the month, our nascent group of four had 12 subcommittees and a mailing list of several hundred. So many people had been looking for structure, for action…for hope. The scale of destruction in the world means that the climate crisis is existential. It can feel overwhelming. One activity about which I am particularly excited is the new citizen science collaboration between the Gulf of Maine Research Institute and the National Weather Service monitoring coastal flooding. The findings feed directly into resiliency priorities of towns from Scarborough to Belfast. Town residents become stakeholders in their own community’s response. Like so much meaningful climate action, hope can be found with no special skills beyond a desire to learn about the water. At a time of scary weather patterns and falling records, look around, there are helpers everywhere. ~ Susana Hancock, international climate scientist and polar explorer, Freeport

Gardiner considers joining statewide effort to reduce carbon emissions, protect against climate change

KENNEBEC JOURNAL • October 1, 2023

Gardiner now has no public electric vehicle charging stations, but that could change if city officials pursue joining a statewide effort to reduce carbon emissions and ward against the effects of climate change. EV charging stations are among the options that could be funded by grants from the Maine Community Resilience Partnership, but it is not the only possible project for cities and towns interested in identifying ways to reduce emissions and prepare for the impacts of a changing climate in Maine.

Editorial: Clean vehicle standards will get Maine where it needs to go

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • October 1, 2023

Maine law requires the state to reduce its fossil fuel emissions by 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. With more than half of all emissions in the state coming from transportation, we can’t expect to hit that target without putting a lot more electric vehicles on the road. If the Board of Environmental Protection adopts the proposal before them, auto manufacturers doing business in Maine would have to make sure that 43% of all new passenger vehicles are electric or hybrid in 2027. The threshold would raise to 82% by 2032; commercial trucks would be allowed a much more gradual transition. We suggest that the BEP go further, and follow California and other states in requiring that 100% of the new passenger vehicles sold by 2035 are low- or zero-emission.

Maine’s transition to low-emission vehicles: Benefits and challenges

NATION WORLD NEWS • October 1, 2023

The state of Maine is taking steps to reduce carbon emissions and move toward a clean energy economy. Under Maine law, the state must reduce fossil fuel emissions by 80% below 1990 levels by 2050, and more than half of all emissions in the state come from the transportation sector. To achieve these goals, the State Environmental Protection Board is considering adopting some version of California’s clean vehicle emission standards. The proposed rules would reduce vehicle emissions by 75% and bring nearly $17 billion in benefits to Maine families and businesses. Choosing a 100% rule by 2035 would reduce emissions by 89% and add another $4 billion in benefits. Importantly, even under the most ambitious plan, no one will be forced to get rid of their internal combustion car. Gasoline vehicles will continue to be sold until 2035, although there will be auto options available after that year.

Living to 100? Great! In a climate crisis? Not so much

MAINE MONITOR • October 1, 2023

Now two disparate forces — exceptional human longevity and an unprecedented climate crisis — are converging, confronting us with an inconvenient truth: In a cruel twist of fate, we’re going to live longer than ever, just as the full force and fury of global warming take an imperiled Earth by storm. How ironic that in the history of our species’ evolution, more of us than ever are going to reach 100 at arguably the worst possible time. We owe it to ourselves, and especially to those future centenarian 5-year-olds, to do our utmost now to reverse or at least slow the effects of our most existential threat.

Column: My feeders are vacant. Where are the birds?

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • October 1, 2023

Not seeing as many birds at your bird feeder these days? Keep in mind that fall migration is peaking right now, and many birds are leaving Maine. From red-winged blackbirds to yellow warblers, many of the birds that have been in our yards and visiting our bird feeders for the last few months are heading to their wintering grounds in large numbers. Also, some of the species we don’t think of as migratory – since we see them in our backyards throughout the year – do actually undertake some, albeit short, migrations. Blue jays are a great example. Another major reason you are seeing fewer birds at feeders is because there is better food almost everywhere right now. ~ Maine Audubon Staff Naturalist Doug Hitchcox

Column: Dogs are great companions, and a great responsibility

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • October 1, 2023

A lot of work goes into training and maintaining a hunting dog, but it’s a labor of love. When a setter staunchly locks up on point over an unseen woodcock or a relentless retriever ferrets out a teal from a tangle of cattails, it all seems worthwhile. Hunting with man’s best friend can be a rewarding experience, but occasionally leads to some unexpected adventures. ~ Bob Humphrey

Column: Pine Tree Power is a risky scheme with disastrous potential

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • October 1, 2023

They are so numerous that it would be easy, from now until Election Day, to write every week about the problems with the utility takeover scheme labeled Pine Tree Power. I’d run out of time and column inches long before I’d run out of problems to dissect. The foremost presumption made by proponents of Pine Tree Power is that changing the ownership and management structure of our utilities would be an improvement. There are no guarantees in life. It might be better, it might be worse. Moreover, elected members wouldn’t have to know anything about utility policy. The supporters of Pine Tree Power can’t guarantee they’d lower costs, respond to storms better or help the transition away from fossil fuels. What they can promise is a lengthy legal battle that could cost taxpayers millions. ~ Jim Fossel

Column: Great options for fall backpacking trips around Maine

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • October 1, 2023

Foliage season is here, and the window between now and when the snow flies is perhaps the best time of year to get out onto the backcountry trails for some scenery and solitude. There’s the well-known Appalachian Trail, Baxter State Park, Maine’s White Mountains, the Grafton Loop Trail and the Cutler Coast, sure, but what other options are there? A goodly number, as it turns out. Consider one of these lesser-traveled places for an easy to moderate overnight backpacking trip.
• Hidden Valley Nature Center in Jefferson
• Debsconeag Lakes Wilderness Area south of the Golden Road
• International Appalachian Trail through Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument
• Amherst Mountains Community Forest in Clifton
• Deboullie Public Lands in northern Aroostook County
• Little Moose Public Land west of Greenville
• Debsconeag Backcountry Trail in Nahmakanta Public Land
~ Carey Kish

Letter: Bringing Big Oil to justice

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • October 1, 2023

Climate-related American disasters cost at least $165 billion in 2022. We need a carbon fee be placed on coal, gas and oil. As we await legislative action, there is the justice system. The state of California has filed a lawsuit against five of the largest fossil fuel companies. There are successful precedents for this lawsuit, including lawsuits against the tobacco industry, the lead paint industry and the Sackler family for causing the opioid crisis. The media should be covering this closely, and other states should follow California’s lead. ~ Nancy Hasenfus, Brunswick