The most comprehensive online source of conservation news and events in Maine and beyond, edited by Jym St. Pierre
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 13, 2023
It’s the time of year when Mainers are cleaning up yard debris before the first snows come, but homeowners should be cautious. Those toxic little hairs from browntail moth caterpillars could be hiding in the leaves and grass. Raking and mowing could stir them up and the hairs could get on skin and cause a rash similar to poison ivy.
SUN JOURNAL • October 13, 2023
In November we are facing a major question about who controls and operates our electricity supply net. The point is raised by our governor that the proposed board to oversee the electricity net operators would be another layer of control, a burden on the consumers. This is a short-sighted view. The point of this whole exercise is to put the profits in the hands of Maine residents, who are also the customers, instead of the overseas conglomerate. The Public Utilities Commission has not shown that it is truly representing Maine residents’ interests. Electricity supply nets are a very profitable business. Why do people think Central Maine Power’s front PR company has spent over $15 million, so far, fighting this proposal? ~ Peter van Oosten, Greene
SUN JOURNAL • October 13, 2023
Pine Tree Power is a political ploy. It is to become a platform for Southern New England’s quest for “clean energy.” This, along with the billion-dollar-plus Aroostook Wind/Transmission project would be the bankruptcy of Maine’s electricity consumers. ~ Clayton McKay, Dixfield
SUN JOURNAL • October 13, 2023
I am an avid deer hunter and the House Republican lead on the Joint Standing Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. I am pleased that we were able to pass a law to expand Youth Hunting Day into two days on Oct. 20 and 21. This is a great opportunity for young people to get introduced to deer hunting. A youth hunter will be allowed to get a buck or a doe. ~ Rep. Rick Mason, Lisbon
WASHINGTON POST • October 12, 2023
More than 40% of Antarctica’s ice shelves have dwindled in the past 25 years, potentially accelerating sea-level rise by allowing more land ice to flow into the ocean, according to new research released Thursday. The extent of ice shelves thinning is more widespread than previously thought, the results show, providing increasing evidence that the continent is feeling the effects of higher global temperatures. The Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets are responsible for more than one-third of the total sea-level rise in recent decades.
SUN JOURNAL • October 12, 2023
A series of recommended changes to Lake Auburn watershed rules, including a new septic system ordinance and recognizing a new watershed boundary, will receive public hearings next month. It’s unclear what impact the proposed changes, and work produced by the ad hoc committee, will have on the ongoing litigation between the city of Lewiston and the Auburn Water District.
TIMES RECORD • October 12, 2023
The Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust Saturday farmers market at Crystal Spring Farm was voted the “Best Farmers Market in Maine” in this year’s National Farmers Market Celebration hosted by the American Farmland Trust and the Farmers Market Coalition. Established in 1999 to advance the land trust’s mission of supporting local agriculture, the market hosts over 30 local vendors and is one of the largest of the 115 summer farmers markets in the state. The location of the farmers market, Crystal Spring Farm, is a 331-acre example of successful mixed-use land with public-access trails, working farmland, valuable habitat for countless wildlife and plant species, a thriving community garden, and more, all conserved forever.
TIMES RECORD • October 12, 2023
Heat pumps are often much less powerful; they
can keep you very comfortable all winter if all they have to do is keep indoor air at the right temperature. But if your house lets outdoor cold air come right through, replacing your oil boiler with electric heat pumps might leave you feeling a little chilly. A sustainable home energy strategy is not to waste energy by installing more powerful heat pumps but rather solve the problem of cold air blowing through your home. Mainers are switching from heating oil to electric heating much faster than anticipated. If done well, this home energy transition can save us money, improve our comfort, and protect our health and well-being. ~ Fred Horch
ASSOCIATED PRESS • October 12, 2023
Four dozen Antarctic ice shelves have shrunk by at least 30% since 1997 and 28 of those have lost more than half of their ice in that time, reports a new study that surveyed these crucial “gatekeepers’’ between the frozen continent’s massive glaciers and open ocean. Scientists worry that climate change-triggered melt from Antarctica and Greenland will cause dangerous and significant sea rise over many decades and centuries.
MAINE PUBLIC • October 12, 2023
Phytoplankton are tiny, microscopic marine organisms, but they loom large in the health of our ocean ecosystems. They provide food to many of the sea's creatures, and they also consume carbon dioxide. But when their growth gets out of control, it leads to dangerous algal blooms. Learn how researchers study phytoplankton to learn about ocean health.
CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY • October 12, 2023
Renowned musicians, authors, poets and tribal elders will come together Sunday in Portland, Maine, to raise awareness about threats to northern Montana’s ancient Yaak Valley and support its designation as the nation’s first climate refuge. The event also will support efforts to protect all the country’s old-growth and mature forests on federal public lands from logging. The event features singer-songwriters Maggie Rogers and Alisa Amador; Halcyon String Quartet; poets Beth Ann Fennelly and Gary Lawless; environmentalists and authors Bill McKibben, Terry Tempest Williams and Rick Bass; Francis Auld and Leslie Caye, spiritual leaders with the Montana band of the Kootenai Tribe. At Merrill Auditorium, 20 Myrtle St., Portland, Oct. 15, 7 pm.
MAINE PUBLIC • October 12, 2023
Three different invasive plants have been discovered on Cobbossee Lake since 2018, including Eurasian water milfoil and its better-known relative, variable leaf milfoil. Left unchecked, both plants can grow into dense mats that crowd out native species, reduce water quality and property values, and hinder boating and swimming. It’s hard, expensive work containing an invasive aquatic species like Eurasian water milfoil. Local groups must survey for it using boats and dive gear. When it’s found, they work with the state to remove it by hand, herbicide and other methods. Even then, they might not be able to stop an infestation. Invasive milfoils have been detected in more than 50 waterways in Maine, but eradicated from just six. That’s why officials say that boaters must prevent these plants from spreading in the first place.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 12, 2023
We have before us this November a golden opportunity to clear a path to a modernized grid that’s reliable, built to handle the clean energy transition, and affordable to all Mainers. Voting “yes” on Question 3 removes the two biggest obstacles now blocking this path to climate crisis solutions, namely the investor-owned corporate utilities Central Maine Power and Versant, and replacing them with a nonprofit, publicly owned Pine Tree Power company. What do CMP and Versant have against renewable energy? It’s more profitable for them to build transmission lines carrying power from distant generation sources than to facilitate local microgrids, especially ones where clean power, like solar and wind, is generated and stored close to where the power is used. ~ Amy Eshoo, Maine Climate Action Now
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 12, 2023
Green Mountain Power, which serves about 270,000 homes and businesses, submitted a plan to regulators on Monday asking for approval to invest $30 million to lease television-sized batteries to homeowners that would draw on clean energy from solar panels and wind turbines. The utility’s new Zero Outages Initiative aims to save on expensive grid repairs and expansions by investing another $250 million in stronger cables and buried power lines in vulnerable areas. It would seem natural for Maine to adopt a similar program, but while there is interest in expanding battery use in Maine, utilities here said they are unlikely to pursue a similar initiative any time soon due to legal constraints and high costs.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 12, 2023
Clean air should not be controversial. Exposure to air pollution is known to cause and worsen asthma, lung disease and cancer. Recognizing the urgency of our climate crisis, Maine has adopted a bold climate goal to reduce Maine’s emissions 45 percent by 2030. In order to mitigate the impact of climate change and clean up harmful air pollution, we must act now to cut our transportation emissions and accelerate the transition to zero-emissions across the sector. the Maine Department of Environment is considering two life-saving programs that will clean up Maine’s transportation. As long as the Maine DEP doesn’t fall for their fear tactics, the agency will continue to see overwhelming support for these rules from community members, clean air advocates, health experts and business leaders. ~ Matt Cannon. Maine Sierra Club
KENNEBEC JOURNAL • October 12, 2023
Question 3 seeks to buy out Maine’s two investor-owned utilities. Because I inherently prefer a publicly owned model, I initially believed this proposal would improve our situation. But it became clear to me that ownership structure is not the most important factor in how a utility performs. This referendum pursues an ideological goal without considering the significant risks to ratepayers, the grid’s functionality and Maine’s ambitious climate change agenda. It fails to consider the downsides, with too many supporters believing “it can’t get any worse,” though that is far from the truth. Climate change demands a response as ironclad as our grandparents’ World War II effort. We already have the power to ensure our utilities do their part, so we have little to gain by experimenting with other ownership models. We need action, not distraction. ~ Former Rep. Tina Riley (D), Jay
SUN JOURNAL • October 12, 2023
Auburn is blessed with clean water and prime farmland. Those resources must be protected if Auburn is to thrive. To do so requires collaborative leadership on the City Council and active citizens. Jeff Harmon as mayor would offer that leadership. Auburn’s current mayor has pursued scheme after scheme to dismantle the protections in the agricultural district and around Lake Auburn. ~ Bonnie Lounsbury, Auburn
MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • October 11, 2023
Conservationist Ken Olson talks about the embattled creation of Katahdin Woods & Waters National Monument. Established in 2016 by President Obama, the monument is comprised of nearly 90,000 acres on the eastern boarder of Maine’s Baxter State Park. At Tin Mountain Conservation Center, Albany, NH, and on Zoom, Oct 12, 7 pm.
ADVERTISER DEMOCRAT • October 11, 2023
With assistance from The Conservation Fund, Western Foothills Land Trust has added 721 acres to Twin Bridges Preserve, extending public access on both sides of Route 117 in Otisfield, Norway and Harrison. This marks the second expansion of Twin Bridges Preserve this year. In March WFLT acquired 100-acre pieces adjacent to the Edwards Mills land. The new preserve configuration includes two miles of frontage on the Crooked River, 47 acres of wetlands, bog shoreline on Little Pond, as well as deer winter and stream habitat.
ADVERTISER DEMOCRAT • October 11, 2023
Even before colonial times, timber rattlesnakes never occupied a large area of Maine. By the end of the 19th century the reptile was effectively exterminated. Bridgton Historical Society Assistant Director Michael Davis recently spoke at the Hebron Historical Society about the mysteries and disappearance of Maine’s only known venomous snake. While there are still pockets of timber rattlers in other parts of New England, Maine is the only state of the lower 48 to have no reported population.
