30,000 acres near Katahdin Woods and Waters being restored to Penobscot Nation

MAINE PUBLIC • November 1, 2023

The Penobscot Nation and Trust for Public Land today announced a plan to return nearly 30,000 forested acres in Maine back to the governance of the tribe. The land represents a portion of what was taken from them in the 1800s, and it's part of a larger effort to restore ancestral homelands to Indigenous stewardship. The land near the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument is well forested and previously managed for industrial timber. It contains more than 4,000 acres of wetlands and 53 miles of streams and rivers in the Penobscot River watershed. Once the project is completed, the land will be transferred without a conservation easement in a way that supports Indigenous self determination. The plan also calls for creation of a "much needed" southern point of access to the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument.

Column: Crystal Spring foot song (plus a little trail wonkery)

TIMES RECORD • November 1, 2023

Shod with trail shoes and dosed with imagination, I set out into a partly-lit October day, intent on tutoring my feet and salving my mind. Today’s tutor is the Main Loop Trail. Laid out and maintained by the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust, this beautifully realized, 1.5-mile-long path is mostly single-track. Along its northwestern edge lies a sub-loop of two-thirds of a mile. These are the uplands, or up-and-down lands, threading handsome woods. I read the trail before me; I absorb myself in it. Views? Expansive visions? They arrive when I pause or complete a run. When the ledge from which I look out and the climb just made arrive as reward for the foot-music just played. ~ Sandy Stott

These American birds and dozens more will be renamed, to remove human monikers

NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO • November 1, 2023

The American Ornithological Society has vowed to change the English names of all bird species currently named after people, along with any other bird names deemed offensive or exclusionary. The move comes as part of a broader effort to diversify birding and make it more welcoming to people of all races and backgrounds.

Atlantic hurricane season is over. Here are 5 things that stood out

WASHINGTON POST • November 30, 2023

Atlantic hurricane season ends Thursday – and, like so many in recent years, was unusually active. A total of 20 tropical or subtropical storms spun up, including seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes. Total activity, measured by a figure called ACE or Accumulated Cyclone Energy, was 20 percent above average. Seven of the last eight hurricane seasons have featured above-average activity.

Alna settles legal saga over boat launch

LINCOLN COUNTY NEWS • November 1, 2023

Litigation between the town of Alna and resident Jeff Spinney has ended after three years and three lawsuits, with a settlement agreement following an impassioned public hearing. The agreement leaves Spinney’s Sheepscot River boat ramp in place with limitations on use and the acknowledgement it is illegal under town ordinances. Both parties will drop pending litigation and pay their own attorney fees. During forty minutes of comment from involved parties, most of them abutters, all spoke against the agreement, saying it did not take into account abutters, sent a bad message, and lacked consequences.

Opinion: In Maine, a return of tribal land shows how conservation can succeed

WASHINGTON POST • November 1, 2023

The Penobscot Nation’s record of caring for nature while still using it inspired an effort to return a 31,000-acre tract of forested land to tribal ownership. The transfer is part of a movement to return lands to Indigenous stewardship and work with tribal communities to protect biodiversity. The hope is both to restore justice for tribes that were long ago stripped of their ancestral homelands and to learn from long-standing Indigenous practices new ways to save a beleaguered planet. Environmental movements might have better protected nature if they had long sought to conserve cultures and communities along with land. Earning the trust now of people who have inherited wisdom for living in balance with nature will give conservation a fighting chance on a warming planet. It might also offer a reprieve from focusing on the dire future to reach for solutions that lie deep in the past.

Orsted scraps 2 offshore wind power projects in New Jersey, citing supply chain issues

ASSOCIATED PRESS • October 31, 2023

Danish energy developer Orsted said Tuesday night it is scrapping two large offshore wind power projects off the East Coast, adding uncertainty to a nascent industry the Biden administration and many state governments are counting on to help transition away from the burning of planet-warming fossil fuels. The company said it is canceling its Ocean Wind I and II projects in southern New Jersey, citing supply chain issues and rising interest rates.

Commentary: The ocean of yesterday is not the ocean of tomorrow

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 31, 2023

What does the ocean of tomorrow look like? It is an ocean where temperatures and sea level are increasing, pH and dissolved oxygen are decreasing, and harmful algal blooms and severe weather could become more frequent. Climate change will push lobster and fish populations into new places, and fishing fleets with them. It also challenges recovery of North Atlantic right whales and other imperiled species. Wind turbines help mitigate climate change, but affect currents, habitats and species in complex and uncertain ways. An opening Arctic could see more and larger cargo ships steaming in and out of Gulf of Maine ports along new shipping lanes. The massive algae bloom in the Gulf of Maine this past summer serves as a stark reminder of the need for new and better data. ~ Dr. Jake Kritzer and Jackie Motyka, Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal Ocean Observing Systems

Who’s right about access and the nuances of hunting etiquette

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 31, 2023

When a landowner allows public access for hunting, just the person who owns the land has final say on who uses it and who doesn’t. Maine law allows public access to private land if the landowner does not post the property. When a hunter who hasn’t done any homework makes inaccurate assumptions about ownership and his own rights, and also is belligerent and confrontational, it can ruin your day. I ran into such a person while hunting on opening day. He obviously did not know the law or have a clue about hunting etiquette. People with his attitude about public access are part of the reason we are losing hunting grounds. Even though I didn’t legally have to move, I relocated anyway because I have a personal rule against arguing with idiots.

Column: A climb of Cadillac

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 30, 2023

Again this year, the Penobscot Paddle & Chowder Society scheduled its annual meeting and several outdoor events on Mount Desert Island over a 3-day period in early October. I announced a climb of Cadillac Mountain via the South Ridge Trail on the first day of activities. After the rain from Tropical storm Philippe subsided, eight of us met at the South Ridge Trailhead on Route 3 near the entrance to Blackwoods Campground. Soon emerging into the open where crowds of tourists were exploring the summit, we joined them to embrace the phenomenal vistas. Our return on the South Ridge Trail was a delight. ~ Ron Chase

Opinion: PUCs were created to benefit for-profit monopolies, oppose public power

TIMES RECORD • October 30, 2023

Too often, those siding with Central Maine Power against Question 3 say regulation is the answer. The problem is, we’ve tried this for 120 years. It hasn’t worked, because it’s not designed to. It was the investor-owned utility industry that created the modern PUC. They did it to protect monopoly profits, and to slow the spread of public power. Gov. Percival Baxter championed public power. We are also not choosing between the PUC and Pine Tree Power. If Question 3 is approved this Nov. 7, we will have both. ~ Seth Berry

Looks like Maine is in for a classic El Nino winter

NEWS CENTER MAINE • October 29, 2023

This year will be different than the last few winters in Maine when it comes to snow. This will be an El Nino winter, not a La Nina like we’ve seen the last few seasons. So get your shovels and boots ready. I’m calling for plenty of nor’easters this winter due to the polar jet and subtropical jet phasing together many times. The one area to keep an eye on is the southern coast, which could get robbed from big snows during nor’easters thanks to an onshore wind component from a “warmer” Gulf of Maine. The high elevations – the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the western/northern mountains of Maine – will still see plenty of snow.

Opponents of public utility takeover far outspend supporters as Election Day nears

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • October 29, 2023

The leading backer of the referendum proposing a public takeover of electric utilities, Our Power, has spent $1.1 million this year. The group has raised $1.2 million and has just under $45,000 cash on hand. The owners of Maine’s two largest power companies have spent more than $37 million so far to defeat the question, including more than $26 million this year alone.

Column: Hunters needn’t be overwhelmed by black bear jitters

SUN JOURNAL • October 28, 2023

Black bears aren't as dangerous as portrayed in Hollywood, so overcoming the fear of them while on a hunt is a case of mind over matter. Probably a good idea for novice bear hunters to avoid exposure to Hollywood’s portrayal of bear-human encounters, most especially Leonardo DiCaprio’s heart-stopping dust-up in the detritus with a drooling, snotty-nosed grizzly bear in the movie The Revenant. Ouch. ~ V. Paul Reynolds

Few know about this trail in Acadia National Park

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 28, 2023

Acorns rolled and crunched beneath my boots as I followed Breakneck Road deeper into the wilderness of Acadia National Park. It measures about 2.5 miles long, spanning from Route 3, near Acadia’s Hulls Cove Visitor Center, to Eagle Lake Road, near park headquarters. Threading through the woods, it passes a small waterfall, crosses Breakneck Brook and passes between two bodies of water that are together known as Breakneck Ponds.

TikTok’s Finest Lobsterman

NEW YORK TIMES • October 28, 2023

It was another busy day for the crew of the Rest-Ashoar, a lobster fishing boat that works the waters off the rocky coast of Winter Harbor, Maine. The captain, Jacob Knowles, had gotten up at 3 a.m. on a brisk October morning and took his vessel 10 miles into the ocean. Over the past two years, Mr. Knowles, 30, has amassed a large audience on social media by sharing snippets of his workday with his 2.5 million followers on TikTok and nearly 400,000 followers on Instagram. Mr. Knowles is one of several people in what are considered blue-collar jobs who use social media to offer a window into their lives. Their videos resemble a social media version of “Dirty Jobs,” the long-running show on the Discovery Channel. In some cases, as with Mr. Knowles, these hard-working influencers have signed sponsorship deals with brands, giving them an additional source of income.

Commentary: American dams are being demolished. And nature is pushing that along

LA TIMES • KENNEBEC JOURNAL • October 28, 2023

More than 1,600 American damshave been removed since 1912. As dams in the American West increasingly clogged with silt and went decades without maintenance, their abilities to generate power and release water fell — and the risk of catastrophe rose. In the East, too, their primary achievement has been constraining the populations of Atlantic salmon. Today, their downfall is all part of the rewilding of America, long overdue. Thankfully, the end of the damned dam is finally here. ~ Richard Parker

Commentary: In debate over Pine Tree Power, utilities should speak for themselves

KENNEBEC JOURNAL • October 27, 2023

We’ve talked to thousands of Mainers who can’t trust our investor-owned utilities to keep the lights on. That’s why we keep showing up and working toward a solution with a “yes” vote on Question 3. In all our conversations so far, we haven’t seen CMP and Versant speak for themselves. They certainly haven’t brought forward any solutions. Why do they spend hundreds of millions on political theater instead of fixing their worst in the nation service? What is their plan to save Mainers money? Last year, we paid CMP and Versant more than a billion dollars. What did that get us? We had the most frequent outages of any state in the nation, the worst customer satisfaction in the nation, and one in 10 Maine households were sent a disconnection notice. The math doesn’t add up. ~ Al Cleveland and Lucy Hochschartner are campaign managers with the “Yes on 3” campaign for Pine Tree Power.

'Worst-case scenarios' | Climate change greater threat to at-risk whales than offshore wind: study

RECHARGE • October 26, 2023

A report commissioned by renewable energy advocate American Clean Power Association found that while offshore wind turbines on the US outer continental shelf will likely have some impacts on surrounding oceans, these are likely insignificant compared to regional and seasonal variability and the effects of global climate change. The white paper, Oceanographic Effects of Offshore Wind Structures and Their Potential Impacts on the North Atlantic Right Whale and Their Prey, was written by researchers from Rutgers University, environmental consultancy AKRF, and research institute Bigelow.

MaineDOT considers location for new $500-million wind port project in Searsport

NEWS CENTER MAINE • October 26, 2023

The Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT) held an open house in Searsport to present three potential location sites for its new $500 million wind port facility project on Wednesday. MaineDOT said planning teams are considering placing the facility in one of three central locations: on Sears Island, on Mack Point Peninsula, or in a hybrid location. MaineDOT Director of Communications Paul Merrill said, "The big downsides of Mack Point are the cost of leasing land that we don’t own. And the cost financially and environmentally of doing dredging to accommodate the facility," Merrill said. "Sears Island—the state owns the land, and it would be no dredging. But, of course, there are voices in the discussion that don’t want us to develop the land that we own there."