The most comprehensive online source of conservation news and events in Maine and beyond, edited by Jym St. Pierre
MAINE PUBLIC • November 13, 2023
Former Maine CDC director Nirav Shah—now with the US CDC—joins us to discuss the impacts of climate change on public health, and how to adapt or prevent illness and disease. Panelist: Nirav Shah, principal deputy director, U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention; former director, Maine CDC.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 13, 2023
Recently there have been public hearings held on whether to allow the Pickett Mountain Project, a proposed copper, zinc, gold and silver mine, to move forward. I testified in support of the project. I am not just a political lobbyist, I am also a hunting guide with a lodge, just south of the proposed mine. China controls a good chunk of the global metals market. This presents a national security problem and an environmental concern because of its almost non-existent environmental regulation. I have full faith in our government to ensure that Wolfden’s words are met with the action it speaks of. I trust our elected officials and bureaucrats to ensure that the mine is above the standard that they lay out. I trust the folks at Wolfden with our state’s land. ~ Jared Bornstein, Democratic lobbyist and owner of Northern Star Lodge in Sherman
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 13, 2023
The Maine Warden Service is investigating the illegal killings of two moose in Washington and Aroostook counties. Game wardens in Washington County found a dead moose about 70 yards off Grand Falls Road in Baileyville midday on Nov. 10. In Aroostook County, a dead moose was found a day earlier on County Road 15. Both animals were left to waste after being killed. Operation Game Thief is offering a $3,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for either killing. Tips can be submitted at maineogt.org.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 13, 2023
U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King say they have worked with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Labor to secure an additional 64,716 H-2B visas – on top of the congressionally mandated 66,000 – that allows employers to temporarily hire foreign workers to help Maine’s small businesses amid a heightening workforce shortage.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 13, 2023
Residential and business customers who have filed complaints with authorities and are awaiting installation or refunds from Pine Tree Solar. The complaints show a pattern of delayed work, lack of communication from the company and failure to refund money for work not done. The complaints reflect a bigger challenge with hooking up solar: It can be complicated and expensive to upgrade Maine’s aging electricity grid to be able to handle new technologies. In addition to being a headache for customers, the difficulties could hamper the state’s clean energy goals.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 12, 2023
Gardeners around Maine are not ready to run up the white flag in the face of attacks by invasive jumping worms, but they are mounting a defense as the worm numbers increase statewide. The Asian jumping worms have been in Maine for the last 100 years. For most of that time they were confined to a couple of locations in southern and central Maine. But their numbers have dramatically increased in recent years. They are voracious, born pregnant and extremely difficult to kill. They also destroy the top layers of planting soils. There is no proven effective way to eradicate the worms.
MAINE MONITOR • November 12, 2023
Recent months have seen cancellations or setbacks for multiple offshore wind contracts in the Northeast. Some of those developers could rebid their contracts at a higher cost. But other projects may be in jeopardy. Supply chain issues, high interest rates and other economic stumbling blocks are creating uncertainty across the industry for a renewable energy source that’s vital to meeting U.S. emissions-cutting targets. What does this mean for Maine, with its lofty, early-stage project plans for what’s been described as the “Saudi Arabia of offshore wind” — the Gulf of Maine? Under Maine’s recently inked offshore wind procurement program, which sets a goal of installing 3 gigawatts of wind by 2040, the state doesn’t have to issue its first request for proposals until either January 2026 or three months after the first federal auction for wind in the Gulf of Maine, whichever is later.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 12, 2023
A recent report from the Seafood Economic Accelerator for Maine, a statewide initiative to bolster economic growth and improve resiliency for the seafood sector, estimates that Maine’s seafood industry annually generates about 57 million pounds of waste – about 25% of its total seafood production. This waste, known as seafood residuals, can be used in myriad ways across numerous industries, and experts believe it has serious economic potential. Converting waste from salmon, eel and other marine species into consumer and biomedical products has opened a new and lucrative path for Maine's seafood industry. Maine companies could see a 7% to 20% return on investment for residuals.
MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • November 12, 2023
Regarding forests, conservation biologist Noah Charney, a professor at University of Maine in Orono, takes a long view – 20 years, 200 years, 20,000 years, back to the Ice Age. What can a forest tell us about the major evolutionary forces that sculpted what is before our eyes today? Why are certain trees where they are? What was the likely succession of tree species over time that created the forest in front of us? When he takes his students to a salt marsh, he asks them to think about what created the striking visual patterns they can see. “These Trees Tell a Story” is meant for the average person, not the biologist. ~ Frank O Smith
MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • November 12, 2023
Folks are reporting that many of our winter visitors are now coming south. One species that we’ve been getting asked about recently is the snowy owl. This denizen of the arctic tundra often shows up in Maine at least in small numbers. Some years we see large flights of them coming south. So, what can we expect to see for snowy owl numbers in Maine this winter? This winter will mark 10 years since we experienced one of the largest flights ever recorded. Irruptions do tend to be cyclical. It is important to remember that snowy owls generally only come to Maine as part of an irruption. Whether it is a large irruption or not, I want to take this opportunity to remind about proper owl-viewing ethics. as soon as your actions change the behavior of the bird, this is a sure sign that you are too close and need to move back immediately. ~ Maine Audubon Staff Naturalist Doug Hitchcox
MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • November 12, 2023
Wind direction is a critical component of any deer hunt. The best option is often – though not always – to have the wind in your face. Deer know far better than we do how to use the wind to their advantage, so more often than not they’re going to beat us. However, they may be more likely to make a mistake when the advantage seems clearly in their favor. And sometimes, we just get lucky. A buck that approached my stand in the fading daylight came from almost but not directly downwind. It didn’t end well for him.~ Bob Humphrey
MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • November 12, 2023
We are putting the final touches on the 2023 paddling season with a two-hour exploration of the Cape Neddick River in York. At 3.7 miles in length we are not talking about the mighty Amazon here. Only the 1-mile tidal portion of the river is navigable. You will want to explore the river within the timeframe of two hours before and after high tide. This time of year the river is a staging area for a variety of birds. ~ Michael Perry
MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • November 12, 2023
Pine Tree Power wouldn’t have done anything to affect electricity rates, service or quality. It was simply a power grab by corrupt insiders to get their hands inside our wallets and our lives. Last Tuesday’s results haven’t killed the insane Pine Tree Power idea. Instead, they simply ensured that the concept will be resurrected in the future, fought under different rules and on a different terrain. Let’s hope, when that comes to pass, that the people of Maine are smart enough to reject it again. ~ Jim Fossel
MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • November 12, 2023
As the dust settles on the Pine Tree Power bid, it’s time for Maine to bring the regulation of its electric utilities up to snuff. A thumping majority of voters last week rejected the proposal to create a new publicly owned electric utility that would have replaced investor-owned incumbents Central Maine Power and Versant. It would do a grave disservice to the state, however, to treat the defeat of this first-of-its-kind proposal as an endorsement of the way things are. Increasing the number of PUC commissioners to five, and taking exaggerated care to ensure that those commissioners come from complementary backgrounds, and new backgrounds, has the potential to give it the teeth it needs. The commission would also benefit greatly from the addition of in-house consumer advocates.
MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • November 12, 2023
The world is burning, and while climate scientists and advocates are sounding the alarm, others remain cool and quiet, even those who may hold the keys to our salvation. More businesses are talking about climate change in board rooms across America, but others are “greenhushing” – a practice by which companies keep their corporate mouths shut about their environmental goals and actions out of fear of public backlash. Greenhushing is the opposite of “greenwashing” companies that hype and spin sustainable credentials that they don’t have or cannot achieve, often to con consumers into buying their products or services. With the potential economic wealth in “going all sustainable” on the Earth, let’s start the next “Greenrush” in Maine: reducing market barriers, lowering costs and maximizing cleantech deployment as quickly as possible. ~ Jeff Marks, ClimateWork Maine
MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • November 12, 2023
As someone who, beginning in the winter of 1971-72, with friends, slept atop some 25 Maine mountains over January and February holiday weekends through the ‘90s, I enjoyed Carey Kish’s column, “Annual trek with friends grows into special outing,”Nov. 5. Bring friends together in the magnificent Maine woods, and it’s impossible to not have a great time. The harsher the weather, the better. As chronicled in detailed photo essays by legendary Telegram environmental reporter Bob Cummings, who joined many a trip, the Maine winter woods could be as enjoyable as any other – even in deep below-zero temperatures. ~ Michael Petit, Portland
TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY • November 11, 2023
Automakers are learning an important lesson: Not all car buyers are wealthy environmentalists. This should be obvious but apparently isn’t, which is why the auto industry is now wringing its hands over electric vehicle sales problems. This was obvious for Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, founders of Tesla Motors. By driving the streets of the wealthy suburb of Palo Alto, California, they found tucked between the $2 million homes Priuses. Economists have identified this as “conspicuous conservation,” a way of displaying green virtue. Eberhard and Tarpenning concluded they could sell electric cars to the affluent. Now the time has come for the EV to trickle down — and it’s not happening. Middle-class consumers need their vehicles to go to work, to Grandma’s, to college and to go on vacation. Yet they need them to be inexpensive. An EV’s initial cost is still too high and its practicality too low, especially for the less affluent.
SMITHSONIAN • November 10, 2023
A rogue Steller's sea eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus) has captivated birders once again as it soars eastward thousands of miles away from its home in Asia. The raptor was recently spotted in Nova Scotia on Canada's east coast on November 3. The sea eagle, native to Asia—specifically China, Japan, Korea, and Eastern Russia—has been spotted thousands of miles away from its range in places as far south as Texas and as far North as Alaska. The bird was first spotted in the United States on Alaska's Denali highway, about 4,700 miles away from its native range, in August 2020. In July 2021, the eagle was spotted in New Brunswick and Quebec, Canada. The first sighting in Nova Scotia was reported by Phil Taylor, a biologist at Acadia University, while scanning for ducks in Falmouth, Nova Scotia.
MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • November 9, 2023
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is building a multipurpose center in Kennebunk, Maine, that will serve as a focal point for connecting people to nature in southern Coastal Maine and celebrating the life and work of Rachel Carson. The 11,666-square-foot facility will feature exhibits showcasing the conservation efforts conducted by the Refuge and the Gulf of Maine Coastal Program and the life and contributions of Rachel Carson. Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1966 to protect valuable salt marshes and estuaries for migratory birds. Located along 50 miles of coastline in York and Cumberland counties, the refuge consists of 11 divisions between Kittery and Cape Elizabeth.
LIVERMORE FALLS ADVERTISER • November 9, 2023
Mark Lohmann of Poland came upon a most astonishing sight while hunting in woods near Route 142 this month. It was two bucks with their antlers locked together. “I told myself I had to take the shot, you can’t leave them like that,” he said of the 10-pointer standing. The other one, an eight-pointer, died of a broken neck in the fight.
