Janet Mills asks President Joe Biden for formal disaster declaration for December storm

MAINE PUBLIC • January 16, 2024

Gov. Janet Mills is asking President Joe Biden to issue a major disaster declaration in Maine for the Dec. 18 storm that caused severe flooding. It left behind an estimated $20 million in damage to public infrastructure, which Mills says is an amount beyond Maine's ability to address. If Biden approves the request, Maine would receive federal funds to help repair roads, bridges, public buildings and other infrastructure across 10 counties. In a separate request, Mills is asking for individual assistance for families in central and western counties who experienced property damage from the storm.

Opinion: There’s still time to grab control of the global thermostat

BLOOMBERG • January 16, 2024

In 2015, in what seemed at the time like a triumph for humanity, the world’s leaders set a stretch goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial averages. Not even nine years later, you could be forgiven for thinking they’ve failed. The good news is that they haven’t failed just yet. The bad news is that they’re rapidly running out of time. We must act with far more urgency. The world has less than a decade of emissions left in its “carbon budget” before the chance of holding at 1.5C is lost forever. Not one country is doing enough to avoid this fate, according to the nonprofit-backed Climate Action Tracker. Your typical corporate leader wouldn’t stand for such lackadaisical efforts to meet stretch goals, and neither should we. ~ Mark Gongloff

Editorial: The dramatic realities of climate change are crashing into Maine

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 16, 2024

While scientists were warning about dangerous consequences of climate change, many Mainers are living it. A storm last Sunday brought snow across the state. Then, on Wednesday, a wind and rain storm was coupled with an extremely high tide. Homes, restaurants and other buildings were flooded with seawater. Docks were destroyed. Roads were flooded. Scientists warn that these types of events will become more commonplace as the world continues to warm, largely due to the burning of fossil fuels. For far too many Mainers, the realities of climate change literally hit home last week.

The History and Future of Maine Land Conservation, Jan 17

MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • January 16, 2024

This talk will explore the future challenges Maine faces from climate change and potential climate-driven immigration as it impacts the future of land conservation. Tim Glidden has had a long career in many aspects of Maine conservation and recently retired as President of the Maine Coast Heritage Trust. He has degrees in Environmental Studies from Colby College and Forestry Science from Yale University. At Curtis Memorial Library, Morrell Meeting Room, Brunswick, January 17, 1 p.m.

Bike advocacy group wants to broaden process for new Maine e-bike rebate program

MAINE PUBLIC • January 16, 2024

A bicycle advocacy group from Maine is disappointed about the limited scope and accessibility of a new state program offering rebates for the purchase of electric bikes (e-bikes). The pilot program run by Efficiency Maine takes an organizational approach to the rebates, issuing them to public housing agencies and other organizations that serve low-to moderate-income people. The Bicycle Coalition of Maine issued a statement saying the program should also offer the rebates directly to eligible individuals. $50,000 has been made available for the pilot program.

Maine schools get funding to boost climate education

MAINE PUBLIC • January 16, 2024

Maine schools are receiving their first round of funding from a new state law to expand climate education. According to the Maine Department of Education, the new grants will go toward creating partnerships between more than half a dozen school districts and community organizations, with a focus on the outdoors and the effects of climate change. The organizations will offer professional development to the districts, and help them to bring climate education into their classrooms. Funding for the project comes from a law passed by the legislature two years ago. More grants are expected to be announced later this year.

Maine fishermen look to rebuild higher after harbors took ‘a real beating’

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 16, 2024

Last week’s back-to-back storms inflicted some of their worst damage on Maine’s fishing industry, and the extent of the devastation has some fishing communities considering how to be more prepared for it next time. Working waterfront property owners along the entire Maine coast witnessed destruction as extreme winds and storm surge flooded buildings, set some adrift and tore docks apart. Some already are planning to rebuild — with sturdier and maybe higher piers in mind as they consider the future — but it’s too early to tell how long it will take and how much it might cost.

Letter: Keeping track of rainfall totals

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 15, 2024

Every year, the Press Herald shifts from reporting rainfall totals to snow, starting around the middle or end of November. Given the amount of rain that now occurs throughout our winter months, isn’t there a way that the newspaper can find the space to report both snow and rain totals throughout the winter? Clearly with global warming our current weather trend of rain 12 months of the year is not going to change. ~ Andrew Stickney, South Portland

Illegal rockweed harvesting cases dismissed in court

MAINE MONITOR • January 13, 2024

Four charges brought against an Eastport man for illegally harvesting rockweed in Cobscook Bay were dismissed in Machias District Court on December 4. James Young had faced two charges of harvesting rockweed in closed conservation areas and two charges of theft for harvesting rockweed without the permission of the upland landowner. While the court charges that were dismissed could have resulted in license suspension and a $1,000 fine for each charge, Young’s license was suspended for a year by the commissioner of marine resources. The dismissal of the cases is not expected to affect the controversy over access to the intertidal zone for rockweed harvesting, and state officials say they will continue to enforce Maine’s rockweed harvesting laws.

Column: Animals, birds doing their best to prepare for and survive winter

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • January 14, 2024

Another Maine winter has settled in. Most hunting seasons are over. While we’re huddled in front of the wood stove, the game animals we pursue are still out there, surviving. Some, like bears have settled in for a long winter’s nap. Waterfowl migrate. Upland game birds like grouse and turkeys stay home for the winter, though they may shift their range slightly. Deer and moose are still out there, though they too may shift their range to find more favorable conditions. Snowshoe hare change color. For the furbearing predators that pursue them – like bobcats, lynx, coyotes and foxes – it’s pretty much business as usual. Some two-legged predators fly south where they can dip their toes into soft, sandy soil. Some enter their dens and a state of reduced activity and metabolism. Others brave the cold, donning a coat of white, brown, red or blue and venturing forth into the outdoors. ~ Bob Humphrey

Column: Plenty of noteworthy highlights from Christmas Bird Counts

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • January 14, 2024

The 124th Christmas Bird Count (CBC), sponsored by the National Audubon Society, ran between Dec. 15 and Jan. 6, with plenty of highlights worth exploring. The Waterville CBC produced a fine total of 60 species. The Bunker Hill CBC, near Jefferson, yielded 62 species. The Thomaston-Rockland CBC produced 79 species. the Blue Hill CBC produced a list of 65 species. The Mount Desert Island CBC had 60 species. ~ Herb Wilson

Column: Maine native set to become first woman to solo-hike American Discovery Trail

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • January 14, 2024

What have you been doing for the last two years? Briana DeSanctis, a 40-year-old native of Farmington, has been backpacking across the United States from coast to coast. Since Jan. 1, 2022, DeSanctis has been hiking the American Discovery Trail. The ADT stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in Delaware to Point Reyes National Seashore on the Pacific Coast of California, an extraordinary 6,800 miles across 15 states and the District of Columbia. All this on top of an Appalachian Trail hike from Georgia to Maine eight years ago. What’s next? “An easier hike. Something that doesn’t cause pain and scars. Maybe a pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago.” ~ Carey Kish

Letter: Too many questions surround electric vehicles

CENTRAL MAINE • January 14, 2024

My family and I oppose any mandates regarding electric vehicles (“Maine board wants to hand decision on electric vehicle mandate to Legislature,” Dec. 27). Options are great; mandates are not. It’s a terrible plan. ~ Angela Corbin, Hallowell

What you need to know to preserve and store chaga so it lasts for years

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 14, 2024

For centuries, people from North America to Russia have proclaimed the health benefits of chaga, a parasitic fungus that grows primarily on birch trees. Found in northern climates around the world, including Maine, people collect the antioxidant-rich fungus for their own personal use to make tea. Like any forged wild edible, chaga needs to be processed and stored correctly or it will spoil.

Cautious coyote hunts in the Maine woods

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 14, 2024

Coyotes are territorial and aggressive to interlopers, limiting how many coyotes live in an area. They eat small animals,such as mice, rats, squirrels, frogs, fish and carrion among others. They also will eat grass, fruits and berries. The coyote’s coats can range from black to strawberry blond but usually are a mixture of black, gray and tan. In this video by BDN contributor Allie Ladd, a coyote looks like it’s hunting for something, or checking the air for scent. If you stay until the end, you will see another one running through the woods in the foreground while it looks like the first one is lurking in the background.

Trash talk: towns’ garbage in Maine landfills is up nearly 50 percent

MAINE MONITOR • January 14, 2024

Between 2018 and 2022, the amount of municipal solid waste landfilled in Maine shot up 47 percent, from 388,629 to 569,911 tons, according to a report by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. The total amount of waste going to Maine landfills (including sludge, construction demolition debris, bulky waste and municipal solid waste) increased by 34 percent. There are more disposable products, fewer opportunities for recycling and more people in Maine than ever, and all are contributing to the increase. So are the sludge and sludge-derived products now being sent to landfills after laws banning spreading it on land went into effect. Debris from more intense storms will also add to the pile. The amount of trash generated in the state is growing at a faster rate than the population. Vanessa Berry, sustainable outreach coordinator with the Natural Resources Council of Maine, said, “It’s very much like an overflowing bathtub. We really need to focus on turning off the tap.”

How pesticides, road salt threaten Maine’s water supply

MAINE MONITOR • January 14, 2024

Salt has been found to significantly reduce winter car crashes. But the amount of it we’re using, coupled with leaking old septic systems and an increased use of fertilizers and pesticides to kill ticks and mosquitoes and manage invasive plants, are among the greatest threats to the state’s future water supply, said Ryan Gordon, a hydrogeologist with the Maine Geological Survey.

Another potent storm brings historic coastal flooding, high winds to an already-drenched Maine

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 13, 2024

A winter storm brought heavy rain, flooding, huge waves and wind gusts of up to 60 mph along the Maine coast Saturday, battering areas of the state still struggling to recover from another wind and rainstorm that caused widespread damage just three days earlier. Waves slammed into homes and flooded roads in many York County coastal communities, low-lying streets, piers and waterfront businesses in Portland were swamped, the town pier in Harpswell was tipped over sideways into the sea, and two iconic fishing shacks in South Portland that had stood near Willard Beach for more than a century were washed away.

Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry announces Turner as director of acquisitions and planning

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 13, 2024

The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry’s Bureau of Parks and Lands announces Rex Turner as the director of planning and acquisitions, responsible for land acquisition, land management planning, policy/program development, and conservation easement monitoring. He has served as BPL’s outdoor recreation planner since 2008.

Western Maine spared serious weather as southern Maine floods

SUN JOURNAL • January 13, 2024

While western Maine took enough snow and rain to slow traffic down, it was nothing compared to the thrashing southern and coastal Maine took between winds, rain and extreme tides. Many coastal towns saw the destruction of waterfront homes and structures, several water rescues, flooded roads and motor vehicle accidents.