Maine Calling: Seafood Industry Innovations

MAINE PUBLIC • February 28, 2024

The annual Fisherman's Forum in Rockport (starting Feb. 29th) highlights the vital role that the seafood industry plays in Maine's economy. Learn about innovative approaches to strengthening the industry during changing times. These include companies that utilize marine waste to create commercial products, as well as forward-thinking research and new aquaculture techniques. Panelists: Curt Brown, SEA Maine; Gayle Zydlewski, Maine Sea Grant College Program. VIP Callers: Patrick Breeding, Marin Skincare; Cem Giray, Salmonics; Sara Rademaker, American Unagi; Nikki Strout, Rugged Seas.

Worcesters fined $250,000 for building cabins tied to flagpole park

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 28, 2024

A state environmental board on Wednesday morning imposed a quarter-million dollar fine on the Worcester family for building more than 50 unpermitted cabins in Washington County. The Worcesters, who recently scrapped their plans to build an enormous $1 billion-plus veterans history park in Columbia Falls, did not get state approval to develop more than three acres and did not take any measures to control erosion or sedimentation at the cabin site. It requires the Worcesters to file an after-the-fact application by March 1 for a permit for the already completed work. Susan Lessard, chair of the board, said that the Worcesters have had five years to apply for the required state permits. She characterized the violation as “egregious,” and said she worries the enforcement and compliance process will drag out even further if the state does not set a hard deadline.

Column: Climate change bubbles

MORNING SENTINEL • February 28, 2024

With climate change, the evidence is everywhere to be seen, even in your own backyard. It was visible 10 years ago — 40 years ago if you were paying attention. Recently, it looked like the corner had turned on the notion that global warming is “disproven.” But early this year, Maine’s Republican legislators stridently opposed a resolution to support the Paris Agreement on climate change. One representative stated the climate crisis is “a hoax.” This shocked me. Where does the confidence come from to assert a falsehood so obvious? January 2024 was the warmest ever recorded for Earth. The first two weeks of February were the warmest on record in Maine. The climate scientists have been right all along, this much is proven. There’s basically no time left to be patient with people who don’t know what they’re talking about. ~ Dana Wilde

Opinion: Climate change forces responsible options for skiing

PENOBSCOT BAY PILOT • February 28, 2024

The ski season in the United States has shortened by more than a month between 1982 and 2016. Projections show that we can expect a 50% shortened ski season by 2050. If that doesn’t show climate change, I don’t know what does. Machine-made snow is just a Band-Aid. We’re stuck in a cycle — make snow because of climate change, which leads to more emissions, which makes climate change worse. We shouldn’t have to wait for another devastating storm for climate change to make the headlines in Maine — it’s something we live with every day. Limited access to skiing is only one example of how it manifests in our lives. Machine-made snow is not a climate solution, but talking about doing it sustainably can get us a step closer to more ski days. ~ Agnes Macy, lifelong Nordic skier, Bowdoin College senior majoring in environmental studies and anthropology

Letter: Legislature can make it easier for people to grow their own food

SUN JOURNAL • February 28, 2024

Under the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code, structures used to grow crops are subject to significant wind and snow load requirements, while structures used to store harvested crops and house livestock are exempt from those same requirements. The Legislature is considering a bill, L.D. 2053, which would create a similar exemption for structures used to grow crops. If it is passed, Mainers could leave structures like hoop houses up year-round, giving them the ability to grow more food without high startup costs. I call on the Legislature to enact this bill, which would support more urban agriculture and continue Maine’s rich agricultural tradition, with palpable health and lifestyle benefits that would echo throughout our communities. ~ Rep. Kathy Shaw, Auburn

Lawmakers consider authorizing regulators to set electric rates based on performance

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 27, 2024

Lawmakers responding to complaints about Central Maine Power and Versant Power are looking at ways to authorize regulators to consider the companies’ performance when setting rates. Legislators reviewed a bill Tuesday that would give the Maine Public Utilities Commission the ability to set electricity rates using the utilities’ performance as a guide. The move comes in the wake of the resounding defeat in November of a referendum to create a publicly owned utility.

Workers race to get logging truck off frozen Maine lake before ice melts

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 27, 2024

Heavy equipment was at Portage Lake Tuesday attempting to remove a logging vehicle that broke through the ice while trying to cross a section of the lake last week. The grapple skidder fell through on Thursday right after driving onto the frozen lake from a snowmobile trail next to the floating islands in the northeastern region of Portage Lake, according to Sean Bernard, environmental specialist for Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

Opinion: Congress must approve more funding for coastal climate change research

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 27, 2024

House Republicans have proposed slashing funding in the FY24 budget for essential climate change and extreme weather research. The current House proposal forbids NOAA from studying the climate’s effects on fisheries and would effectively zero out Coastal Zone Management grants, funding that helps states sustainably manage healthy and productive coasts and benefit the working waterfronts and surrounding communities. Maine’s fisheries industry will suffer for it. As our oceans get warmer and more storms like the two recent January storms loom on the horizon, it’s essential that NOAA gets more funding, not less, to best support coastal communities, fisheries and hospitality businesses that depend on our oceans. We are living with climate change, and its impacts will continue to get more severe. ~ Bill Mook, Newcastle, Mook Sea Farm

Maine gets $10M to install specially-designed heat pumps inside mobile homes

MAINE PUBLIC • February 27, 2024

Maine will receive a $10 million federal grant from the U.S. Energy Department to install specially-designed heat pumps in mobile and manufactured homes. The funds will accelerate a Maine pilot program that has installed and tested whole-home heat pumps inside more than 60 mobile homes so far. The latest grant is expected to pay for heat pump installations in 675 mobile homes.

Study says 2023’s ‘crazy’ Atlantic ocean heat was way hotter than expected

ASSOCIATED PRESS • February 27, 2024

Off the charts “crazy” heat in the North Atlantic ocean and record-smashing Antarctic sea ice lows last year are far more severe than what Earth’s supposed to get with current warming levels. They are more like what happens at twice this amount of warming, a new study said. The study’s main author worries that it’s a “harbinger of what’s coming in the next decades.”

Maine looks to 'unlock full potential' of outdoor recreation economy with new roadmap

WGME-TV13 • February 27, 2024

The state dubbed as Vacationland has a lot to offer for both Mainers and tourists. Whether its hiking or biking, skiing or snowmobiling, state leaders want to take what they call the $3.3 billion industry to the next level. The Office of Outdoor Recreation, joined by Maine Outdoor Brands and the University of Maine, released an Outdoor Recreation Economic Roadmap in hopes of reaching the sector’s “full potential.”

Opinion: Department of Marine Resources must make fishery safer for whales

CENTRAL MAINE • February 27, 2024

Where there is overlap of fishing gear and whale habitat use, there is risk of entanglement. The Department of Marine Resources can make meaningful progress on preventing entanglement. Recent funding sources include:
• $6.9 million for Maine testing of alternative fishing gear that removes vertical fishing line from the water column;
• $100,000 donation from Nature Conservancy of Maine towards an alternative gear lending library;
• $17+ million from the federal omnibus funding bill to place 26 passive acoustic monitors in the Gulf of Maine and increase routine aerial monitoring;
• A new Lobster Innovation Fund, providing stipends to fishermen for testing alternative fishing gear.
The agency can provide a rational, science-informed path forward that works for both fishermen and whales. ~ Bill McWeeny, Brooksville, Maine Coalition for North Atlantic Right Whales

Opinion: Gorham Connector plan threatens river ecosystem, heritage trout

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 27, 2024

While proponents tout the toll-road Gorham Connector as promising to shorten commutes and relieve traffic pressure in Greater Portland, there has already been substantial pushback to the concept. Regardless of how much (or for how long) travel-based advantage the new roadway might bring, as proposed it will have pronounced, unambiguously negative effects to the area, including to Red Brook, which occupies one of the few contiguous undeveloped riverine stretches in southern Maine. Red Brook is remarkable for supporting one of the last remaining native populations of brook trout in this part of the state.. ~ C. Ian Stevenson, PhD, an architectural and environmental historian, Peaks Island

Letter: Proposed rule changes for camps are outlandish

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 27, 2024

Proposed changes to Department of Health and Human Services Rule 208 concerning youth camps would make it challenging to operate and to continue providing enriching experiences for children. Unfortunately, DHHS and the Maine Center for Disease Control wrote the rules without any input from camp leaders, resulting in a proposal that threatens the camping industry. They must be withdrawn and camp professionals must be included. The Maine Youth Camping Association, the top advocate for campers and camps, backs this push. ~ Alex Toole, Portland

Can-Am Crown sled dog races canceled due to warm temperatures, lack of snow

MAINE PUBLIC • February 26, 2024

The Can-Am Crown sled dog races in Fort Kent this weekend have been canceled because of upcoming rain and warm temperatures in Northern Maine, organizers say.It's the first time in the event's history that there has been a full cancellation of the races, and the only time the issue was a lack of snow. Dennis Cyr, president of the organization, says although there is snow on the trails, there is no coverage on roads the race course crosses over. And the board was concerned about the remaining snow melting this week. "Looks like its going to be rain, and above average, or record breaking temperatures, so what little snow cover we have right now we're probably going to lose," Cyr said.

Maine tribes and Janet Mills close in on deal to avoid another sovereignty veto

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 26, 2024

A sweeping sovereignty proposal for Native American tribes in Maine may become narrower as part of a compromise meant to avoid another veto from Gov. Janet Mills, several tribal leaders and representatives said Monday. While not all details are available on the potential tweaks, tribes “are almost at consensus” with Mills and Attorney General Aaron Frey’s office on changes to the 1980 settlement that saw tribes relinquish a claim for more than two-thirds of the state’s land in exchange for becoming regulated like cities and towns, Corey Hinton, a Passamaquoddy attorney, said.

Opinion: Maine’s trails, and the volunteers who maintain them, need help

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 26, 2024

Maine has some of the most impressive trails in the nation for hiking, biking, snowmobiling, ATVing and other uses. The potential for the future is boundless. But we need to recognize that trails do not maintain themselves. Like other forms of infrastructure, they need investments. But Maine is not investing in our trails, even as they face disrepair from storm damage and record levels of use. That’s why Maine lawmakers should send the Maine Trails Bond (LD 1156) to the November ballot. If approved by voters, the $30 million bond would address urgent needs on our trails and help realize big ideas that could greatly benefit rural communities. ~ John Raymond, ATV Maine and Northern Timber Cruisers

With end of winter near, Portland has only gotten half the snow of an average year

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 26, 2024

From Portland to Caribou, this winter has been marked for its lack of snowfall in Maine. With meteorological winter set to end on Feb. 29, Portland has gotten less than half its average amount of snow for the season. Total snowfall measured 24.1 inches from December to February compared to the historical average of 51 inches for those months.

Maine panel seeks help for National Guard members exposed to harmful chemicals

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 26, 2024

Thousands trained for two weeks at a time at the Gagetown military base in New Brunswick, Canada. Decades later, they learned that the Canadian and American governments used Agent Orange near the base in the 1960s to control foliage growth and prevent forest fires. Dozens of National Guard soldiers contracted cancer or a serious respiratory disease – about 30% of one 110-member battery. A 10-member Gagetown Harmful Chemical Commission, which was formed by the Maine Legislature last year, is requesting that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs allow National Guard members who served at Gagetown and were exposed to Agent Orange or other harmful chemicals have access to Veterans Affairs medical care. Currently, National Guard members do not qualify.