The most comprehensive online source of conservation news and events in Maine and beyond, edited by Jym St. Pierre
ASSOCIATED PRESS • April 9, 2024
More than 200 chemical plants nationwide will be required to reduce toxic emissions that are likely to cause cancer under a new rule issued Tuesday by the Environmental Protection Agency. The rule advances President Biden’s commitment to environmental justice. The new regulation will reduce ethylene oxide and chloroprene emissions by nearly 80%, officials say.
TIMES RECORD • April 9, 2024
Sierra Club Maine in partnership with the Nez Perce tribe of Idaho, Wabanaki Alliance and the Penobscot Indian Nation will host a screening of the documentary “Covenant of the Salmon People” at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 17, at Brunswick High School’s Crooker Theater in Brunswick. There will be a second screening in Bangor on April 18.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 9, 2024
The state House of Representatives on Wednesday rejected legislation that would have authorized the state to build an offshore wind terminal on Sears Island, an initial step in Maine’s foray into the wind energy industry. In a blow to Gov. Janet Mills, who selected the island as a wind port, the 80-65 vote sides with critics who cited potential damage to Sears Island’s sand dunes. Rep. Valli Geiger, D-Rockland, who described herself as an environmentalist, said, “For me it’s the larger overarching issue of climate change that has led me to ‘yes.'” Rep. Mike Soboleski, R-Phillips, said “it’s hard to reconcile destroying part of the environment to save the environment” and questioned whether wind power will accomplish what advocates claim. The bill now heads to the Senate.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 9, 2024
The Maine House of Representatives voted 72-70 Tuesday to pass a bill establishing a minimum wage for farmworkers and providing them with cost-of-living increases that other workers are eligible for. Opponents of the bill expressed concerns Tuesday that it would prevent farmworkers from being able to be paid for “piecework” based on how much is harvested, as opposed to an hourly rate.
SUN JOURNAL • April 9, 2024
The Raymond Select Board on Monday revealed details of a $650,000 settlement in one of the biggest shoreland zoning violations cases in the town’s recent history. The settlement with Auburn businessman Donald Buteau and his real estate holding company, Management Controls, and contractors Q-Team Tree Service of Naples and Durant Excavating and Big Lake Marine, both of Windham, and Robert Durant of Casco, was more than two years in the making. It comes as Gov. Janet Mills is expected to sign L.D. 2101 into law, giving municipalities new and significant enforcement authority for similar violations.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 9, 2024
The Maine House of Representatives on Tuesday opposed a proposal from Gov. Janet Mills to roll back sand dune protections as the state seeks to build an offshore wind terminal on Sears Island. The Democratic governor’s bill came out last month after the administration announced in February it would use Sears Island as a staging ground. The vote in the House was a major setback for Mills’ signature cause of establishing Maine as a national player in offshore wind, which is opposed by fishermen.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 9, 2024
Bethel has seen unprecedented demand for housing since the pandemic. The Northern Forest Center is redeveloping a historic Bethel home into eight apartments and one studio. The units are intended for those making between 80 and 120 percent of the area’s median income. It is the historic Gehring house on Broad Street. Built in 1896, the three-story building on the National Register of Historic Places was once the home and clinic of Dr. John George Gehring. Gehring was a famous psychotherapist who was one of the first clinicians to use hypnosis in treating mental illnesses. From the 1890s to 1925, Gehring’s practice brought hundreds of prominent academics, scientists, politicians and socialites to Bethel.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 9, 2024
A number of Maine organizations are breaking down barriers to sports – and the myriad physical and emotional benefits that go along with them. New Gloucester-based Veterans Adaptive Sports Training (VAST) helps veterans access a wide array of all-season sports, free of charge. The Adaptive Outdoor Education Center offers an abundance of programs, from rock climbing to sailing, for those who are living with disabilities, plus camps and programs for caregivers at its sites in Brunswick, Carrabassett Valley and Dedham. Maine Adaptive Sports and Recreation, based in Bethel, is the largest year-round adaptive recreation program in Maine. Enock Glidden, Maine Adaptive’s community relations specialist, is also an accessibility ambassador for Maine Trail Finder. ~ Sheila Brennan Nee, Maine Sports Commission
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 9, 2024
The outdoor spaces that we often think of as being integral to our state are often only accessible to those who can drive to them. In the coming years, I hope we keep looking for ways to improve access to the special places that we call home. ~ Philip Mathieu, Portland
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 9, 2024
The April 3 article in the Press Herald describing the drastic reduction in the number of dairy farms in Maine was alarming and disheartening. Perhaps one of the first steps the state can take to help ameliorate this trend is to not put a road through Smiling Hill Farm. ~ Andrew Grant, Scarborough
FORECASTER • April 8, 2024
Sea Meadow Marine in Yarmouth will receive $790,000 in federal funding to improve infrastructure and support operations at its working waterfront. The boatyard on the Cousins River, owned by the Sea Meadow Marine Foundation, supports a variety of small marine industries, including clamming, boat building and aquaculture. The grant, which will be used to improve the landing area as well as for water and sewer line repairs, is important to keep the working waterfront active.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 8, 2024
In an unexpected move by Mother Nature, Maine had baby blue, nearly cloudless skies Monday – among the best weather in the country to watch the total solar eclipse. The moon covered the sun for several minutes starting at about 3:30 p.m. Its traverse across the sun began at about 2:20 and ended at about 4:20 p.m. The chances of pristine weather during the rainy April season were slim. And experts predicted Maine would receive fewer visitors chasing the eclipse than other states where the weather is typically sunnier. But locals, tourists and chasers of celestial events who took a risk on Maine enjoyed the payoff.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 8, 2024
More than many other Maine communities, Houlton has been readying for this event for nearly three years, and while crowds did not reach the predicted 40,000, eclipse planners estimated that about 20,000 made their way to the last U.S. stop along the 115-mile wide path of totality. It wasn’t alone: several other rural Maine communities in that path also saw throngs of visitors on Monday — many of whom were also moved by the cosmic event.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 8, 2024
Thank you to the Bangor Daily News for the column, “Climate action causes more harm than good for Mainers” by Jacob Posik on Thursday, March 14. I thought all common sense was lost forever. I don’t know what the percentage of mankind is that wants to ride herd over everyone else. But my guess is it hasn’t changed much in the history of mankind. The only difference now is the internet and social media gives them the last tool they need in their toolbox to get it done. May God help us. ~ Kevin Davis, Plymouth
MAINE PUBLIC • April 17, 2024
The tidy, weedless expanse of Kentucky bluegrass that defines a traditional American lawn provides little benefit to the environment. Learn how to introduce biodiversity to your yard--not only to promote habitat for wildlife and support a healthy environment, but for the beauty of it as well. Some tips include: less mowing, more native plants and trees--and letting those dandelions grow.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 8, 2024
Maine has issued warnings not to eat fish in some waterways because of contamination from 'forever chemicals,' but most lakes, ponds and streams remain untested.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 8, 2024
A carbon fee will result in by far the most significant decrease in CO2 emissions. It is the only plan that allows the U.S. to meet the current goal of 50% decrease in CO2 by 2030. Those who avoid thinking about climate change because it seems unsolvable should think again. Western Europe and Canada have proved carbon fees work. Call our legislators and ask them to pass a carbon fee now. ~ Nancy Hasenfus, Brunswick
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 8, 2024
Unless another court ruling overturns Bar Harbor’s new cruise ship limits, 2025 is expected to be the last year that large passenger ships drop anchor in Frenchman Bay. But it could be sooner than that — or may have already passed — if a judge decides that the town must enforce the new limits this year.
MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • April 7, 2024
We know what the problem is: Fish are not reproducing. The solution is more challenging to find. Stricter limits on commercial fishing would be a step in the right direction. Being able to keep 45 fish over 35 inches in three days is ridiculous – a recreational angler would need about a month and a half to do the same amount of damage. Reducing the commercial quota would benefit striped bass, keeping more potential reproducers in the water. ~ Dan Stoicov is a junior at Falmouth High School
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 6, 2024
Former Maine Gov. Joseph Brennan, a Portland native who served as the state’s 70th governor from 1979 to 1987 as part of a lengthy career in politics, died at his home Saturday. He was 89. Sen. Angus King, who defeated Brennan in a race for governor in 1994, cited his role in laying the groundwork for the Land for Maine’s Future Program, which has conserved more than 600,000 of conservation and recreation lands since 1987.
