FERC staff are recommending relicensing 4 Kennebec River dams

MAINE PUBLIC • April 18, 2024

Staff at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) are recommending the relicensing of four dams along the Kennebec River that have been at the center of a fight over the restoration of endangered salmon and other species. Commission staff recommended relicensing as part of a plan that would include proposals from Brookfield, including turbine shutdowns and construction of new fish lifts, as well as other conditions from staff and federal and state agencies. But Nick Bennett, a staff scientist with the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM), said the proposed measures are inadequate and haven't worked on other rivers, including the Merrimack and Connecticut Rivers.

Phippsburg Fishermen’s Museum project aims to preserve the 1925 Murphy house

TIMES RECORD • April 18, 2024

A historic Phippsburg home is being converted into the new Fishermen’s Museum to recognize the town’s long fishing tradition. The town donated the tiny Murphy home, one of the last small fishing homes surviving demolition, to the Phippsburg Historical Society, which is restoring and renovating it to serve the museum. Local fisherman and preacher John Murphy was born and raised on Malaga Island. His wife, Perle Murphy, was known for knitting lobster trap heads. The Historic Preservation Commission is now seeking a $30,000 endowment to finalize plans for the Fishermen’s Museum.

West Paris under a boil water order

SUN JOURNAL • April 18, 2024

According to West Paris Town Manager Joy Downing, it was discovered Wednesday that the cover for the reservoir had a hole and rips in it. Tests revealed that the integrity of the water had been affected, resulting in a boil water order issued Thursday morning.

The ospreys are back in Lamoine. Watch the livestream.

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 18, 2024

After a disastrous 2023, a pair of ospreys have returned this year  to a nesting platform equipped with a camera in Lamoine. The osprey lost their chicks to an eagle last year. This is the fourth year the same nesting pair has occupied the platform. You can watch them work on their nest, care for their eggs and raise their chicks.

Earth Day celebrations

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 18, 2024

Earth Day is on Monday and there are plenty of ways to celebrate it this weekend. Head to Payson Park in Portland Saturday morning for a family friendly gathering with food trucks, outdoor activities, music and more. Green ME Up Earth Day Celebration in Freeport is also Saturday, and it includes a rock climbing wall and science projects.

Column: Brunswick poetry stroll celebrates coast

TIMES RECORD • April 18, 2024

Posters on several Brunswick storefronts display poetry written by students across grade levels in celebration of National Poetry Month, which is the month of April. The posters are part of a poetry stroll, much like the town’s Art Walk or other local events that add another aspect to the downtown experience. A poem by Ava Coley, a member of the Brunswick High School’s class of 2025, titled, “Gathering of Geese on Maquoit Bay” was particularly evocative of a coastal spot just a few miles down the road from the high school. The accompanying photograph features an image akin to the title of the poem. The poet writes about the feelings brought out by “sitting by the cold blue water.” You’ll have to visit her poetry display to read the rest. It is a lovely reminder of the power of places along our coast to draw out beautiful language in celebration of it. ~ Susan Olcott, Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association

After initial split, lawmakers back bill to keep Sears Island in running for offshore wind port

MAINE MORNING STAR • April 17, 2024

After initial disagreement between Maine’s House of Representatives and Senate, a bill needed to continue the permitting process for the state’s desired location for an offshore wind port appears to have prevailed. On Wednesday, the House revisited LD 2266 and ultimately decided to go back on its previous vote against the legislation and concur with the Senate, which passed the bill earlier this week. There was no explanation for the change. Later Wednesday night, the Senate advanced the bill to the Appropriations Committee for funding.

After removing osprey nest, CMP installs perch off Route 1 in Bath

TIMES RECORD • April 17, 2024

Central Maine Power raised a nesting platform off Route 1 in Bath to replace a nest the company removed from atop a utility tower before April’s snowstorm. The removal left a nesting pair of ospreys without a place to lay and care for their eggs, sparking outrage among local birdwatchers.

Injured bobcat euthanized after center determines leg required amputation

AMERICAN JOURNAL • April 17, 2024

Bobcat Betty won’t be returning to her habitat, as many hoped, after being struck by a car in Gorham last month. She was euthanized last week at the Saco River Wildlife Center in Limington, where she had been receiving care. Despite its best efforts to rehabilitate her, the center determined that extensive damage to one leg would require it to be amputated, precluding the possibility of releasing her back into the wild.

Maine joins regional efforts to secure $1 billion for clean energy projects

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 17, 2024

State energy agencies in the six New England states are partnering to compete for as much as $1 billion from Washington to upgrade electricity transmission, including generating up to 4,800 megawatts with offshore wind and battery storage in Connecticut and northern Maine. Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont jointly submitted two applications for federal funding in a project called Power Up New England intended to improve the reliability and resilience of the region’s grid, the states said Wednesday. The states also are working with New York state in a second round of funding that features a transmission upgrade for a 345-kilovolt New York-New England transmission line to transfer up to 1,000 megawatts between the two regions.

Maine Legislature passes bill seeking to avoid labor disruptions on clean energy projects

MAINE MORNING STAR • April 17, 2024

A bill meant to ensure clean energy projects on state land aren’t disrupted by labor disputes passed the Legislature this week and will go to Gov. Janet Mills for consideration. LD 373 requires an entity leasing state land for a clean energy development project to mandate that the lessee enter an “employer and employee harmony agreement.” In February, bill sponsor Sen. Mike Tipping (D-Penobscot) said such harmony agreements represent a compromise between workers and employers. The agreements require companies awarded bids for the types of projects specified by the bill to agree not to bust a union or lock out workers. In exchange, workers give up their right to strike. The overall goal of the bill is to ensure that public money isn’t used to fight unionization while also making sure that essential climate projects are completed without labor fights slowing things down. 

Centuries-old Standish farm protected from development

FORECASTER • April 17, 2024

A Standish farm that has been operating since at least 1800 will be preserved indefinitely as a Maine Farmland Trust Forever Farm. The 91-acre Sunset Farm is stewarded by Margaret Marean, the fourth generations of Mareans to operate it. Her nephew Jeff Davis and his wife Rosana live in the old farmhouse and she resides in a ranch house down the road.

Obituary: Fern Ederie Stearns

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 17, 2024

Legendary canoeist, writer, and teacher Fern Crossland Stearns, 90, died on April 14, 2024. Fern married William F. Stearns of Rumford in 1959. Bill and Fern honeymooned with a canoe camping trip on the Machias River, beginning what became a lifetime of leadership in Maine's paddling and river advocacy communities. She fought for free-flowing and wild rivers and championed the sports of wilderness canoeing and whitewater canoe racing. Fern and Bill raced in the Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race for decades. She was recognized as a Legend of Paddling by the organizers of that race. Fern and Bill were principal founders of Penobscot Paddle & Chowder Society. Fern and Bill were instrumental in expanding whitewater racing, frequently winning the national crown in their class. The Maine Canoe and Kayak Racing Organization honored her with an award for drawing people into canoeing. In 1974, they guided a team of canoeists from federal and state agencies in a study of the Penobscot River's eligibility for designation as a Wild and Scenic River.

New Forest Service report reveals agency wants to max out logging

WILD EARTH GUARDIANS • April 17, 2024

The United States Forest Service manages 193 million acres of national forests. These forests provide habitat to thousands of wildlife species (including threatened and endangered species), and offer recreational and mental wellness benefits to millions of Americans. It’s hard to overstate just how important our national forests are to our lives. Yet a recent Forest Service report to Congress provides a blueprint of how the agency could increase logging to meet arbitrary, non-science based timber production goals. The mechanisms proposed by the Forest Service to meet these “Timber Targets” include cutting public involvement in decision-making and oversight of agency action, to make it easier to cut more trees, including from forests that are key to combating climate change. 

New study calculates climate change’s economic bite will hit about $38 trillion a year by 2049

ASSOCIATED PRESS • April 17, 2024

Climate change will reduce future global income by about 19% in the next 25 years compared to a fictional world that’s not warming, with the poorest areas and those least responsible for heating the atmosphere taking the biggest monetary hit, a new study said. Climate change’s economic bite in how much people make is already locked in at about $38 trillion a year by 2049, according to Wednesday’s study in the journal Nature.

Belfast decision puts future of controversial salmon farm in jeopardy

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 17, 2024

Belfast City councilors voted 4-1 on Wednesday night to reverse their decision to seize a piece of land needed to build a controversial land-based salmon farm that would be one of the largest in the world. Nordic Aquafarms, the Norwegian developer behind the $500 million project, said it needs that land — a parcel of mud flats — to install pipes to pump water in and out of Penobscot Bay. The company thought it owned that property until a Waldo County Superior Court ruling in February 2023 determined it actually belonged to a neighboring couple that opposes the fish farm. Without a guarantee to the land, it is unclear whether Nordic Aquafarms can move forward

New potato chip plant in Aroostook on track for July construction start

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 17, 2024

The people behind one of Loring Commerce Center’s major new developments plan to begin construction by late July 2024. Taste of Maine Potato Chip Co., based in Presque Isle, held a kickoff event on the Loring campus Wednesday to celebrate its future $55 million potato chip processing plant. The company is the vision of Falcon Transportation owner Bruce Sargent and colleagues, who hope to be part of revitalizing the former Loring Air Force Base. The base closed almost 30 years ago, in September 1994.

This free Bangor event can help you protect your catalytic converter from thieves

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 17, 2024

You can reduce the risk of losing your car’s catalytic converter to theft for free next week. Catalytic converters contain valuable precious metals and are fairly simple to remove from cars, making them a popular target for thieves in recent years. Engraving the converter with identifying vehicle information, however, could deter thieves and help you recover the converter if it is stolen. Converter etching will be available for free at Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor from 8 a.m. to noon next Tuesday.

GrowSmart Maine opposes Gorham Connector project citing environmental harm

MAINE PUBLIC • April 17, 2024

GrowSmart Maine is restating its opposition to the Gorham Connector project. On Tuesday, the nonprofit said that the Maine Turnpike Authority project will irrevocably harm the environment for unclear benefits. GrowSmart CEO Nancy Smith said expanding the highway is only a temporary fix and doesn't address the underlying demand for single-passenger transit.

Wildlife in the Eastern Trail gap: UNE students to present findings of six-year study

SOUTH PORTLAND-CAPE ELIZABETH SENTRY • April 17, 2024

Findings of a six-year study of the wildlife living and feeding in the 1.6-mile gap of the Eastern Trail between Wainwright Recreation Complex in South Portland and Nonesuch River in Scarborough will be presented next week. On Tuesday, students in University of New England Professor Noah Perlut’s Terrestrial Wildlife class will discuss their GapTracks Project at an event organized by the Scarborough Land Trust. The project uncovered trends in the animal population, ratios of predators to prey and even some lighter moments, like a fox climbing a tree and a fisher taking an unusual daytime walk.