The most comprehensive online source of conservation news and events in Maine and beyond, edited by Jym St. Pierre
MAINE PUBLIC • April 22, 2024
The Maine Governor's Energy Office is one of 60 recipients of the Biden administration's Solar for All grants. The grants announced Monday in honor of Earth Day are intended to expand accessibility to clean energy for low- and moderate-income Americans. Maine will use its share of $5.5 billion in grants to facilitate single- and multi-family on-site solar programs and support cooperatively owned community solar.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 22, 2024
As longtime environmental organizers and activists, we hope this Earth Day will mark the beginning of improved outcomes at the Juniper Ridge Landfill. Current management operations by Casella Waste Systems are squandering Juniper Ridge’s disposal capacity and threatening public health and the environment. It’s time for the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and Bureau of General Services to stop Casella from gaming the system. ~ Bill Lippincott and Ed Spencerare, Don’t Waste ME
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 22, 2024
The planet is experiencing a horrifying streak of record-breaking heat, with March marking the 10th month in a row that the average global temperature has been the highest ever recorded. It would be shocking if it wasn’t so predictable. Despite everything we know about the effects of burning fossil fuels, humanity is still going in the wrong direction with self-destructive abandon. If 10 months of record heat isn’t enough to jolt world leaders into crisis mode, it’s hard to say what will. The stakes are especially high this year. A former president who has arguably the worst climate record in U.S. history, having rolled back more than 100 environmental protections, is polling neck and neck with a president who has done more to fight climate change than anyone before him, even if it’s still not enough. ~ The Los Angeles Times Editorial Board
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 22, 2024
There has been little sign of progress in the construction of a proposed salmon farm at the former paper mill in Bucksport, nearly five full years after the project was fully permitted by state and local officials. In 2019, Whole Oceans was approved by Bucksport officials and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to build a $250 million land-based fish farm on the site of the former Verso mill. Unlike some other fish farm proposals that have come to Maine in recent years and gotten bogged down by legal and other challenges, the Bucksport project was unique in that it faced minimal opposition along the way.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 22, 2024
The Hills to Sea Trails Coalition is working to fix a two-mile gap in its 47-mile system. The trail relies on the grace of more than 60 landowners, some of whom close their land to public access during hunting season in the fall, then reopen it. This year, one landowner did not reopen 2 miles of land to public access, according to Buck O’Herin, coordinator of the Hills to Sea Coalition and president of Midcoast Conservancy. He said the coalition is working to reconnect the trail, possibly rerouting it if necessary. ills to Sea, which runs from Unity Village to Belfast, is the third longest walking trail in Maine. Volunteers completed the trail in 2016 and it is free to the public to use.
MORNING SENTINEL • April 21, 2024
In Waterville, those who came to the Mid-Maine chapter of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby’s event helped to complete an interactive mural, titled “How Humanity Managed To Save the Planet,” with the help of Burnham-based artist Lucky Platt. a group of students from the Waterville Alternative High School worked with her to create imagery for the mural. Based on the students’ sketches, Platt drew them onto a 24-foot-long piece of paper. Those who came Sunday colored it, using markers, crayons and colored pencils.
MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • April 21, 2024
Last Sunday’s editorial, “Perfection is the enemy of our environment,” is misleading. All of the major environmental and conservation entities in Maine favor the development of offshore wind energy in the Gulf of Maine. While there is unanimity on that, some groups have serious doubts that Sears Island must be the place to support this development. A viable alternative, called Mack Point, exists onshore just a short distance from Sears Island. This was not even mentioned in the editorial. I do not accept that we must disrupt a functioning ecosystem and recreational destination on Sears Island while a suitable alternative exists. ~ David VonSeggern, Westbrook
MAINE MONITOR • April 21, 2024
Between 2021 and 2022, the amount of zinc released in Maine increased significantly, resulting in a net increase of the state’s overall release of TRI-listed chemicals. The source? Maine’s two largest paper and pulp mills: ND Paper in Rumford and Sappi North America’s Somerset Mill in Skowhegan. The mills increased their use of shredded tires as a fuel source to power operations. Burning tires and filtering the emissions produces a zinc-heavy ash. Because of its high zinc levels, which are especially harmful to aquatic life, the ash has to be disposed with special precautions to avoid it leaching into nearby water and soil or blowing away in the wind.
MAINE MONITOR • April 21, 2024
Monitoring weather and tides. Moving cars. Wearing boots. Adjusting business hours. Pumping water. Portland Pier offers an early glimpse of how thousands of coastal residents and business owners may have to cope with a rising sea in the years ahead. Maine has already experienced eight inches of sea-level rise over the last century, according to the Maine Climate Council. Based on projections, that rise is expected to reach an additional 1.5 feet by 2050. Measures such as raising buildings may be possible, but they are expensive and present technical challenges. Short of that, experts say, coastal Mainers will need to adapt to rising sea levels and — as shown on Portland Pier — learn to accommodate inevitable surges of water in their lives.
MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • April 21, 2024
Earth Day is well-timed in our corner of the world, as it occurs at the peak of spring. There’s a promise of rebirth and renewal, as plants leaf out and animals return or emerge from hibernation. Earth Day was born out of an environmental movement. This movement was perhaps given a big boost by Mainer Rachel Carson, whose 1962 book, “Silent Spring,” documented the devastating effect of the use of chemicals on many birds. There is no shortage of ways we can help improve the health of the earth and all of its creatures. We can recycle, grow native plants in our yards, and turn down the thermostat in our homes a few degrees. Earth Day should inspire us to do all we can to reduce the carbon emissions that are heating our planet. ~ Herb Wilson
MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • April 21, 2024
Here's a handy checklist to help you get ready prior to opening day. ~ Bob Humphrey
CENTRAL MAINE • April 21, 2024
Rumford Falls is the largest waterfall in the U.S. east of Niagara. Today, dams and canals divert the water from its natural pathway, and the highest part of the falls receives little to no water flow for most of the year. Originally built in the early 20th century to support a large pulp and paper mill, today the project is owned by Brookfield Renewable, a multibillion-dollar global energy company. The hydroelectricity generated is sold on the grid. Brookfield is undergoing relicensing by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Increasing natural water flows would enhance water quality, improve aquatic habitat, and support recreational fishing, whitewater rafting, hiking and nature viewing, all key revenue opportunities. To share your opinion on this issue with FERC, you can submit a comment online. Reference project number P-2333. ~ Steve Heinz, Maine Council of Trout Unlimited
TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY • April 21, 2024
For too long, communities of color have borne the brunt of environmental degradation, suffering the consequences of pollution and toxic industries that too often find their place in our neighborhoods. That’s why, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced its decision to limit tailpipe emissions and gas-powered cars, it was important to take a moment to celebrate this win — and to acknowledge how far we still have to go. ~ Russell Armstrong, Hip Hop Caucus
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 21, 2024
A coyote howls for a couple of major reasons. One is territorial, telling other coyotes that it’s staking out some turf and warning them to stay away. The other is to communicate with its family. In this video, courtesy of Dan Worcester, you can hear other coyotes answer the one featured here. Coyotes live in families that include a breeding male and female and whatever offspring have not ventured on their own, according to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Sometimes the male and female are mated for life and pup litters average four. Maine manages the eastern coyote as a furbearer that can be hunted or trapped.
SUN JOURNAL • April 21, 2024
Today, we’re seeing a vastly accelerating shift towards EVs in the national and global markets. We now have the rechargeable battery technology to make EVs not only more practical, but more economical and an answer to many existential problems of our time, like the climate crisis and detrimental public health impacts surrounding air pollution. The average EV on the market today has a range of about 240 miles on a full charge, so most people will have plenty to get through the day. Maine had 435 places you can charge your electric car in 2023. Maine has received a $15 million federal grant to install nearly 600 electric vehicle charging stations in more than 70 cities and towns. ~ Rev. Richard Killmer, Yarmouth; Amy Rogghe, a physician assistant and executive director of the Michigan Electric Vehicle Alliance
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 20, 2024
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which does the relicensing, released an Environmental Impact Statement in late March that recommends relicensing and amending the licenses to ensure upstream and downstream access for Atlantic salmon, alewife, blueback herring, American shad, American eel and sea lamprey, according to a filing by FERC. Brookfield White Pine Hydro LLC, which owns the dams along the Kennebec River, filed plans with FERC to protect Atlantic salmon, Atlantic sturgeon and shortnose sturgeon, which are threatened or endangered species. But the Natural Resources Council of Maine environmental group is criticizing the FERC for what it says are inadequate measures to protect wildlife.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 20, 2024
Low water conditions, cold temperatures and a steady rain weren’t enough to dampen racer or “river vulture” turnout on Saturday for the 57th Kenduskeag Canoe Race that finished downtown, where the stream meets the Penobscot River. According to race officials, just about 742 racers took to 402 boats at the start of this year’s 16.5-mile race in Kenduskeag. Nearly all of them finished. Preliminary results indicate Trevor MacLean of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia once again had the fastest overall time, clocking in at 2 hours, 20 minutes. It’s the 18th time the solo kayaker has won the race.
CENTRAL MAINE • April 20, 2024
In 1984 I went to work for Gov. Joe Brennan. Joe knew a little bit about courage. He faced down powerful paper companies and landowners to regain 600,000 acres of public lands. His administration succeeded in implementing game-changing ideas to protect rivers, reform education, protect public lands, create the Land for Maine’s Future program, create the Finance Authority of Maine, establish the HOME program, build fishing piers and cargo ports, institute home care for the elderly, and establish energy conservation programs. The Brennan Administration created the toolkit for modern state government. ~ Frank O’Hara, Hallowell
KENNEBEC JOURNAL • April 19, 2024
Togus Pond is about to undergo a chemical treatment to be dispersed from a barge, intended to prevent the popular body of water from turning green from algae blooms this summer. The lake will be treated with aluminum sulfate, or alum, by SOLitude Lake Management. The effort is organized and funded by the Worromontogus Lake Association to prevent algae blooms, which degrade water quality.
ASSOCIATED PRESS • April 19, 2024
The Biden administration said Friday it will restrict new oil and gas leasing on 13 million acres of a federal petroleum reserve in Alaska to help protect wildlife such as caribou and polar bears as the Arctic continues to warm. The decision – part of a yearslong fight over whether and how to develop the vast oil resources in the state – finalizes protections first proposed last year. A group of Republican lawmakers, led by Alaska U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, called it an “illegal” attack on the state’s economic lifeblood.
