The most comprehensive online source of conservation news and events in Maine and beyond, edited by Jym St. Pierre
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 16, 2024
Approximately 72,294 people applied for a moose permit according to preliminary numbers released by the state Thursday. That’s about 150 fewer than last year. The deadline to file an electronic application for one of the 4,105 permits to kill a Maine moose was 11:59 p.m. Wednesday.
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY • May 16, 2024
The Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust, The Nature Conservancy in Maine and the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands announced today that 2,706 acres have been added to the Mount Abraham Public Reserve Land managed by the State of Maine. Created through the acquisition of multiple properties, the “Keystones project” holds the larger landscape together, playing a critical role in preventing development and fragmentation while ensuring public access.
MORNING SENTINEL • May 16, 2024
A Cornville firefighter is recovering from injuries he suffered while fighting a fire that damaged a building at Maine Woods Pellet Co. in Athens Wednesday evening. The fire was reported around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday and firefighters worked for more than three hours. The fire was on the second floor of the building, where wood pellets are manufactured, and flames spread into the rafters. Maine Woods Pellet was the scene of a fire in March 2021 that was reported to have occurred in a dryer.
WASHINGTON POST • May 16, 2024
The Biden administration announced Thursday it will end coal leasing on federal lands in the Powder River Basin, which produces nearly half the coal in the United States. The decision by the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management affects a vast coal-producing region that covers more than 13 million acres across Montana and Wyoming, and it handed a long-sought victory to climate advocates. But it angered Republican lawmakers in Montana and Wyoming, some of whom accused President Biden of waging a “war on coal,” even as the nation moves away from the fossil fuel because of market forces. It also infuriated mining interests.
MAINE PUBLIC • May 16, 2024
State regulators unanimously approved final changes to Maine’s mining law on Thursday morning that will pave the way for a small-scale spodumene mining operation in the western Maine town of Newry. Spodumene is a mineral that contains lithium, a highly sought-after metal used in everything from batteries to touch screens. The new rule will exempt the extraction of certain metallic minerals from the state’s stringent mining regulations as long as a mining operation can prove that getting them out won’t pollute the nearby land or water.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 16, 2024
Greenville’s town leaders and businesses hope a proposed housing development will bring a much-needed economic boost to an area that has struggled to attract and retain workers because of its limited housing stock. The Northern Forest Center last week announced it bought a 5-acre parcel off Spruce Street where it will build a 29-unit housing development, including a mix of multi-family buildings, duplexes and single-family homes, over the next three years. It is designed to provide the “missing-middle housing” that will enable families to invest in the town and “build the sustainability of the Moosehead Lake region’s year-round economy,” Director Mike Wilson said.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 16, 2024
Yellow iris, ornamental jewelweed and black swallow-wort may be pretty, but they can smother the state’s native flora and provide less-nutritious food for native fauna. The three plants were singled out by the Maine Natural Areas Program as priority species in 2018, with the hope that more awareness of them by Mainers will lead to early detection and eradication.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 16, 2024
Williamsburg Forest is a remote community-owned woodland revitalized and run completely by women. The initial group that decided to rescue a down-on-its-luck demonstration forest did not plan it this way. They were just foresters and conservationists who happened to be women. And when they asked for help from their professional networks, other women in this traditionally male field answered. Now women pick which trees to cut, which rules to enforce and signs to post, and which classes to hold.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 16, 2024
From imports to exports, the Maine economy is deeply connected to the rest of the world. Every year, Maine exporters send billions of dollars worth of “Made in the USA” products to the rest of the world, supporting about 18,000 jobs. Our state still imports about twice as much as we export, meaning that there is significant room for growth. Our state is a bottom-10 exporter in the country. Why can’t Maine rise up the ranks? Our state is gaining new innovators by the month. From industries like specimen collection to fishing and lumber, there are still domestic and foreign markets that have yet to benefit from Maine ingenuity. Let’s achieve new strength with trade partners. Our economy depends on it. ~ Virginia Templet, Puritan Medical Products in Guilford
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 16, 2024
Maine researchers are studying the role that rural schools could inadvertently play in spreading dangerous “forever chemicals” after those contaminants were found at high levels in the drinking water of some homes around Mount Desert Island High School. It’s not well understood how the chemicals, which have been linked to cancer and other health threats, may spread from public institutions such as high schools into nearby drinking water supplies. But Jane Disney, an associate professor at the independent MDI Bio Lab in Bar Harbor, said one factor could be that rural institutions are more likely to use septic systems and leachfields to dispose of their wastewater, rather than public sewers.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 16, 2024
Browntail moth caterpillars are once again infesting a popular Bangor neighborhood park, even after the city has repeatedly used chemicals meant to control the itchy pests. Despite the city’s efforts, browntail moth caterpillars covered the playground equipment at Fairmount Park when Cassie Belka, who lives in Bangor’s Fairmount neighborhood, took her daughter there on Tuesday. Belka said she has seen browntail moth webs in trees in the neighborhood for years, but the problem seems to have gotten worse.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 15, 2024
On May 18 at noon, at the Fiddlers and Fiddlehead Festival, Patten Area Outdoors will celebrate the grand opening of our Storybook Lane and non-motorized trail. Patten Area Outdoors is a volunteer group in the region focused on creating non-motorized, accessible outdoor options for our town and our region. Under the guidance of the Outdoor Sport Institute and in partnership with Katahdin Area Trails our first trail is ready to use.
REPUBLICAN JOURNAL • May 15, 2024
Coastal Mountains Land Trust recently announced the year two successes of the Waldo County Conservation Initiative — an effort launched in November 2022 with the goal of conserving open space in the 12 Waldo County towns served by the Land Trust in support of wildlife conservation, recreation, outdoor learning, and climate mitigation. According to the announcement, $265,000 was raised from grants, local businesses, and members of the community to support the acquisition and stewardship of four properties. The four projects and the 11 completed in the first year of the initiative total 693 acres across nine Waldo County towns.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 15, 2024
Anyone boating through Muscongus Bay in Bremen in recent weeks may have come across a morbid — and so far, mysterious — site. Three dead coyotes have been trussed and arranged around a navigational marker in the waterway. However, little other information was immediately available about the strange site, including who may have left the carcasses there, or why. The town and the Maine Marine Patrol both referred questions about them to the U.S. Coast Guard, which maintains the marker. Officials with the Coast Guard confirmed that they are looking into the site, as they would with any other problem with a buoy.
MAINE PUBLIC • May 15, 2024
The Portland International Jetport is proposing an expansion of parking to meet growing demand. The new plan would add a net total of 282 new surface parking spaces. Paul Bradbury said that adding parking that's walkable to the jetport would be more environmentally friendly than running shuttle buses to and from the airport and an offsite lot. The project has been scaled back slightly since jetport officials presented an initial proposal to nearby residents late last year. But many of their concerns, which include possible impacts on nearby wetlands and trees that provide a buffer between the airport and their neighborhood, remain and were echoed by members of the Portland planning board.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 15, 2024
Here are some options from Maine to meet the needs of your soil. With permission to harvest, you can gather your own seaweed for composting or tilling into the soil. Many Maine companies also create prepared products like kelp meal and seaweed fertilizer, including North American Kelp in Waldoboro, Gulf of Maine in Pembroke, Living Acres in New Sharon and Coast of Maine in Portland. Waste wool from sheep shearing can be used in the garden as loose fleece or pellets to retain water and slowly release nitrogen, calcium, magnesium and iron over six months. Byproducts from shellfish processing are very rich and produce healthy plants. Peat retains water and releases it as needed, and can also hold onto nutrients, making it useful for sandy soils. It helps break up heavier soils and improve drainage. Ground oyster or clam shells are a source of calcium for soil, similar to eggshells. Using it has been shown to raise the pH levels of acidic soils, and could improve soil fertility for crops.
NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO • May 15, 2024
Human-caused climate change can push disease-carrying mosquitoes or ticks into new places as temperatures rise, and deforestation can expose humans to viruses circulating in once-isolated species. But despite hundreds of studies investigating human influence on infectious diseases, scientists weren't sure whether certain activities matter more than others for increasing risk. Now, new research clarifies that picture – and suggests that humanity's reshaping of the planet is stoking the spread of dangerous infectious diseases not just for people but also for other animals and plants.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 15, 2024
No one in York questions the town’s longstanding tradition of welcoming summer visitors to stay in rented seaside homes. But whether those properties should be licensed and inspected is being debated as residents prepare to vote Saturday on new regulations. The town is considering an ordinance that would regulate short-term rentals for the first time. Opponents say York’s proposal would amount to government overreach in a town that has had very few documented problems. But supporters say the short-term rental properties have become increasingly disruptive to residential neighborhoods and should be licensed like any other business. “We are a tourist community, and we thrive on that. We just need a few rules in place so everyone can benefit,” said Lee-Anne Leverone, of York Beach.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 15, 2024
In my 34-year career directing Portland’s planning division, I had direct experience in the creation of the original historic preservation ordinance in 1990 and its subsequent amendments through 2015. A formal agreement was signed between the National Park Service and the City that stipulates any changes to the ordinance must be approved by the Maine Historic Preservation Commission and the National Park Service to maintain certification. Portland has benefited greatly from federal funding available to CLG communities, including 58 grants totaling $919,876. The Portland Museum of Art can argue that its proposed expansion deserves special consideration, but the fact remains that what it wants to do is against the law in Portland and threatens Portland’s CLG status – and all the good work that has been accomplished because of it. It’s not worth the risk. ~ Alexander Jaegerman served Portland as a senior planner, chief planner and planning division director (1981-2015)
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 15, 2024
Targets were set to avoid the most disastrous impacts of climate warming. If we elect candidates who are beholden to the fossil fuel industry and their allies, U.S. progress will be reversed and we will lose four crucial years in a process that has been stalled by disinformation and fossil fuel lobbies for over 35 years. We must prioritize a livable world when we vote. ~ Dorothy Jones, Brunswick
