The most comprehensive online source of conservation news and events in Maine and beyond, edited by Jym St. Pierre
WASHINGTON POST • June 9, 2024
Over the next few months, millions of visitors will flock to U.S. national parks to hike, climb, boat and explore. With a maximum cost of $35 per vehicle for entry, visiting a national park can be one of the cheapest, most rewarding vacations you can plan this summer. Solo hikers should be flexible enough to enter at off-hours and win last-minute lotteries. Hiking and spending time in nature alone has demonstrably proved to improve mental health.
SUN JOURNAL • June 9, 2024
On the third weekend every June for the past 39 years, Scott Cowger of Hallowell has pulled on his bike shorts, shoved his feet in his cycling shoes, buckled on his helmet and started pedaling in his quest to raise money for the American Lung Association. On Friday, kickstands will go up and Cowger and hundreds more cyclists will set out on the 180-mile 40th annual Trek Across Maine. The goal is to raise $750,000, with more than $500,000 of that already raised as trekkers head into this year’s Father’s Day weekend trek. The ride has raised $31 million collectively since its inception.
CENTRAL MAINE • June 9, 2024
Since Akua’s kelp burgers launched in 2021, the company has sold more than 1 million of the plant-based patties. Made with kelp harvested by the farmers of the Maine Family Seafarm Cooperative, the burgers are sold in roughly 1,000 grocery stores and 200 restaurants nationwide. Akua processes 40,000 pounds of Maine kelp each year and plans to move its burger production to Freeport from Atlanta this summer. “The hamburger is the symbol of everything that’s wrong with the American food system. A kelp burger is the opposite,” said Akua CEO Courtney Boyd Meyers. Like Akua, Atlantic Sea Farms processes its own seaweed and sells its kelp burgers to grocery stores. Atlantic Sea Farms operates 40 kelp farms stretching from Casco Bay to Eastport.
MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • June 9, 2024
We currently have nine species, some with multiple subspecies occurring here, and there was historically a 10th, which has been extirpated. The “lost” species is the timber rattlesnake, which used to occur in southern Maine, but due to extreme persecution from humans hasn’t been documented here since 1860. This was the only venomous snake in Maine; all the remaining nine species are safe to be around, although some can be more aggressive when agitated. Venomous is toxic when they bite you, poisonous is toxic when you bite it. Now you know. More than 13,000 records have been submitted by hundreds of volunteers around the state for the Maine Amphibian and Reptile Atlas Project. One outcome has been the beloved “Maine Amphibians and Reptiles” book. ~ Maine Audubon Staff Naturalist Doug Hitchcox
MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • June 9, 2024
Some gardeners don’t enjoy gardening. They like plants and the way those plants look in their gardens. They may even take pride in the results of the work that they do. But they dread the drudgery, the insects, the labor and dirtiness of actually tending the plants. I absolutely enjoy the time I spend in the garden. For me, the best times are harvesting vegetables and cutting flowers to bring inside, but planting – whether seedlings or seeds – is also a pleasure. I even enjoy weeding, mostly because it is mindless, so I can let my mind wander to future columns. ~ Tom Atwell
MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • June 9, 2024
For years, sensible, proven policies have languished on desks and in legislative chambers at the state and federal level. It is as if we were not in a clear state of emergency, as if addressing climate change were not the burning imperative of our time. It is the federal picture that requires the most correction. America needs national policies to arrest the descent into what the head of the U.N. calls “climate hell.” We seem eerily good at bracing for and braving the tumult that a changing climate throws our way – and less good at working to arrest the change. If we settle for political candidates who do not prioritize climate change – or for candidates who act too slowly or not at all, or who belittle or deny the climate crisis out of ignorance, convenience or a toxic mix of the two – it becomes an accurate preview of a very disturbing future.
MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • June 9, 2024
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by climate change or think individual actions are too small to matter, but that’s not true. Every bit helps, and taking action can help with climate anxiety. Even better, these personal actions don’t only help the health of the planet – they can make things better for you, your family and your neighbors. ~ Erica Bartlett, Portland
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 9, 2024
Don’t miss out on the lush, green woods of Maine. Hit the trails and see all the splendor nature has to offer. Not everyone has the time (or energy) to take a road trip to some of Maine’s hiking destinations. That’s OK. All of these hikes are within an hour of Bangor and offer treks for all levels.
• Northeast Penjajawoc Preserve in Bangor
• Hothole Pond Trail in Orland
• Furth and Talalay sanctuaries in Surry
• Mead Mountain in Orland
• Kenduskeag Stream Trail in Bangor
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 9, 2024
Facing steep real estate prices, Maine’s beginning farmers and homesteaders increasingly rely on people they know to find land and resources they can use. Many lease, often for just a year or two at a time; many don’t know if they’ll ever own. Accessing land is the primary hurdle for people who want to start farming, according to Bo Dennis, the beginning farmer program specialist at the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association. Each year, more of the beginning farmers he works with operate on land leased year-to-year, without a path to buy.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 9, 2024
A 21-foot sculpture of a swordfish now stands on the shore of North Haven island, its long, sharp bill pointing toward the sky as Penobscot Bay glitters behind it. Designed by Camden artist duo Billy Sims and Ann McClellan and woven together out of willow by volunteers and local students, the new piece of artwork is a striking tribute to the Wabanaki people who hunted swordfish off the island some 5,000 years ago.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 8, 2024
The past, present and future of Portland’s working waterfront were on display Saturday in a variety of events and exhibits that gave unusual public access to the city’s increasingly precious harbor resources. Locals and visitors from across the country turned out for the ninth annual Walk the Working Waterfront, an interactive open house showcasing the fishermen, seafood producers and wholesalers, restaurants, nonprofits and other Commercial Street purveyors who call Portland Harbor home. A display outside the Gulf of Maine Research Institute showed that sea level along Commercial Street is expected to rise about 1.5 to 3 feet by 2050, which would put most of the area underwater.
KENNEBEC JOURNAL • June 8, 2024
Officials from Norridgewock and the surrounding towns celebrated the grand opening of the Madison Branch of the Kennebec River Rail in a ribbon cutting ceremony Saturday. The new portion of the trail spans from Oakland through Norridgewock to Embden and provides a gravel trail to walk, run, bike, drive an ATV or snowmobile, the latter two of which are the biggest draw for the trail.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 8, 2024
The emerald ash borers, a species of beetle, has been decimating New England’s ash trees for years and is killing hundreds of trees in Portland. Mark Reiland, the city arborist, estimated there are 600 ash trees in the city and most of them are infected. In the next five years, he said about 500 will have to come down. “Unfortunately there are entire streets we’ll have to clear cut,” he said. The city had tried to save some trees last spring by injecting insecticide into their trunks in an effort to kill the beetles, but the treatment wasn’t as successful as they hoped. As the ash trees come down, a variety of new tree species will go up.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 8, 2024
World Oceans Day is today, June 8, and ocean health is something Maine can celebrate every day. The Gulf of Maine is a special place. Named for our state, it stretches from Cape Cod to Nova Scotia with 70,000 square miles of life as deep as the Empire State Building and as cold as the refrigerator in your kitchen. We appreciate the ocean for the fishing industry that brings us dinner and jobs, for the cool summer breezes that bring visitors from hot summer cities. We appreciate the ocean for its variety of glorious animals – from humpback whales to harbor porpoises, from periwinkles to codfish, from osprey to eiders. Our appreciation, though, needs to extend to care because the Gulf of Maine is struggling with the same threats that poison the world’s oceans. ~ Jeffrey McCarthy, professor of environmental humanities, Belfast
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 8, 2024
Highlights of the Moosehead region, the gateway to the North Maine Woods.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 8, 2024
The Wabanaki Alliance has released a new guide aimed at promoting more respectful language and accurate information when reporting on Indigenous peoples in Maine, as well as their history, land, and culture. The online style manual covers the four federally recognized tribes in Maine, known collectively as the Wabanaki Nations. They are the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Mi’kmaq Nation, Penobscot Nation, and the Passamaquoddy Tribe. The Alliance is a confederation of organizations and individuals supporting the full restoration of federal rights to those tribes.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 8, 2024
Cassidy Blackstone, Carson Cushman and Wyatt Allen, seniors at Mars Hill High School, pose with the trio of Tom turkeys they shot all at the same time on opening day before heading to classes.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 8, 2024
Acadia National Park can be a tricky place to navigate, especially at the height of summer, when thousands of people are moving around the park, slowing down to take in the stunning views, then darting after empty parking spots. But don’t let that intimidate you. The following are a few tips for visiting Acadia during the summer and fall, when traffic is wild but the weather can’t be beat.
• Try visiting early in the morning or in the afternoon.
• Be flexible about where within the park you explore.
• Invest in a weather-resistant, detailed trail map.
• Use the Island Explorer bus system rather than driving a private vehicle.
• If parts of the park are closed, it’s for good reasons.
• Dogs are welcome in most places in the park, but not all places, and only under certain circumstances.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 7, 2024
Alan Emery fell in love with the outdoors, and that’s what kept him in high school, he said. The only one among his seven siblings and cousins to graduate from high school, Emery, 18, said the early morning outdoor ed program is what kept him in school. Research shows that outdoor education programs lead to improved academics, fewer discipline problems and happier students, said Korah Soll, founding director of the Rural Aspirations Project, who has been working with East Grand School for several years. For senior class vice president Emery, activities like harvesting and butchering a moose, camping overnight along the Allagash, taking on white water challenges, canoeing lakes, skiing, fishing, camping and open fire cooking built confidence and taught him lifelong skills, he said.
Z107.3 • June 7, 2024
The tale of a young boy who gets separated from his traveling companions and somehow survives 9 days lost in the Maine woods was a compelling story to read. But now, after years of working on the project, Don Fendler's "Lost On A Mountain In Maine" is set to hit the big screen this summer. “We are premiering Lost on a Mountain in Maine as a special presentation at The Maine International Film Festival this July 13th at 7 pm. The film will get its national release in theaters later this fall. MIFF Festival pass-holders can purchase tickets to the premiere at MIFF.ORG now, or individual tickets will be available for purchase on June 14th." The Maine International Film Festival will show "Lost On A Mountain In Maine" at the Waterville Opera House located at 1 Common Street in Waterville.
