High Peaks Alliance launches Scenic 7 Hiking Challenge

DAILY BULLDOG • June 25, 2024

The High Peaks Alliance is thrilled to announce the launch of the Scenic 7 Hiking Challenge, inviting outdoor enthusiasts to embark on a memorable adventure in the heart of Maine’s High Peaks Region. The Scenic 7 Hiking Challenge features seven exhilarating landscapes that will push hikers to their limits while rewarding them with breathtaking views and serene moments in nature. Participants are required to reach the summits of all four mountains and explore the three scenic trails designated as Challenge locations.

Looming flood threat: Maine coastal infrastructure at risk as soon as 2030

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 25, 2024

Maine won’t have to wait long before it begins to lose valuable coastal infrastructure to high-tide floods. Forget king tides and storm surges. A new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists predicts sunny-day floods caused by rising seas will hit critical infrastructure as soon as 2030 under a business-as-usual emissions scenario. “Even without storms or heavy rainfall, high-tide flooding driven by climate change is accelerating along U.S. coastlines,” the report concludes. “It is increasingly evident that much of the coastal infrastructure in the United States was built for a climate that no longer exists.”

Healthy Lakes, Healthy Communities: We all have a seat at the ‘kitchen table’

CENTRAL MAINE • June 25, 2024

“Social movements begin around kitchen tables.” My first “kitchen table” was with the president of a lake association as he invited me to take on a leadership role caring for his lake. The second was learning the ropes as I assumed duties of treasurer. The third through 10th or so was with the secretary of that lake association, a veteran conservationist who taught this newbie almost everything I know about caring for a lake. Whether your passion is for conservation or some other important cause, try the kitchen table approach. Feel the power of people doing good as they brainstorm, haggle, discuss, and bandy about their ideas based on the knowledge of their lived experiences. ~ Doug “Woody” Woodsum, volunteer, 7 Lakes Alliance

How Maine farmers can help prevent avian flu from spreading among cattle

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 25, 2024

Avian influenza hasn’t been detected in dairy cows in New England like elsewhere in the country, but if it is, federal officials say human activity is more likely to be responsible for it spreading than wild birds. Three months after it was found in U.S. dairy cattle, Maine’s industry remains vigilant and concerned but not disrupted, according to Sarah Littlefield, executive director of the Maine Dairy Promotion Board. The 145 farms represented by her group have not seen notable changes in demand, supply or milk pricing this year, she said.

Eastport residents shocked by council’s ATV vote

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 24, 2024

A surprise vote by the Eastport City Council about allowing all-terrain vehicles on certain local roads has residents up in arms, but council members say it will be a while before the issue is settled. The topic of allowing ATVs on local roads was not on the council’s meeting agenda last week, but the council voted 3-2 on Thursday in support of a proposal to allow ATVs on local roads in the city’s bow-hunting district.

Whale carcass found floating in Harpswell cove

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 24, 2024

A whale carcass was spotted floating in the waters of a Harpswell cove on Monday next to the Cribstone Bridge, which connects Orr’s Island and Bailey’s Island. The town has not yet determined what species of whale it is.

Climber rescued from cliff in Acadia National Park

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 24, 2024

A climber was rescued from a cliff in Acadia National Park on Monday. The 24-year-old man was climbing on South Bubble Mountain during the day when he slid and fell about 50 feet and became stranded. The National Park Service and MDI Search and Rescue responded and evacuated the man to safety in what Pollock called a “high-angle rescue” using a litter, which is a type of portable stretcher. The man was able to walk off the trail with park rangers and declined medical assistance at the site, instead driving himself to the hospital.

Maine based start-up getting federal grant support to scale up fish friendly packaging

MAINE PUBLIC • June 24, 2024

A Maine based start-up is getting a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to scale up its packaging that is fish friendly. Paramount Planet Product uses cellulose to create materials that can be molded into take-out food containers. Founder Adriadne Dimoula said many plastics are made with chemicals that can't be recycled, but cellulose will naturally break down in the environment. "That natural ability to dissolve, to biodegrade, and to not have toxic materials in it is one of the principles that we utilize in the design in our products. Nature can process it or digest it because it's never gone through a synthetic process," Dimoula said. She said her products can be recycled in paper streams, are ocean compostable, and don't harm fish.

Maine State Aquarium to reopen after 4 years

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 24, 2024

After a four-year closure and substantial renovations, the Maine State Aquarium will reopen to the public Wednesday during Boothbay Harbor’s Windjammer Days Festival. It will remain open through Labor Day, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays. The state-run aquarium closed in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and has remained shuttered while undergoing nearly $1.1 million in renovations. Renovations include two new 1,300-gallon ecosystem tanks that are designed to look like the rocky coasts of Boothbay and Burnt Island and interactive exhibits that highlight the state’s efforts to protect and manage resources in the Gulf of Maine.

Sebago Lake Loon Count coming up next month

LAKES REGION WEEKLY • June 24, 2021

About 50 people are expected to take to Sebago Lake for a half hour on July 20 from 7 to 7:30 a.m. for Maine Audubon’s 41st Annual Loon Count on Sebago Lake. In 2022, the counters reported 32 adult loons and a single chick. Last year they counted 44 adult loons. About 1,600 volunteers are expected to participate in the July 20 Loon Count on ponds and lakes statewide.

Catch-and-release purists are using flawed logic

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 24, 2024

Preserving a fishery for the next generations is not as simple as catch and release. That practice can have the opposite effect, causing an imbalance between food and population that results in skinny, unhealthy fish or allowing the non-native species — however they got there — to thrive over the natives in a body of water. Catch and release practices were part of Sebago’s problems, but in other lakes and ponds, that method saves the fishery. That’s true especially where there are native species like Maine’s iconic brook trout or Arctic charr. Educating ourselves about our favorite fishing holes and choosing to do the best thing for that place is really a better approach than all or nothing. Catch and release may or may not be the right choice.

Birds and farmers struggle to share the same hayfields

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 24, 2024

Grassland birds likely became widespread in Maine when people cleared forests into fields during the 19th century. Bird habitat is shrinking as fields fall out of farm use, become woods again or turn into developments. Fifty years ago, Maine hay was typically cut once or twice; it is now harvested two or three times a season if weather allows. For some farmers, even incentive payments can’t make delayed mowing work, although most want to help the birds. Grassland birds have lost more habitat in the United States since 1970 than any other type. Different management approaches work for different farmers. In an ideal world, said Noah Perlut, a professor and bird researcher at the University of New England, all of the farmer incentive programs would work this way — a kickstart to find bird-friendly practices that work financially.

The transformation of a toxic site into stores and homes

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 24, 2024

Brownfield redevelopment is occurring throughout Maine and the United States on sites with likely environmental contamination that can be cleaned up with federal and private funding. As brownfields are remediated, the cleaned site can breathe new life into a town by adding much-needed housing and retail space. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has identified more than 525 brownfields in the state in various stages of remediation. But there likely are more sites that could qualify. Every $1 it spends to remediate brownfields yields up to $20 in economic benefits.

On Peaks Island’s back shore, residents and tourists are divided over rock sculptures

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • June 23, 2024

On the rocky back shore of Peaks Island lies a small beach where, for at least a decade, likely longer, people have stacked the shore’s flat, shale rocks into towers that teeter over the landscape. The structures are knocked down often, either by high tides or by other people, and are quickly replaced. They have become so ubiquitous that at some point, the area became known as Cairn Beach. But for years, islanders have debated whether the cairns should exist. Some said the cairns disrupt the back shore’s ecosystem and pristine beauty, while others contended that building cairns is a fun and relatively sustainable activity. 

Seasonal home sales grow in Maine

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • June 23, 2024

Maine, which has the highest percentage of second homes in the country. More than one-fifth of the state’s homes are unoccupied at a given time, according to federal data, and almost 75% of those are empty because of vacation or recreational use, rather than abandonment. Home watching is a job that is increasing in popularity in Maine as the luxury second-home real estate market has taken off and waterfront homeowners are growing concerned about the impacts of worsening storms.

Column: Pleasant Lake in Stetson puts the perfect in a June day

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • June 23, 2024

East of Newport lies the town of Stetson – home of Pleasant Lake and in the early 1900s the home of the largest oxen team in the world. We recently enjoyed a four-hour exploration of the western half of the 3-mile long lake. A winding mile-long channel leads out from the outlet dam into the open lake. On the southern side of the channel sits a 100-acre wooded peninsula known as the Cape. The Hewitt family graciously gifted the land in 2010 to create the Pleasant Lake Preserve. ~ Michael Perry

Editorial: Maine’s PFAS crisis demands change of approach

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • June 23, 2024

The state of Maine has a duty to mitigate PFAS in the drinking water of the households affected by sludge contamination. Maine has invested about $100 million in its response to PFAS in the past two years. State assistance to people affected has involved providing bottled water to drink; covering payments for new connections to alternative water sources; and the installation and maintenance of often-costly water filtration systems. But far, far more is going to have to be poured into this crisis.

Letter: Wind power key to fighting climate change

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • June 23, 2024

Our climate is heating up. It’s not just the heat taxing our health and infrastructure; with changing temperatures come extreme storms. I recently watched FEMA make their way up and down my road on the coast, taking stock of the damage from the January storms. A warming climate threatens us all. It drives sea life to new waters, hurts our elders and children, and causes economic damage. Now’s the time to mitigate the damage. Transition to clean, sustainable, offshore wind power – electrical generation by Mainers, for Mainers. Wind power on Sears Island will provide good union jobs to our hard-hit Midcoast while acting as a tool in the fight to control the climate disaster created by fossil fuels. ~ Jennifer Reynolds, Jonesport

As Worcester Holdings sprays pines with pesticide, Addison residents call for moratorium

MAINE MONITOR • June 22, 2024

On June 10, the Columbia Falls-based Worcester Holdings notified nearby Addison residents the company would spray imidacloprid over 190 acres of its forest this summer to control balsam gall midge and woolly adelgid. Residents were alarmed about the threat to wildlife, humans and the environment. Many of the 11,000+ pesticides registered for use in Maine are potentially harmful. Despite Worcester Holdings’ record of violations, the company appears to be following protocol. So are five of the state’s leading conservation organizations. The Nature Conservancy, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, Friends of Acadia, Mount Desert Land & Garden Preserve, and Kennebec Estuary Land Trust have licensed pesticide applicators on staff. “It would be irresponsible if we called ourselves conservation landowners to let invasive plants spread unchecked over the lands we’ve conserved because they greatly diminish ecological value,” said Amanda Devine, director of stewardship for MCHT.

Heat wave gives Maine a sneak peek at summers of the future

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 22, 2024

Maine summers are indeed getting hotter. And the state, which has more experience dealing with extreme cold than extreme heat, finds itself unprepared. Portland summers are 2.4 degrees warmer than in 1970, with two additional weeks of abnormally hot weather. Last week’s record-setting heat wave offers a sneak peek at future summers in Maine if we don’t cut the global emissions that are changing the climate. Average summer temperatures would be up to 4 degrees hotter by 2050 and almost 9 degrees hotter by 2100.