The most comprehensive online source of conservation news and events in Maine and beyond, edited by Jym St. Pierre
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 2, 2024
Vandals caused several hundred thousand dollars in damage at a New Gloucester solar farm on Sunday night. At least two people used construction machinery on site at Novel Energy Solutions Solar Farm to damage the installation.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 2, 2024
Offshore wind is one of the biggest economic opportunities Maine has ever seen, even without considering its tremendous potential to meaningfully address climate change. The $456 million port proposal announced by the Maine Department of Transportation would be the largest ever federal investment in Maine, and would create long-term economic growth for Maine and thousands of quality clean energy jobs. The June 13 column in the Bangor Daily News by Matthew Burns of Maine Port Authority shows that the choice is not as simple as Sprague would have us believe. Let’s see what the environmental analysis has to say before jumping to conclusions on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Maine. ~ Stephen Moriarty, West Bath
MAINE PUBLIC • July 1, 2024
Maine's combined sewer systems released 745 million gallons of untreated sewage and storm water into the waterways last year. It's an increase of 244% compared to 2022 according to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection report. Many sewer systems in Maine use the same pipes to transport raw sewage and runoff collected from storm drains to water treatment facilities. Heavy rain events like the rainstorms seen last year can fill these combined sewers systems to capacity with wastewater. To prevent sewage from overflowing into homes, the pipes discharge the untreated wastewater into nearby waterways. There are 31 communities in Maine that use combined sewer systems — including Portland, which accounted for more than half of the state’s total overflow. More modern sewer systems use separate pipes so that only stormwater gets released during storm-related overflows.
MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • June 30, 2024
A fungus that kills browntail moth caterpillars appears to have knocked back populations of the perennial pest in portions of Maine this spring, providing a reprieve from the annual suffering caused by the tiny hairs they release into the air. But it’s too early to know whether the fungus will help spur a statewide population collapse of the forest pest or if this is the start of a prolonged break in the yearslong infestation that has spread along the coast and inland.
SUN JOURNAL • June 30, 2024
Despite dams blocking their path up the Kennebec River, a growing number of endangered Atlantic salmon have made their way to the cold-water habitat of the Sandy River to spawn each fall. But that habitat of braided channels in the South Branch of the Sandy River was destroyed following a December flood when town officials brought in excavators and other large equipment and dredged a large section of the river. Thousands of salmon eggs and juveniles were destroyed due to the dredging that turned the branch with numerous channels into a “canal.” The Maine Department of Environmental Protection is investigating the town for destroying the delicate habitat.
MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • June 30, 2024
Natural grasslands in Maine have always been fairly limited in extent. These grasslands are home to a suite of species including upland sandpiper, grasshopper sparrow, Savannah sparrow, vesper sparrow and bobolink. Unfortunately, all these species are in serious decline. Over 60% of native grasslands in the country have been lost over the years to agricultural development and the encroachment of abutting forests. Native grasslands close to agricultural fields can be affected by pesticide application on the farms. There is a tension between farmers and birders because farmers need to cut their fields during the bird nesting season. ~ Herb Wilson
MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • June 30, 2024
It is important that governments protect us from the horrifying and costly effects of our warming climate and make storm relief available to Maine residents as quickly as possible after an extreme event. More important, all levels of government must concede that climate action is urgently needed to halt the cause of global warming and move as quickly as possible to aid the transition to clean energy. Most important is passage of effective, federal climate legislation that halts the continuing rise in global average temperatures: an economywide plan to phase out the burning of fossil fuels. Be an informed voter. ~ Dorothy Jones, Brunswick
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 30, 2024
Sebago Lake is one of four lakes in Maine that had indigenous wild strains of Atlantic salmon. Now it has the largest and most robust population, and possibly the only nearly self-sustaining one of the four. One of the major tributaries, the Crooked River, until recently had a 200-plus-year-old dam on it, but it also represents more than 80 percent of the Sebago salmon’s spawning grounds. The Edes Falls dam was in the way of more progress in the state’s efforts to restore the Sebago watershed fishery. Since its removal the river is back to its original state for the salmon, the salmon are doing well in the lake and there are a lot of the fish in the 62-mile-long Crooked River.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 29, 2024
Little Whaleboat Island in northern Casco Bay is a special place. Actually a trio of small islands and ledges named Little Whaleboat (West), Nate and Tuck, they’re connected at low tide. I’ve been visiting them since I began sea kayaking a couple of decades ago. The reason is simple — it’s a beautiful location easily reached by launching from Mere Point in Brunswick or Lookout Point and Mitchell Field in Harpswell. ~ Ron Chase
SUN JOURNAL • June 30, 2024
Every year more than 70,000 aspiring Maine moose hunters submit an application to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to have their names placed in an electronic barrel in hopes of being drawn for a fall moose hunting permit. A tad over 4,000 permits are drawn and issued. So, the odds are formidable: about 95% of those entering do not get drawn. Maine’s annual moose hunt continues to be one of the most coveted big game hunts in the country. ~ V. Paul Reynolds
MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • May 30, 2024
See the premiere of a beautiful new wildlife film by Lee Ann Szelog and Thomas Mark Szelog. Touted as a quiet film, a Peace of Forest is a one-of-a-kind cinematic adventure, allowing viewers to experience a wild, peaceful and mysterious world that is filled with complex relationships and ways of wonder. A Peace of Forest celebrates the beauty and intimacy of wildlife in Maine with surprising, tender and exquisite interactions of wildlife during undisturbed moments in Maine’s natural world. At Lincoln Theater, Damariscotta, June 30, 2 pm. Tickets for adults $20, Lincoln Theater members $15, youth 18 and under $5.
MAINE MONITOR • June 28, 2024
A new analysis by the nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists finds that at least 20 to 30 pieces of “critical infrastructure” in Maine will face frequent, disruptive tidal flooding in the coming years and decades. Even in an optimistic climate change scenario, three Maine Superfund sites and two brownfields are at risk of flooding every other week by 2030, which could spread dangerous contaminants. With sea level rise accelerating in Maine, according to the state Geological Survey, the new study describes looming deadlines for action in coastal communities that depend on the buildings most at risk.
MORNING SENTINEL • June 28, 2024
Charlie Martin is trying to resurrect an old mill that’s been vacant for more than a decade and turn it into a plywood factory. When it opens, Maine Plywood USA is expected to employ about 110 people. It would be the only plywood manufacturer in New England, and the only one in North America making its specific product. And it could expand domestic manufacturing of a product that today is largely imported from Asia. Through millions of dollars in investments — a combination of his own savings and support from several state and regional public-private partnerships — Martin has pieced together most of the equipment he needs to open the plant.
MAINE PUBLIC • June 28, 2024
The federal government is awarding Maine more than $23 million to buy electric buses and charging equipment for the company that operates the propane-powered Island Explorer buses at Acadia National Park and other locations on Mount Desert Island. Downeast Transportation Executive Director Paul Murphy says the buses should improve the air quality on the island. "Comparing to fossil fuel buses, they are dramatically cleaner and they're also quieter and they don't smell as bad as fossil fuel buses, although propane is pretty clean."
MORNING SENTINEL • June 28, 2024
Plans to prevent algae blooms in China Lake are underway after the town secured thousands of dollars in federal grants this week. Local volunteers aim to raise China Lake’s water quality by reversing shoreline erosion and replanting vegetation near the lake. The more than $100,000 in funding from the federal Environmental Protection Agency will be used in the decadeslong push to stop the algae blooms.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 28, 2024
Earlier this week, the city of South Portland conducted a design charrette over a hypothetical development plan for a portion of Ferry Village nestled between the crude oil tanks of Portland Pipeline and the Coast Guard station. The folly of contemplating new development in flood-prone areas in the face of rapidly rising seas seemed obvious. Developers may garnish their projects with green technology and engineering, attempting to safeguard their own high-end constructions. Meanwhile, the world burns and floods as the flow of capital that motivates development mostly translates to consumptive lifestyles at the very top that are themselves the drivers of climate change. ~ Eben Rose, geologist and former South Portland city councilor
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 28, 2024
You’re better off biking in New York City than Portland, Maine. There are bike paths on every avenue and street. The bike path along the Hudson River, from one end of the island to the other, is a site to behold. Beautiful plantings, landscaped parks, benches, clean bathrooms and water fountains are all along the dedicated paths for bikers and pedestrians. It’s easy to get from point A to point B in NYC on a bike. It makes no sense that at least Congress Street, the main thoroughfare through downtown Portland, has no dedicated lane for biking. Carbon neutral? ~ Claire Oppenheim, Portland
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 28, 2024
Stonington introduced a new event last week, Puffin Passages, which featured talks, tours and an Atlantic puffin-themed cocktail party. The idea was to experiment with a small multi-day event ,which could become a full-fledged Stonington Puffin Festival next year. The event succeeded, mostly. The highlight was three puffin cruises to Seal Island. On the way back to port, we learned about yet another human-caused threat to sea life. Capt. Garrett Aldrich slowed and spun the boat around. He idled over to a mylar balloon floating on the water, and deftly pulled it out with a gaff hook. Balloons kill. During a season of graduation parties, parades and fairs, here’s a simple rule for releasing balloons. Don’t. ~ Bob Duchesne
MAINE MORNING STAR • June 27, 2024
Gov. Janet Mills spoke at a Democratic watch party for the first presidential debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. The governor criticized Trump for deploying what she called mudslinging, name calling and “just so many fibs.” Mills highlighted how the Biden administration assisted Maine on a range of issues, including climate change, health care and education. “The Biden administration is helping us fight PFAS, fight the rising seas and the terrible storms we’ve encountered,” Mills said, referring to the eight disaster declarations she’s requested over the past two years. “It was quite a change in tone and change in level of assistance when President Biden came into office.”
BOB DUCHESNE • June 23, 2024
Identifying sparrows is a challenge for beginning birders. But there is one trick that makes it easier. To look at sparrows, know where to look.
