The most comprehensive online source of conservation news and events in Maine and beyond, edited by Jym St. Pierre
TIMES RECORD • July 16, 2024
The Topsham Energy Committee is hosting a workshop July 30 for residents to participate and hear ideas on what the town's Climate Action Plan will look like moving forward. The workshop t is a follow-up to the over 250 responses to the Topsham Climate Action Plan Survey, which closed in May.
SUN JOURNAL • July 16, 2024
The Waterford World’s Fair can trace its roots back to 1852. While the fair still promises its good old-fashioneded fun, it also has the added mission of educating others about agriculture – whether its teaching folks the latest farming trends or highlighting the area’s rich agricultural heritage.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 16, 2024
A new online alert system is being piloted to help visitors to Acadia National Park find and book available campsites, vehicle reservations and other activities offered through recreation.com. The website is the centralized travel planning platform and reservation system for nine federal agencies, including the National Park Service. Acadia National Park welcomed 3.9 million travelers in 2023.
SUN JOURNAL • July 16, 2024
The L/A Riverfest is set to make a big splash again this year. The fun kicks off Friday at Simard-Payne Memorial Park, where all activities will be held. Shanna Cox, president and CEO of the LA Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, said the guided paddle tours are a great way to see “the city skyline from the river” and “to explore the canals” while learning about the history of the Twin Cities. She stressed, however, that the tours are not the only opportunity to explore the Androscoggin River and see Lewiston and Auburn from a new perspective. Since the festival is offering canoe rentals starting at 10 a.m., folks can paddle on the river all day Friday — whether they own a boat or not.
SUN JOURNAL • July 16, 2024
As nonnative insects continue to surge in numbers, i-Tree pest predictor could predict the next species to become a pest before it arrives in Maine. University of Maine’s Angela Mech is an expert on invasive forest insects. As a researcher, Mech has led the effort to create the tool. Eighteen other experts have contributed to the databases that inform i-Tree’s predictions. The i-Tree pest predictor is available at pestpredictor.itreetools.org/predictions.
MAINE PUBLIC • July 16, 2024
The owner of the former Bucksport paper mill is asking the Department of Environmental Protection to release the company from ownership of three dams in the area. Bucksport Mill LLC currently owns the dams that impound Silver Lake, Toddy Pond and Alamoosook Lake. Although the company has filed a notice of intent, a spokesperson for the DEP today said the department has not received a formal petition. Under state law, the petition must be accepted by the department, which will then assess any potential new owners and consider if the state should take ownership of the dams.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 16, 2024
The University of Maine will spend $4.5 million in state and federal funds to create the UMaine Food Innovation Lab to support the state’s growing food and beverage manufacturing sectors on the Orono campus. “This facility will provide support to Maine’s food entrepreneurs through its proximity to research, education and expertise that is critical to grow Maine’s food businesses,” said Hannah Carter, dean of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension.
SUN JOURNAL • July 16, 2024
Every step along the Kancamagus Highway that weaves through the White Mountains of New Hampshire seems jampacked with beauty and mystery a million years in the making. More mountains, more distance and more of that sweet song of nature. I was feeling like Henry David Thoreau all drunk on nature, but man, there was so much more to see. It occurred to me that I don’t get out into real nature nearly often enough. And all at once I seemed to have full understanding of all you fine people who head out into the wilderness every chance you get. But alas, it was the end of the weekend and obligations at work wouldn’t afford me any more time in the mountains. We headed for home again and the very minute we rolled back into Lewiston, instead of that ancient corner of my brain lighting up, it was my revived phone. I’d rather be back on the Kancamagus. ~ Mark LaFlamme
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 16, 2024
In a recent opinion piece in Working Waterfront, Richard Qualey argued that the Maine intertidal zone between high and low tide should be universally accessible to the public. Focusing attention on beach access is a distraction from the plaintiffs’ desire to have unfettered commercial access to Maine’s underwater rockweed forest, an essential habitat for hundreds of small animals and numerous marine species that are the basis of our fisheries. The law, which has held since 1647, is that the intertidal zone is privately owned but subject to public trust rights to fishing, fowling, and navigating. Rather than supporting Maine’s fishing industry, commercial extraction of this seaweed severely alters the nursery formed by the rockweed forest that is a habitat for many of Maine’s commercial fisheries. I hope the Maine Judicial Supreme Court declines to overturn a unanimous decision the court made only five years ago, for the good of Maine’s commercial fisheries and all the statewide economic activity that our fisheries generate. ~ David Porter, The Blue Hill Peninsula Rockweed Forum, Brooklin
NATIONAL PARKS TRAVELER • July 16, 2024
As a relatively new national monument, resources that attract visitors to Katahdin Woods and Waters and educate them on how to safely navigate it are minimal. To bolster accessibility to and excitement for the monument, the Elliotsville Foundation launched the development of a new visitors’ center — one with unique architecture that harmonizes with the landscape and showcases its rich history. After five years of planning, fundraising, and construction, the Tekαkαpimək Contact Station will be finished and open later this year.
BIDDEFORD-SACO-OOB COURIER • January 16, 2023
In 2022, Biddeford became the first municipality in Maine to implement DiriGoH20, a system developed by Maine-based engineering and manufacturing company, Maine Manufacturing Partners. The device is used at the Biddeford Pool clean water facility, and is powered by wastewater. During the treatment process, DiriGoH20 produces a naturally occurring disinfectant and generates clean hydrogen gas, which can be harnessed and used to offset energy costs at the plant. The natural chemicals can replace the use of harsh chemicals like chlorine in the water treatment process.
HARPSWELL ANCHOR • July 16, 2024
A porpoise had gotten stuck in the net of a fish weir when Edward and Georgeann Ackworth spotted it and called on their radio to the emergency channel. Marine Mammals of Maine contacted the Maine Marine Patrol, which was able to reach the fisherman who owns the fish weir. Fisherman Rob Bernat arrived in his skiff and cut the porpoise free. “He literally just sliced (the nets) right open with no concern about his own gear,” Harpswell Harbor Master Paul Plummer said. “He just ripped them open and got that porpoise free, which was really, really cool to see.”
TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY • July 16, 2024
The temptation to give in to climate doomerism can be strong, especially when we see new climate disasters every day and our political atmosphere feels almost as heated as our planet. While there is still much that needs to be done, we have been making incredible progress toward a clean energy future. It’s clear to me that our organizing, advocacy and activism have driven this progress. Our movement is succeeding — and we need to keep at it. Even though organizing, activism and advocacy work can be a hard grind, there’s no substitute for building people power. This work is what has made our movement successful and it’s the work that we must continue to invest in. ~ Flora Cardoni, PennEnvironment
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 16, 2024
The climate crisis is here and it is now. Two imperatives should be top of mind when we cast votes for President and Congress: first, we must ramp up the worldwide commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate destruction; second, the U.S. must be a leader. Recall the Biden Administration’s accomplishments. The Infrastructure Act and Inflation Reduction Act are inducing hundreds of billions of private investments – and creating thousands of high paying jobs – in renewable energy, battery storage, carbon capture, and electrical infrastructure. The United States rejoined the UN’s Paris Climate Agreement and has led in forging an ambitious methane reduction strategy and ramping-up clean energy assistance to low-income countries. Trump’s first term, in contrast, is remembered for global warming denial, coal industry support and “drill, drill, drill” cheerleading for oil and gas exploration. Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement. By defeating Trumpism, we can sustain climate progress – and hope for coming generations. ~ David Vail, professor of economics emeritus, Bowdoin College
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 16, 2024
An injured hiker was rescued from Chick Hill on Monday night. Rescuers were called to the mountain in Clifton about 7:30 p.m., according to the Eddington Fire Department. The hiker was stuck near the base of the Chick Hill cliffs with an ankle injury and couldn’t walk out.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 16, 2024
Bangor is getting closer to adding a pedestrian and bicycle pathway along 14th Street Extension, three years after the project was first developed. The 0.38-mile path will run along 14th Street Extension, beginning at Ohio Street and connect with the existing Kenduskeag Stream Trail. From there, pedestrians can follow the trail into downtown Bangor. The city has seen nine vehicle crashes involving pedestrians, one of which was fatal, so far this year. Statewide, more than 90 crashes involving pedestrians have happened this year, five of which were fatal. The idea for the pathway came from the Bicycle Coalition of Maine and Maine DOT’s Heads Up! Pedestrian Safety Initiative.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 16, 2024
Plants that conveniently fill out an ornamental garden can cause big headaches down the line, in part because of what makes them so successful at growing in your yard. One of those plants that could take over your garden is Bishop’s Weed, also known as goutweed or ground elder. The low-lying, quick-spreading plant widespread throughout Maine was sold by nurseries as a ground cover for years before it was classified as severely invasive. Bishop’s weed may irritate some people’s skin.
TIMES RECORD • July 15, 2024
The project director for the Kennebec Estuary Land Trust told those at a community gathering on July 10 that rising sea levels are threatening vulnerable species. “Sea level rise may drown marshes if protection methods aren’t taken quickly,” Ruth Indrick told those meeting at the Bath Freight Shed. “That’s where conservation comes into play.” KELT has observed lush stretches of cordgrass disappearing each year, slowly diminishing Maine’s salt marshes. The intertidal zone is crucial for nursing fish species, filtering pollutants and shielding the coast from flooding. It’s also home to the saltmarsh sparrow, a species the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife recently listed as endangered.
MAINE PUBLIC • July 15, 2024
A new program from southern Maine workforce development agencies plans to train hundreds of new workers for the clean energy industry. Green Jobs for ME is managed by the Coastal Counties Workforce Inc. and operated by Goodwill Northern New England. It is funded with a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. Goodwill's senior director of workforce services David Wurm said the program will target people who are underrepresented in construction and engineering occupations. The groups plan to train more than 300 workers over the five year program.
TIMES RECORD • July 15, 2024
Wabanaki people have developed their understanding of the environment through close observance of the changing landscape over time. As such, state and local land trusts have turned to Indigenous wisdom, looking to integrate ancient methods of stewardship into decision-making. Maulian (Dana) Bryant, tribal ambassador for the Penobscot Nation, was recently appointed co-chairperson of the Maine Climate Council Subcommittee on Equity, a new role she said focuses on incorporating Indigenous knowledge into state plans.
