Midcoast artists reckon with climate change

TIMES RECORD • July 17, 2024

Midcoast artists are grappling with the uncertainty of the present as the environmental crisis escalates. Mary McKone, a ceramic artist in Georgetown, and Jöel Levasseur, a multimedia artist in Damariscotta, wonder how art should address climate change. In their current exhibitions, they show that hope, while it may be around the corner, is not yet grasped. McKone’s new exhibition, “Come to the Table,” and her ongoing Maine Endangered Species Series emphasize that saving the planet is not just up for political debate but creative banter, too. Similarly, LeVasseur’s latest fixation with mark-making points to the dooming reality that art cannot save us.

5,000 forested acres to be protected in Hancock County

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 17, 2024

More than 5,000 acres of forest in the northernmost section of Hancock County will now be permanently protected through a conservation easement. The newly conserved parcels include Eagle Lake in Township 34 MD, which is the headwaters for three different rivers — the Union, Passadumkeag and Narraguagus — that offer critical habitat for endangered Atlantic salmon, according to the Forest Society of Maine. The land is also culturally important for the Wabanaki Nations. The land will continue to be owned by the Dysart family and managed for logging, while also publicly accessible for hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, ATVing and other recreational uses.

Spanish energy giant Iberdrola seeks full control of CMP parent

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 17, 2024

Maine regulators are scrutinizing a Spanish energy giant’s agreement to buy the parent company of Central Maine Power Co. as they consider whether to approve the $2.5 billion deal. Iberdrola is seeking to purchase the remaining 18.4% of shares of Avangrid Inc., CMP’s parent. Avangrid, a publicly traded company, would become privately held, exempt from disclosing detailed reports on transactions and its financial performance. Iberdrola’s move raises the issue of foreign ownership that figured prominently in last year’s unsuccessful campaign to replace CMP and Versant Power with a publicly owned and controlled utility. CMP serves more than 636,000 electricity customers in Maine.

How this group plans to rebuild Maine’s fiber economy and soil

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 17, 2024

A small Maine volunteer group has big plans to rebuild a regional industry in a way they believe will also benefit the environment, particularly soil, and human health. To make it happen, the Maine Fibershed plans this year to found chapters in each county, work with local groups and research new uses for wool, adapting a national model as they go. Farmers, for these purposes, include people who raise fiber animals, plant fiber producers and those who grow plants for dye. In Maine, where fiber is mostly a small-scale industry, some farmers ship raw products as far away as the Midwest and even Utah for the expensive processing they need to make it to market.

Column: Paddlers navigate windy Quahog Bay in Maine’s midcoast

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 17, 2024

Situated in the middle and south of the horseshoe-shaped Sebascodegan Great Island, Quahog Bay offers paddlers opportunities to explore a multitude of islands and inlets. A circumnavigation of substantial Yarmouth Island is often an option. ~ Ron Chase

Topsham invites residents to participate in upcoming climate action workshop

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.

Waterford World’s Fair combines old-fashioned fun with agricultural education

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.

Online booking alerts now offered for busy Acadia National Park

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.

Auburn and Lewiston ready to make a splash at 2-day L-A Riverfest

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.

Pest predictor i-Tree will help identify harmful nonnative insects

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.

Bucksport dam owner says it will petition to give up ownership

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.

UMaine creating $4.5 million Food Innovation Lab

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.

Column: Life is better on the Kancamagus — where the phone doesn’t work

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

Letter: Newest beach case is not about walking

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

"As Far As One Can See" At Katahdin Woods And Waters National Monument

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 pilots technology to reduce impact on climate change

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.

Father and daughter help rescue porpoise in Lowell’s Cove

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.”

Opinion: In a world of climate doom, incredible progress is being made

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

Opinion: A Trump victory will be a climate catastrophe

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

Injured hiker rescued from Chick Hill in Clifton

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.