Farms in central and western Maine at or near peak for summer growing season

SUN JOURNAL • July 21, 2024

It’s been hotter and more humid than usual in Maine so far this summer, after a cool start. The combination is having a mostly positive effect on the region’s agriculture sector with larger fruit and produce and bigger yields. “From a weather perspective, this year is almost as good as we could have it,” said Jason Lilley, assistant extension professor of sustainable agriculture and maple industry educator with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. The heat and humidity are having some negative impacts as well — stressing animals, trees, plants and humans working in the fields.

In Cape Elizabeth, art is the key to preserving open spaces

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • July 21, 2024

Dozens of juried painters from across Maine and well beyond set up their easels in scenic spots across Cape Elizabeth one weekend each June. On Sunday afternoon, when the paintings are barely dry, each piece is auctioned at the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust’s Paint for Preservation fundraiser. Four hundred people attended the 17th annual auction June 23 and bid on the work of 31 artists to raise over $100,000 for land conservation, stewardship and environmental education. Cape Elizabeth Land Trust has preserved 844 acres on 32 parcels, with the goals of protecting wildlife habitat, saving spaces for recreation and farming, and contributing to climate resiliency.

New commuter bus service between Portland, Lewiston-Auburn starts Monday

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • July 21, 2024

The LAP, a new commuter bus service between Lewiston-Auburn and Portland, will begin operating Monday, the Maine Department of Transportation announced. The pilot bus service will include several runs daily from 4:30 a.m. to midnight Monday through Friday and from 6 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. on weekends. The pilot bus service will operate for at least two years and serve as an indicator of the latent demand and potential market for enhanced public transportation between Portland and Lewiston-Auburn. The new service is expected to attract some of the hundreds of workers who are traveling that route daily.

Column: Digital photography allows for closer study of rare birds

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • July 21, 2024

One of the coolest trends with modern birding, which has really come thanks to advances in digital photography, is the ability to match photos of known individuals between locations. When a rare bird is seen in two different areas, historically we would have only been able to guess that it was one individual, or would have assumed they were two different birds. Our detection rate of rare birds must be incredibly low, well below 1% of all the vagrants that occur. Now, with really good digital cameras becoming more prevalent, we often end up with hundreds of photos of a single rare bird, capturing all angles and many feather details. ~ Doug Hitchcox, Maine Audubon

Column: Plenty of outdoor adventure available at Burnt Meadow Pond

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • July 21, 2024

If you have ever wanted to experience a triathlon, we have an “unofficial” one for you centering on, in, and above 69-acre Burnt Meadow Pond in Brownfield. Paddle one loop, or five, on the pond, swim as long as you want in the refreshing water, and cap it off with a 1.2-mile hike up to the top of 1,575-foot Burnt Meadow Mountain via the North Peak Trail. This small pond features impressive views straight up the northeastern flanks of Burnt Meadow Mountain. In October 1947, the year when Maine burned, Brownfield was one of the epicenters of devastation, with 21,000 acres burned in town. Years later, to bolster an economy that had been devastated by the fire, Brownfield investors built a ski area on the north slope of Burnt Meadow Mountain. It operated intermittently from 1972 to 1982. The forest has covered up most of the traces of the operation. ~ Michael Perry

Column: What are Maine’s lakes worth to you?

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • July 21, 2024

Maine is home to thousands of freshwater lakes and ponds, offering outdoor recreation opportunities for hundreds of thousands of boaters, anglers, birders and swimmers. Maine’s lakes and their surrounding riparian areas support 70% of Maine’s wildlife at different stages in their life cycles, including fish, turtles, bats, minks, amphibians and pollinators, as well as two of Maine’s most iconic species: moose and loons. Maine’s lakes support public health, too, supplying roughly half of all Mainers with drinking water. Researchers from UMaine estimate the total value of Maine’s lakes to be a $14.1 billion – with an additional $3 billion in direct and indirect expenditures for lake-related activities each year. If you love Maine’s lakes and want to help protect them for generations to come, why not join a local, regional or state lake organization? ~ Susan Gallo, executive director, Maine Lakes

Opinion: From skeptical to sold – our electric road trip across New England

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • July 21, 2024

My wife and I were early adopters of electric vehicles, becoming proud owners of one of the first Chevy Bolts available in Colorado back in 2016. Fast-forward to this past year, a move to Portland, the sale of the Bolt and a trade-in of the SUV for a new electric car, our only vehicle. A looming wedding invitation in New York state sparked a touch of nervousness. Could our new Hyundai Ioniq 6 handle the journey entirely on electric power? Our worries were unfounded. There’s a lot of negativity surrounding electric vehicles, particularly regarding limited charging infrastructure and long waits. However, our experience paints a completely different picture. Compared to our days in Colorado, where vast open spaces often meant limited charging options, New England’s concentrated population centers boast a network of readily available charging stations. ~ Joe Peraino, PhD, Portland

Column: Things you probably don’t know about Maine’s wild blueberries

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 21, 2024

Blueberries like acidic soil, which is fortunate for us, because that’s what Maine has. Over 90 percent of Maine wild blueberries are flash frozen at the peak of flavor within hours of harvest. Wild blueberries contain twice the antioxidants, that much of the flavor is in the skins, and that cultivated blueberries are larger in part because they contain more water. growers have learned how to reduce the use of chemicals, through a system called integrated pest management. Fields are constantly monitored for pests, and many outbreaks are prevented merely by adjusting harvest dates and mowing schedules. Maine blueberries. Yes, in fact, they are the best. ~ Bob Duchesne

This water bird nests in trees

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 21, 2024

The green heron is not as big as some other heron species, such as the great blue seen commonly in Maine’s marshes. This bird is about the size of a crow, mallard duck or herring gull. It lives near lakes, ponds, marshes, swamps and streams, but is most often found near small ponds. It builds its nests — generally a platform of sticks with other material added — in a variety of places including willow thickets, mangroves, dry woods and open marshes, usually from 5 to 30 feet off the ground, often near the water. It generally is a more southern species but has been creeping ever northward as temperatures warm with climate change.

Maine spent decades trying to stop the spread of Japanese beetles. It failed.

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 21, 2024

The state may be facing its biggest beetle population yet this summer, but for decades Maine fought them with uniformed inspectors, quarantines, now-banned chemicals and even other insects. It was a war with high economic stakes, fraud cases and airplane stowaways that took on moral dimensions for some at its forefront. The beetles first appeared in the BDN in a 1923 wire report titled “Plant pests that cost billions: Government loses more by predacious bugs and blights than by bootleggers.” Control options are limited even today — most people knock them into soapy water, or attempt to establish nematode populations — and Mainers have struggled to find solutions since the beginning. Maine is resigned to the presence of Japanese beetles, but the war goes on at home.

Two rescues in 2 days in Franklin, Oxford counties

SUN JOURNAL • July 20, 2024

Western Maine first responders were busy Friday and Saturday with a pair of rescues, one an injured hiker in Bigelow Preserve in Franklin County and another suffering from a medical episode on Streaked Mountain in Oxford County.

Possible shark sightings reported off Cape Elizabeth beach

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 20, 2024

Possible shark sightings were reported off Crescent Beach State Park in Cape Elizabeth on Thursday and Friday. A commercial fisherman reported seeing a shark Thursday by the breakwater near Richmond Island. On Friday morning, two paddleboarders reported seeing a shark near the mooring field in Seal Cove. “Following protocol, Crescent Beach lifeguards cleared the swim area for one hour after the reported sighting.”

L/A RiverFest 2024 wraps up with a regatta on the Androscoggin River

SUN JOURNAL • July 20, 2024

The L/A RiverFest wrapped up its two-day celebration of the Androscoggin River with a regatta Saturday at Simard-Payne Memorial Park. Seventeen teams took to the Androscoggin as drums were heard by the docks. Thuds reached all the way to the John T. Jenkins Memorial Bridge that links the Twin Cities together above the river. In the afternoon, folks with different types of vessels were able to hop on the water and cruise the Androscoggin. Festival organizers said that the L/A RiverFest is set to return next summer with even more water fun.

How to get the most out of hiking Maine’s Monhegan Island

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 20, 2024

Many people visit Monhegan to hike and enjoy nature. In fact, the majority of the island is wilderness, explorable by a network of well-kept trails. Nearly 400 acres are owned by Monhegan Associated Inc., which is one of the first land trusts on the East Coast. Established in 1954, it manages about nine miles of hiking trails that fan out from the village and thread through the woods to visit towering ocean cliffs on the island’s eastern side. Monhegan is an excellent place for birding. The island attracts birding groups from all over in the spring and fall to spot a variety of species as they migrate. If interested to learn more, the book “The Birds of Monhegan” by Brett M. Ewald records 336 species of birds that have been seen on Monhegan.

Here’s what Maine Audubon learned from decades of loon counts

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 20, 2024

The No. 1 killer of Maine’s most iconic summer bird is boat strikes for the first time ever, pushing lead fishing tackle down to No. 2. Waves from the wakes of boats, which are more numerous than ever on lakes and ponds, can flood out nests, and development and the effects of climate change continue to pose challenges. But in spite of the human-made dangers they navigate, the state’s common loon population has nearly doubled in the last 40 years in southern Maine, said Hannah Young, the Maine Audubon Society’s loon count coordinator.

Why the Bubbles are among Acadia’s most iconic mountains

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 20, 2024

The Bubbles — North Bubble and South Bubble — are popular hiking destinations because they feature open granite ledges that offer amazing views of the park. In addition, South Bubble is home to Bubble Rock, a large, round boulder that’s perched on the edge of a ledge. It looks as if it might tumble down the slope at any moment. Yet it has sat there for thousands of years.

L/A RiverFest 2024: Celebrating the Androscoggin River

SUN JOURNAL • July 19, 2024

This year’s Lewiston Auburn RiverFest kicked into high gear Friday morning at the start of the two-day event. Many were glad to see the Androscoggin River back in its full glory. Jim Boulet, a lifelong Lewiston resident, said he was excited that the festival was advocating for recreation with a clean Androscoggin.

State will decide on Juniper Ridge public benefit by August

MAINE MONITOR • July 19, 2024

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection will decide by August 23 whether a proposed expansion of the state’s largest landfill would provide a substantial benefit to the public, a required step before the landfill’s manager, the state’s Bureau of General Services, can apply to increase the capacity of the facility. If approved, the expansion will add 11 years to the operating capacity of Juniper Ridge, which takes in roughly half of the state’s waste, and add 61 acres to its footprint. Without the expansion, Juniper Ridge will run out of room by early 2028. Expanding the landfill, said Old Town resident Ed Spencer, “might partially benefit most Mainers, but it certainly will have negative environmental quality impacts for local humans. This is a sacrifice.”

Project 2025 calls for the repeal of the Antiquities Act

STATES NEWSROOM • July 19, 2024

The “conservative” Project 2025 initiative calls for the repeal of the Antiquities Act, established to safeguard some of America’s most iconic public lands. Published by the Heritage Foundation, Project 2025 is a manifesto describing the policies that a new Republican administration could enact. National parks like the Grand Canyon, Grand Teton and four of Utah’s Big Five — Arches, Capitol Reef, Zion and Bryce Canyon — all started as national monuments, designated by a president who used the Antiquities Act. Katahdin Woods & Waters National Monument in Maine was also created by use of the the Antiquities Act. Since 1906, the act has been used over 300 times to set aside millions of acres of land for all Americans. Regardless of political affiliation, public lands have broad support even among voters in the West. 

Grants available for wilderness projects

MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • July 19, 2024

Through its Wildlands Partnership, Northeast Wilderness Trust is joining forces with local land trusts to protect more wilderness across the Northeast. Eligible land trusts can apply for financial support from the Wilderness Trust to help cover associated project costs. Partners may also apply to enroll in NEWT’s Wildlands Carbon program and earn additional revenue. Since its inception in 2020, five partner land trusts across three states have participated in the Wildlands Partnership to safeguard almost 9,000 forever-wild acres. The Partnership’s second phase, launched in 2023, was a resounding success: seven partner land trusts are working with NEWT to protect additional acres of wildlands this year. Building on Phase II’s momentum, the Wilderness Trust is pleased to open applications for Phase III of the Partnership.