A new law should stop Old Town landfill expansion, opponents say

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 1, 2024

Maine is on the verge of a trash crisis, as overall waste sent to landfills increased by 34 percent from 2018 to 2022. Juniper Ridge, a state-owned landfill in Old Town, has a capacity of 10 million cubic yards and accepts trash from dozens of municipalities across the state, as well as 25,000 tons of waste from out-of-state. At the current rate Juniper Ridge is accepting trash, it will run out of room in 2028. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection will decide by Aug. 23 if a proposed 11.9-million-cubic-yard expansion at Juniper Ridge will have a substantial public benefit. It is the first time environmental justice must be considered.

Buyers eager to live on Maine’s coast are scooping up homes to tear down

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 31, 2024

Many homes on the market right now demonstrate the price of admission to Maine’s desirable coastal enclaves, which has ballooned in recent years due to record low housing inventory coupled with sky-high demand for waterfront property. Midcoast properties were seeing price increases up to 40 and 50 percent each year, Julie Williams, broker-owner at ERA Dawson-Bradford Co., said. That led many to assume, years on from the pandemic-related real estate boom, that their property will sell for well over its market value. “Things have cooled off, we’re seeing increases in pricing closer to 3 to 6 percent, or even price decreases.”

#LoveMaineWaters: Coalition urges boaters to prevent marine debris

TIMES RECORD • July 31, 2024

The Maine Marine Trades Association has partnered with Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, Maine Island Trail Association and Friends of Casco Bay to bring awareness to boaters about keeping Maine waters free of debris. In addition to keeping debris out of the ocean, the coalition considered and discussed the need for better public information about responsible navigation around lobster gear and sea farms. Any vessel traveling with line cutters on their prop shaft has the potential to run over a buoy and accidentally cut a line attached to a trap or other gear. Sailboats also run a risk of snagging lobster gear lines in their rudders, keels, or props.

Jonesport fish farm makes headway after court denies appeal of the project's local permits

MAINE PUBLIC • July 31, 2024

A proposed land-based fish farm in Jonesport is closer to breaking ground after a court denied an appeal of the project’s local permits. Maine’s Business and Consumer Court rejected the appeal from project opponent Protect Downeast, which argued that the town’s Planning Board misinterpreted the local land use code when it approved the project. The group also claimed that the facility would degrade water quality. But Justice Thomas McKeon said that the Planning Board followed local ordinances and considered substantial evidence in its approval.

Maine CDC finds 6 cases of West Nile virus in birds; investigating 1 in a human

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 31, 2024

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting six cases of West Nile virus in birds, and also is investigating one case of the mosquito-borne disease in a person. The virus was detected in crows from Bangor, Bridgton, Fryeburg, Parsonsfield and Sidney. West Nile virus was also found in a hawk in Yarmouth. The last known human case of West Nile in Maine was in 2018.

Portland Adult Education to expand heat pump apprenticeship program

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 31, 2024

Portland Adult Education was awarded $416,179 to bolster its renewable energy pre-apprenticeship and bridge programs by adding heat-pump and thermal-focused trainings. The organization plans to use the funds to prepare up to 150 people for jobs in the clean energy industry.

New Leader Selected for Trust for Public Land

TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND • July 31, 2024

Carrie Besnette Hauser as the new president and CEO of Trust for Public Land (TPL). Dr. Hauser most recently served as president and CEO of Colorado Mountain College, a public, undergraduate institution with eleven campuses spread across Colorado’s central Rocky Mountains. Dr. Hauser’s background also includes executive leadership roles at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Daniels Fund, and Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education. She has served on numerous boards including the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission, Great Outdoors Colorado, and American Rivers. “We are thrilled to welcome Carrie as our next president and CEO,” said Lucas St. Clair, chair of TPL’s board of directors.

Letter: Wilton Fish and Game learns about effort to overturn new gun legislation

DAILY BULLDOG • July 31, 2024

Saying, “The government failed us,” David Trahan, executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, spoke to members of the Wilton Fish and Game Association, explaining flaws in recently passed gun control legislation and outlining a legal challenge to the 72-hour waiting period for gun purchases due to go into effect soon. Trahan said that SAM has joined forces with Gun Owners of Maine, the National Rifle Association, and an as yet unnamed fourth organization to raise money and mount a legal challenge to the 72-hour waiting period. ~ William Sampson, Wilton

Opinion: Climate-smart forestry can grow Maine’s bioeconomy

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 31, 2024

Looking to build markets and supply chains for climate-friendly forest products, the Biden administration just announced $418,420 for Maine’s Timber HP GO Lab to produce sustainable wood insulation. And the USDA’s Partnership for Climate Smart Commodities is aiming even higher, working with the New England Forestry Foundation to help the first commercial landowners pilot climate-smart forestry management on their working lands. Six landowners will receive incentives that support a range of climate-smart forestry practices designed to to show how owners of working lands can increase carbon storage while continuing to harvest climate-smart wood products and maintain revenues. ~ Andrea Colnes, New England Forestry Foundation

Kennebec Land Trust to host Celebration of Land Conservation

KENNEBEC JOURNAL • July 30, 2024

The Kennebec Land Trust is set to celebrate another successful year of advancing land conservation throughout the Kennebec River and Lakes Region. This year’s event will take place over three days, with opportunities to learn more about the organization’s recent conservation accomplishments, latest trail improvements, and upcoming projects, and to connect with KLT staff, board members and supporters. A Mount Pisgah hike is set for 6:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 12. The Howard Hill Hike will begin at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 13. The annual meeting is set for 5:30-7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 14, at Absolem Cider Company in Winthrop.

Wabanaki Nations can now gather sweetgrass at Acadia

MAINE PUBLIC • July 30, 2024

The Wabanaki Nations will now be able to contract with Acadia National Park to collect sweetgrass, which is used in tribal ceremonies and basket making. The National Park Service prepared an environmental assessment and found that the gathering of sweetgrass, which grows in salt marshes, would have no significant impact. Acadia Superintendent Kevin Schneider said this is a critical step in "preserving and protecting the park through co-stewardship with the Wabanaki tribes and providing space for Wabanaki citizens to heal and re-connect with their homeland."

Marine biologists are worried about a vital plant that is steadily decreasing in Maine

WMTW-TV8 • July 26, 2024

The latest data on parts of the Gulf of Maine are worrying local scientists. Eelgrass is a type of seagrass that lies a few feet below the ocean line. It's a vital part of the sea-life environment, and officials with Friends of Casco Bay are sounding the alarm on a growing problem in Casco Bay: The eelgrass has decreased. "From 2018 until 2022, 54.5% of the eelgrass beds in Casco Bay disappeared," said Ivy Frignoca, a baykeeper with Friends of Casco Bay. “If this continues we could see some really bad scenarios.”

Waters near Acadia National Park in Maine inundated with microplastics, study finds

SPECTRUM NEWS • July 24, 2024

University of Maine researchers have discovered that Frenchman Bay is suffering from significant microplastic pollution. Researchers found about 400 billion microplastic fibers on the surface of Frenchman Bay and in several rivers and estuaries. The findings were published in Environment Engineering Science. Grace Johnson, lead author of the study, said, “That is a lot of microplastics.” Microplastics are less than five millimeters in length, often small enough to pass through water filtration systems into lakes and oceans. They release harmful toxins and pose a threat to aquatic life.

Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon visits Bar Harbor lobster pound

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 30, 2024

Fallon, host of The Tonight Show, visited Stewman’s Lobster Pound in Bar Harbor and Finn’s Irish Pub in Ellsworth over the weekend. In 2017, he popped in for a pint at a Lubec brewery with Lorne Michaels, the founder and longtime producer of Saturday Night Live who now also produces The Tonight Show. Michaels, 79, owns Josh Pond Farm, a 150-acre organic wild blueberry and goat farm in Whiting, Maine, which is about 20 miles from Lubec and 90 miles from Bar Harbor. The Toronto native has purchased and conserved more than 5,000 contiguous acres of forest and blueberry fields surrounding the Washington County farm since 2009.

Critics, studies cast doubt on Maine’s claims of climate benefits from highway expansion

MAINE MONITOR • July 30, 2024

Climate and clean transportation advocates are calling into question a claim by Maine officials that a new toll road proposed outside Portland will reduce carbon emissions by alleviating gridlock. It’s a common argument made in favor of highway expansions nationwide, said Benito Pérez, a former transportation planner and engineer. But it relies on a narrow view of data that, in context, tends to show these projects are more likely to increase planet-warming emissions, he said. “This is a multi-dimensional issue when it comes to emissions reduction, and it’s not going to work.” Maine’s proposed Gorham Connector project has met stiff public opposition.

What locals fear will be lost if Sears Island becomes a wind port

BLOOMBERG • July 30, 2024

The hustle and bustle of Maine during its summer tourism season is obvious along Route 1, the busy highway that carries visitors through this coastal town, often en route to Mount Desert Island, the Blue Hill Peninsula or points farther up the coast. For locals in the know, though, it’s possible to turn off Route 1 and drive about 2 miles south to find an easy hideaway from all that traffic, on the free walking trails and beaches of secluded Sears Island. It’s that pristine quality that has endeared Sears Island to local residents for years. It’s also what has put the state-owned island at the center of some of Maine’s most heated development disputes of the past few decades.

Invasive plants workshop offered in Hiram Aug. 10

SUN JOURNAL • July 29, 2024

Chad Hammer, invasive plant biologist with Maine Natural Areas Program, will talk about combatting invasive plants during a workshop, coordinated by Oxford County Soil & Water Conservation District. Attendees can learn to identify and combat common invasive plants such as Japanese knotweed, barberry, and bittersweet, that threaten the local ecosystems. At Hiram Arts Center, August 10, 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

UMaine to build $10.3 million aquaculture research, workforce training center

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 30, 2024

The state university system is building a $10.3 million research center meant to train future workers for careers in aquaculture and to help solve problems fish and oyster farms are facing in Maine. Construction is slated to begin in Orono in October, with the facility expected to open in late 2025. The project is funded by the Build America Buy America Act and the Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan. The economic impact of aquaculture in Maine nearly tripled in 10 years, from $50 million in 2007 to $137 million in 2017.

‘Devil bird’ from Southern states spotted in Maine for the first time

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 30, 2024

A Southern waterbird known as the anhinga, or “devil bird,” made its first documented appearance in Maine last week, perched on a log in a flooded meadow in the small Lincoln County town of Somerville. The anhinga is the latest in a long line of rare birds sighted in Maine in recent years, the most prominent being the late 2021 arrival of the extremely rare Steller’s sea eagle in Georgetown, a bird native to northeastern Asia. In 2018, a great black hawk, only seen once before in America, hunkered down in Biddeford and generated buzz throughout the national birding community. Two other rare bird sightings in Maine in the last month. A tropical kingbird was seen in Dayton, the third time in Maine history. A ferruginous hawk was seen at the Lewiston-Auburn airport.

Commentary: Extreme heat is making our mental health worse

BLOOMBERG • July 30, 2024

On July 22, planet Earth achieved a terrifying milestone: Global temperatures reached their highest level in recorded history, breaking a record set just one day before. This year is expected to be the hottest in centuries. Heat waves are hotter, longer and more frequent than they were in the 1960s. Most of us understand that extreme heat is bad for our health, making our hearts, lungs, kidneys and other organs work much harder. But too often we overlook the toll heat takes on another vital organ: our brain. Extreme heat doesn’t just make us uncomfortable, it can make it harder to think clearly and be productive at work. It worsens our mental health, exacerbating common mood disorders like anxiety and depression as well as rarer conditions like schizophrenia and self-harming. ~ Lisa Jarvis