Flying over Sears Island puts the offshore wind debate in context

MAINE MONITOR • August 4, 2024

I got bird’s-eye view of part of Penobscot Bay last week. We flew out over Sears Island, which is mostly undeveloped but still accessible by road. We could see where the state wants to build the wind port. We saw the industrial development that surrounds the island, including Sprague Energy’s Mack Point cargo and fuel terminal to the southwest. Mack Point is where opponents of the Sears Island project want the port built. It was considered by the state’s Offshore Wind Port Advisory Group. But the state has said Mack Point would be prohibitively expensive, complicated and restrictive for the kind of port they want. This is about priorities. It challenges environmental values, putting them in perceived conflict with one another.

A midcoast man is sailing to a theater near you with his new film

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 4, 2024

Belfast filmmaker Jim Merkel and his family are venturing out on a tour of movie theaters along Maine’s coast for showings of his new documentary, “Saving Walden’s World.” They’ll use a sailboat as their main means of transportation, to eliminate the need for fossil fuels. “Saving Walden’s World” is a documentary that explores how communities in Cuba, Slovenia and India have learned to reduce their carbon footprints in the face of climate change and make other advances in health care and education — well ahead of a 2030 target that the United Nations has established for all its members to meet a set of sustainable development goals. The documentary has been selected for showings at 10 film festivals so far, including the Maine Outdoor Film Festival that took place July 28 in Portland. Other stops on the Maine leg of the tour will include Rockland this coming Sunday, followed by Biddeford, Yarmouth, Boothbay Harbor, Bucksport, and Bar Harbor.

Obituary: Marion Cameron Barrow

BOSTON GLOBE • August 4, 2024

Marion Cameron "Camie" Barrow passed away unexpectedly on July 21, 2024 of natural causes. An avid conservationist and sporting dog enthusiast known for her kindness, she lived in Brunswick, Maine with her best friend and husband, David Huntress; and their four beloved English Springer Spaniels. Camie grew up in Wellesley, Massachusetts and graduated from Noble and Greenough School and Williams College. Her love of the outdoors soon drew her to Maine, where she met David. She was a longtime board member of the Maine Coast Heritage Trust, served on the board of Maine Council Atlantic Salmon Federation and was active in a variety of other causes, including the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust.

Storms, ospreys cause 6,000 CMP power outages Sunday

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 4, 2024

On Sunday morning about 6,000 Central Maine Power customers across eight counties woke up to power outages as storms swept parts of southern and central Maine, but it wasn’t all because of the rain. A nesting osprey disturbed electrical wires in Camden, which caused a large outage in Knox County, while other parts of the state lost power because of storms.

Column: I look forward to loon calls in April. Come August I wish they would just pipe down at night.

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 4, 2024

I live on a lake. I have summer guests. They love the loons calling at night. All night. Sometimes the loons won’t shut up. I know I should be grateful. A lot of tourists long for this experience. In fact, Mainers should be universally proud of their loons. The population has nearly doubled over the southern half of the state. Half of Maine’s loon population had disappeared. Threats contributed to the decline: lakeshore development, harassment by watercraft, boat wakes, poisoning by ingesting lead sinkers. Today, not only has harassment decreased, but people are more eager to report violators. Maine has phased out the smaller lead sinkers. Anglers are more careful when discarding spent fishing line. However, some threats have increased: bald eagle and snapping turtle predation, the illegal introduction of non-native fish. Maine is doing its part to restore the species, so I guess I’ll have to live with occasionally interrupted sleep. ~ Bob Duchesne

Flooding shuts down roads, harness racing

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 4, 2024

Flooding during heavy rainstorms has shut down roads in Westbrook. Harness racing events at the Topsham Fair were canceled today because the paddocks had flooded. The National Weather Service had issued a flash flood warning for southern Cumberland and northern York counties on Sunday.

Assessing Acadia National Park’s future climate: Warm or hot?

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • August 4, 2024

A new report from the National Park Service directs Acadia to plan for 2 different climate futures: warm and dry, or hot and sticky. Only one thing is certain, NPS climate scientists say: The park of the future will look very different. Abe Miller-Rushing, science director at Acadia, said, “One out of every six plant species here when Acadia was founded 100 years ago is gone.” “Climate change is no longer a year 2050 or 2100 issue. It is a ‘here and now,’” said Nick Fisichelli, president of Schoodic Institute, the nonprofit science division of Acadia.

Column: Exploring Witt Swamp in Norway

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • August 4, 2024

With wildlife and flowers teeming, a paddle down Pennesseewassee Lake in Norway to Witt Swamp is so worth the trip. Carpets of fragrant water lilies are everywhere. Barn swallows fill the air, dashing here and there for insects. To the northeast, we can see the foothills that are the steppingstones to the great Alpine notches to the north: Evans, Grafton, Pinkham. There are also some nice hiking options. Downtown Norway’s Main Street is on the National Register of Historic Places and is well worth a stroll. ~ Michael Perry

Column: Seeing caterpillars and sawflies?

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • August 4, 2024

As we enter late summer, there are hundreds of cool insects which should have you on the lookout. In the evenings, I love to hang a bedsheet out with a light on it and see the dozens of unique moths I can attract; the days can be spent checking blooming wildflowers for a variety of pollinators. We are getting the seasonal influx of questions about all the “bugs” that are bugging people. I recommend downloading iNaturalist or Seek, both great apps that can help you identify many of the living things you encounter. Too often, people have a gut reaction to squish or otherwise remove many of the insects we find in our gardens or around our homes. Try learning about these species and the roles they play in our ecosystem. ~ Maine Audubon Staff Naturalist Doug Hitchcox

Editorial: It behooves us to pay for wind energy

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • August 4, 2024

Is Maine willing to pay up for the good of the environment? We should be. Talks are underway about how to price the financing, building and operation of offshore wind power. As envisaged – comprising 10 turbines about 40 miles offshore – would strip as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year as if we took more than 100,000 gas-powered cars off the road. If the carbon benefits aren’t enough to drive a bargain, hopefully the promise of solid jobs in manufacturing, construction and transportation, or an anticipated $1 billion in economic activity for the state of Maine, are persuasive factors. The environmental case alone is screamingly urgent.

Once town centers of agriculture, these public spaces haven’t quite disappeared

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 4, 2024

Originating in the state 150 years ago, Granges met to connect farmers, advocate for them and provide resources. About 90 Granges remain from 600 operating at their peak. In the early 20th century, Maine had more members per capita than any other state, upward of 55,000; membership is less than 3,000 now. Some local Granges are staying active by finding new roles as community centers, often without programs connected to their agricultural roots. They reckon with challenges faced by community groups across rural Maine as former farming areas change: aging membership, adapting to a less locally connected society and difficulty attracting new people.

Moose on the move in Maine’s woods

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 4, 2024

Between pesky flies and the abundant food sources in the summer, moose can be seen on the move in Maine’s woods. The bulls stay in higher elevations where it’s cooler, but the cows — often with calves — can be found in the lower elevations of woods, especially near lakes and ponds where some of their favorite foods grow. The cows that have calves also choose areas where food is more densely concentrated so they spend less time eating and exposing their babies to predators. Moose diets vary from leaves and twigs of woody plants to pond vegetation, which is a natural source of salt for them. A video by BDN contributor Allie Ladd shows some cows and calves, just living their best summer lives, in Maine’s vast woodlands.

Drowning reported in Range Pond State Park in Poland

SUN JOURNAL • August 3, 2024

Androscoggin County Sheriff’s deputies and Poland Fire Rescue Department responded Saturday afternoon to reports of a drowning at Range Pond State Park. First responders located a person in the water, retrieved them and transported them to a local hospital.

Skowhegan River Fest returns as organizers promote future downtown river park

MORNING SENTINEL • August 3, 2024

The Skowhegan River Fest began this year on Wednesday with a glow stick paddle down the Kennebec, followed by a parade on Thursday, a street party on Friday and fireworks Saturday. Organizers said they expected over 2,500 people to attend over three days. Festivities this year were not just meant to get people outdoors and in the river, but also to publicize organizers’ efforts to construct a “river park” in downtown Skowhegan. Main Street Skowhegan, the nonprofit that organizes the event, plans to build a multimillion dollar whitewater rafting park on the Kennebec River beside downtown Skowhegan in the coming years.

Traditional canoe camping skills and gear I didn’t know I lacked

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 3, 2024

Years ago, I purchased a used canoe for a few hundred dollars. I’ve paddled it around lakes and down streams. I tossed a tent into it once and camped on the edge of a remote pond, deep in Maine’s 100-Mile Wilderness. The trip involved minimal planning. I’ve a lot to learn about traveling by canoe, a watercraft that has such a rich history in Maine. Nowadays, canoes are usually constructed out of materials like fiberglass, Kevlar and heavier plastics. Yet some people stick to the old ways. Mahoosuc Guide Service out of western Maine leads multi-day canoe trips in wood and canvas canoes that co-founder Kevin Slater designed. I recently attended one of their trips — a women-only canoe expedition in the Grand Lake Stream area. The amount I learned in just five days blew me away. ~ Aislinn Sarnacki

State denies initial request of Bucksport-area owner to give up dams

MAINE MONITOR • August 3, 2024

State environmental officials on July 30 denied petitions from corporate owners of three Bucksport-area dams to forfeit ownership. It was the second time within a week that the state Department of Environmental Protection identified deficiencies in the applications from dam owners Bucksport Mill, LLC and parent company AIM Demolition USA LLC, which filed in early July to forfeit their dams on Alamoosook Lake, Silver Lake and Toddy Pond. Residents and local officials were shocked when the dam owners announced their forfeiture intentions.

Storm damage, climate change take toll on Portland hiking trails

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 3, 2024

Portland Trails is in the middle of a $100,000 emergency fundraising campaign to repair widespread damage to its regional trail system caused by last winter’s storms and prepare it for a more unpredictable climate-driven future. The damage caused by back-to-back-to-back storms shocked trails manager Jamie Parker, a veteran of hundreds of storms during his nearly 20-year career with the nonprofit. Eighteen trails were damaged. A thousand feet of bridges had to be replaced. River banks were washed away. “We’re doing our best to restore the trails, but I’ll be honest, it’s a lot to keep up with,” Parker said. The nonprofit organization estimated that the cost of materials for basic storm damage repairs totaled $750,000, three times what it usually spends to repair and maintain its trails.

UMaine receives $10 million to research turning wood products into jet fuel … and fish food

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 3, 2024

The University of Maine’s forest bioproducts and aquaculture research institutes have been awarded $10 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to continue studying the effectiveness of turning low-value wood into jet fuel and fish food. It’s the latest effort to find sustainable uses for the state’s abundant forest products. In forestry, the most valuable wood is used for lumber, some is used for pulp and paper manufacturing, but smaller-diameter trees are “often removed in order to enhance growth.” Those trees are typically chipped up for biomass or left on the forest floor. “There are alternative jet fuels, but not necessarily all of them are renewable or sustainable,” said Clayton Wheeler, director of the UMaine forest bioproducts research institute. “(Aviation) is the one transportation sector that cannot be satisfied using renewable electricity.”

Clearing the air: Figuring out the costs of owning an electric vehicle

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 3, 2024

With transportation a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, environmentalists and policymakers are pushing to replace gas-powered vehicles with EVs. Key to accomplishing that is to spell out the long-term costs of owning EVs that are relatively new and unfamiliar to consumers compared with gas-powered cars that have been around for more than a century. The clean air benefits of electric vehicles are easy enough to understand, but figuring out the costs to buy and operate the relatively new technology is not as easy.

Opinion: The big-tent trend descends on my home beach

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 3, 2024

On a recent day, I grabbed my beach chair and off I went. The beach was filled with tents that took up much of the sand. In past years, I had noticed one or two of these pitched tents. On this day, the beach looked like a city of Bedouins. The first tent I came to was a large white canvas covering held to the sand by long white ropes. Underneath, was a group of people fully dressed. The next tent was even more elaborate. Underneath was a group of middle-aged people sitting around a table stacked with food and beverages. It looked like they had set up their own little café. Why would anyone go to the beach to stay out of the sun? Maybe my beach has changed over the years. Whatever, I still call it home. ~ Jim Fabiano, York