Agricultural tradition lives on at Skowhegan State Fair

MORNING SENTINEL • August 11, 2024

Now in its 206th year, the Skowhegan State Fair, which kicked off last Thursday and ends its 10-day run this Saturday, is the oldest consecutively running agricultural fair in the country and draws about 100,000 visitors in a typical year. First organized by the Somerset Central Agricultural Society, the fair in its early days — before Maine became a state in 1820 — became a place where farmers could learn about the latest techniques, find out about new equipment available and work to improve the breeding of livestock.

In Wells, a ghost forest rises

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 11, 2024

Walking the sun-dappled trails of the Wells Reserve on a mild summer day, past stands of swamp maple and quaking aspen, surrounded by birdsong, it is hard to imagine that children who wander these paths today may live to see them become mud flats, or even open ocean. Scientists have been warning about this possibility for years. A 2014 report, produced in part by researchers at the Reserve, predicts that sea level rise will fully submerge the Reserve’s estuarine lands by the end of the century and force marshy areas of the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge to migrate inland. “In the shorter term,” researchers wrote, “it is unclear whether Wells’ marshes will have room to migrate upland, and whether they will be able to migrate quickly enough.”

Opinion: Trump back in the White House would be very bad for wildlife

MSNBC • August 11, 2024

We should take seriously much of what the 920-page Heritage Foundation’s infamous Project 2025 plan tells us about a potential second Trump term. For one, if Trump wins in November, he may end federal protections for many endangered species, including grizzly bears and gray wolves. As Andrea Zaccardi, a carnivore conservation legal director for the Center of Biological Diversity, points out, “The proponents of Project 2025 don’t understand that the protection of species is supposed to be a science-based decision and not a political one.” ~ Jonathan Taylor

Sebago Lake properties at center of shoreland zoning ordinance violations begin restoration process

SUN JOURNAL • August 11, 2024

It will be three years this fall that the lakefront on properties on Sebago Lake was transformed from a natural landscape to at least 400 linear feet of riprap lining the shore. That led to a series of shoreland zoning ordinance and unpermitted work violations lodged against the owner of the properties — Auburn businessman Donald Buteau and his real estate holding firm Management Controls LLC, his primary contractor Robert Durant, and Q-Team Tree Service. They are required to remove the majority of the riprap on the shore. A boat ramp will be removed. Plantings must be documented, monitored, and “must be maintained or replaced as necessary to achieve 85% to 90% survival after five full growing seasons.” Some credit the resolution of this shoreland zoning case to the enactment of the bill, signed into law by Gov. Janet Mills in May. “I think this law will make flagrant abuses of Maine’s shoreland zoning less of a ‘cost of doing business’ issue.”

Column: 5 options for backcountry camping

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • August 11, 2024

Here’s a look at out-of-the-way places that beckon you and your backpacking buddies to spend some quality time this summer.
• Myron Avery Campsite at Bigelow Col along the crest of the Bigelow Range
• Speck Pond between Old Speck Mountain and Mahoosuc Arm in the Mahoosuc Range
• Coastal Trail in the Cutler Coast Public Land, 5 tent sites in the maritime spruce woods
• Sidney Tappan Campsite in a col between Gulf Hagas Mountain and West Peak in the White Cap Range
• Davis Pond Campsite in Katahdin’s Northwest Basin in Baxter State Park

Column: It’s one environment, where a variety of species all come to their senses

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • August 11, 2024

In some ways, birds perceive their environment in ways we cannot sense or comprehend. Many birds sing, so it is no surprise that the sense of hearing in birds is pretty good. Our hearing acuity is similar. Our ears can hear some low frequencies birds can’t hear, and birds can hear some frequencies that are higher than we can detect. However, birds are better at us in hearing the detail in a sound. Among mammals, our vision is well developed. Birds outdo us. In general, birds have a more poorly developed sense of smell than us. Touch acuity is similar in birds and humans. Birds have one sense we lack. Birds can detect the earth’s magnetic field. This sense is particularly important in orientation and navigation for migrating birds. ~ Herb Wilson

Letter: The most important election issue, by far, is climate change

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • August 11, 2024

But one reason is more important than any other Trump plan because of its long-range effect. Trump’s plan to reverse all of Biden’s efforts to fight global warming will be catastrophic. With a Trump victory, there is a very good chance that worldwide momentum will falter, and the warming trend will spiral out of control, making this year’s hot spells seem like a cold shower. The planet would be too hot to support human life and civilization as we know it would not recover. For this reason alone, Trump should not be elected president. If we don’t fix global warming, nothing else matters. ~ Peter Konieczko, Scarborough

Letter: Climate change requires immediate investment in clean energy

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • August 11, 2024

I’ve spent about a third of my life with my grandparents in Old Orchard Beach. Their house is separated from the ocean by a narrow wooden boardwalk and a few yards of dune grass. This winter, during the big storm, water rushed past the boardwalk, decimated the dunes and flowed into the street. Their house would’ve been flooded if it wasn’t on stilts. I used to tell my grandparents to move away from the ocean. They would joke that they were going down with the house. This joke is less funny lately. I hope that Mainers will join together to keep advocating for policies in Augusta that benefit us all. For the sake of our property, utility costs, green jobs and our families, it’s time to invest in clean energy. ~ James Foleno, Old Orchard Beach

Rip tide warning issued for Popham Beach State Park

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 10, 2024

People are warned to stay out of the water at Popham Beach State Park on Saturday due to dangerous rip tides. If caught in a rip tide, officials say you should avoid swimming against the current and instead try to swim parallel to shore, if possible. Otherwise, relax, float, and wave to shore for help.

A Summer Evening Paddle

DAILY BULLDOG • August 10, 2024

The time is early evening, the final hour before the setting of the sun. I am in my kayak, solo-paddling pond waters that the wind had whipped up during the day, but now have settled, and become calm. The sun hangs in the northwest sky, just above the treetops of high balsam fir, red spruce, and the occasional white pine. Our Western Mountains of Maine hold many a quiet water, well-suited for an evening paddle. Back home, I pull out my “Maine Atlas and Gazetteer” from time to time, looking for ponds –and for corners of our big lakes – where the map shows a basic boat launch, often a carry-in launch. Sometimes with members of my family, or with one or two friends, but quite often solo, I make the transition from summer day to night with a short, easing, paddle. ~ Doug Dunlap

Healthy Lakes: Conservation from Bambi to 2030

CENTRAL MAINE • August 10, 2024

Through the 30×30 initiative, by 2030 we hope to achieve effective protection and management of 30% of the world’s land, fresh waters, and oceans. The dual goals of reversing both climate change and mass extinctions are in service of the belief that nature and people can thrive together. One way to care is to take action, individual action. Celebrate your individuality. Pick up litter, be careful with fires, and support your local conservation group. ~ Doug “Woody” Woodsum, 7 Lakes Alliance

Opinion: The public must be notified about recall of Maine shellfish

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 10, 2024

When a flat is closed to wild shellfish harvesting due to the possibility that the shellfish may be contaminated, the Maine Department of Marine Resources notifies the public immediately using three methods. When confirmed contaminated aquaculture products become available to the public, DMR is silent. This lack of transparency is unacceptable. When the department becomes aware of contaminated shellfish, wild or aquacultured, being sold, the public must be notified immediately. If you agree, please contact your local legislator. ~ Bailey Bowden, a ninth-generation resident of Penobscot

Letter: NIMBY thinking endangers Yard South

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 10, 2024

I looked at the 30-acre site map of Yard South in South Portland; it fits perfectly on a site largely vacant for decades except for boat trailer parking. It is for housing we need badly, but the usual NIMBY people are balking for the usual reasons: traffic, parking, too many people for area, etc. The 1,200 housing units, with retail, office space and other amenities, is just what South Portland needs. ~ Peter Ferrante, Portland

Gulf of Maine lobsters are experiencing a housing crisis

MAINE MONITOR • August 9, 2024

Lobster fishing has been a good business in the Gulf of Maine for a long time. Between 1984 and 2014, the lobster population in the Gulf of Maine jumped an estimated 515 percent, while simultaneously declining by 78 percent in southern New England as the water warmed in both regions. The result? A lobster housing crisis. Win Watson, a lobster scientist at the University of New Hampshire, said, “What you’re seeing is actually a direct result of climate change. Because there’s such an abundance of lobsters, the good rocky crevice habitat has been taken by the lobsters that got there first, and now you’ve got these other lobsters that have to sort of dig a temporary, low-rent condo out in the sand.”

Opinion: Offshore wind best way to combat destructive climate change

CENTRAL MAINE • August 9, 2024

Maine’s emerging offshore wind industry represents a crucial economic and environmental opportunity. Our coast’s high wind speeds and deep-water access make Maine an ideal candidate for a major offshore wind investment. In fact, the federal grant that will help pay for construction of an offshore wind port totals nearly half a billion dollars- the largest federal investment in our state ever! Offshore wind is the best way for Maine to combat destructive climate change while simultaneously promoting economic growth and Maine jobs. ~ Beth Trehu, Rome

Portland and other Maine communities get $25 million in storm recovery grants

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 9, 2024

The Mills administration on Friday awarded $25.2 million in storm recovery grants to 39 towns and cities in Maine, including funding for a new storm drain in Portland’s Old Port that’s designed to reduce waterfront flooding and sewage discharges into the harbor. The grants come from a $60 million fund created this year to improve the state’s infrastructure to make it more resilient to storms like the ones that devastated the coast and interior communities last winter.

Opinion: With PFAS, Maine can’t overcome the law of unintended consequences

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 9, 2024

Health concerns around PFAS led the Maine Legislature to restrict the substance starting in 2025. However, refrigerants in common use constitute “forever chemicals” necessary to the operation of heat pumps. So decreasing the reliance on wood or fossil fuels for home heating, in favor of heat pumps, has led to a broader distribution of PFAS-like chemicals. This is the law of unintended consequences. Solving one problem — fossil fuel use — has created another, with the wider distribution of “forever chemicals.” Are we better off using fewer fossil fuels and expanding the deployment of heat pumps notwithstanding the PFAS-esque proliferation? Or did we ignore the trade off of one problem for another? No easy answer. ~ Michael Cianchette

Climate groups aren’t going to stop talking about Project 2025

BLOOMBERG • August 9, 2024

Project 2025 proposes deep changes to the federal government that include severely cutting back the Environmental Protection Agency, replacing some career civil servants with political appointees, selling off public lands and breaking up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Both Democrats and independents overwhelmingly expressed a negative view of the document in a poll. One of the reasons that liberal activists are mining the plan is that it concretely ties Trump to an extreme agenda, said Craig Segall, vice president of climate change advocacy group Evergreen Action.

Regulators move to delay increase in minimum lobster size

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 9, 2024

Federal regulators hope to give lobstermen an additional six months to prepare for a new rule that would slightly increase the minimum size of lobsters they are legally allowed to harvest. The one-sixteenth of an inch increase, which is designed to help boost a dwindling stock of lobsters in the Gulf of Maine, might seem minor but it could have big consequences. Lobster harvesters and dealers say that the fraction-of-an-inch change could eliminate the most lucrative segment of their catch and give Canadian competitors an unfair advantage. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission said on Wednesday that it intends to delay a planned gauge increase until July 1, 2025. The rules were previously set to go into effect Jan. 1.

Opinion: Wisely and over time, yes, in my backyard

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 9, 2024

For the past 12 years, I’ve worked in Wells and lived in South Portland. There are smart ways to grow and … less smart ways to grow. As someone who works in climate adaptation and coastal science, I’d prefer to see development concentrated into vacant, servable areas than rampaging over Maine’s precious forests and fields. Redeveloping existing brownfields and vacant urban lots, as many Maine towns are doing, is smarter than clearcutting forests or paving farms. Should South Portland permit building units next to the sea, though? Yes, if the development is built suitably above sea level, as the Yard South plan proposes. Build? If we do it wisely and over time, I say: yes, in my backyard. ~ Nik Charov, president of Laudholm Trust and chairman of Wells Reserve at Laudholm, South Portland