Column: The long and short of migrations from Maine

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • September 8, 2024

As this fall migration proceeds, we can see how our attempts to sort out different migration strategies may lead us astray. One dichotomy that is often used for migratory birds is to contrast long-distance with short-distance migrants. Usually, a North American long-distance migrant describes a species that moves south out of the continent to Central America, South America or the Caribbean islands. A host of our nesting birds fall into this category: ruby-throated hummingbirds migrating to Central America, red knots to Argentina and scarlet tanagers broadly across South America. ~ Herb Wilson

Column: Show your Moxie, and drink up the beauty

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • September 8, 2024

Moxie Mountain rises to a lofty 2,933 feet in the geographic center of Caratunk, 5 miles east of the Kennebec River. The mountain is often confused with Moxie Bald Mountain, which lies 8 miles to the northeast along the route of the Appalachian Trail. Atop the mountain’s south-facing cliffs, the grand 270-degree panorama takes in Number Five and Snow mountains, the Bigelow Range, the Crockers, Mount Redington, Sugarloaf, Mount Abraham, Jackson Mountain and many others. Bonus points: Go all in on the Moxie theme by packing a can of Moxie soda – a time-honored Maine classic – on your hikes. ~ Carey Kish

Column: Trying to to prevail against a seemingly invincible opponent

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • September 8, 2024

Wild turkeys can be a formidable opponent. They may seem doltish diddling around our back yards, but step into their woods and they become a different creature. They’re eyesight is extremely keen, capable of recognizing all colors in the visible spectrum, detecting and processing any movement more acutely and rapidly than humans, and encompassing a 180-degree field of view with the slightest turn of their head. Their hearing is just as good, and though their brain is no bigger than the meat of a walnut, their instincts are honed for survival. Game laws are implemented to ensure fair chase. The odds lie clearly in favor of the game rather than those who pursue them. Luck always plays a role but if your goals is to prevail against a seemingly invincible opponent, it helps to know their Achilles’ heel. ~ Bob Humphrey

Editorial: State environmental protection needs to become much more active

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • September 8, 2024

Here in Maine as nationally, we have watched the whole realm of environmental protection morph into a political football. For a state so proud of its woods and waters, for a population so besotted with and invested in its natural surroundings, this could not be a more unfortunate development. And that’s without getting into fundamental public health concerns. We cannot let environmental protection fall foul of the vagaries of weak rulemaking, underfunding or understaffing, particularly where those limited conditions are the product of deliberate rollback – the likes of which was favored by former Gov. Paul LePage and, at the federal level, implemented and now freshly touted by former President Trump. So, vote with the environment in mind this year.

Opinion: Policymakers in search of sound science need to listen to fishery

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • September 8, 2024

Government regulators, who lack deep knowledge of what it takes to catch fish in the Gulf of Maine, reach conclusions about the state of our fish stocks that do not match what fishermen are seeing and what we know from being on the water every day. We know what tactics regulators are using to catch fish for their surveys, and we know they don’t work. This mismatch creates a vicious cycle of new limits on catch, which in turn threaten our businesses. I’m open to the possibility that industry is wrong. So, what do regulators have to lose? Work with us. ~ Jerry Leeman, Harpswell, veteran commercial fishing captain

Those flashy fall caterpillars aren’t as dangerous as you might think – mostly

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 7, 2024

During autumn in Maine, the leaves aren’t the only colorful things on the landscape. Crawling through the cool grass, caterpillars of all shapes and shades are on the move, and many of them are quite flashy. he caterpillars that are wandering around Maine in the fall are heading to bed. As the weather cools and the days shorten, these small creatures are searching for shelter, and perhaps a final meal, before spending several cold months in hibernation. The woolly bear, one of Maine’s most well-known fall caterpillars. The smeared dagger caterpillar is another bright fall wanderer. “Wooly bears are fine [to handle]. Some tussocks are not.”

The 12 prettiest town and city parks in Maine

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 7, 2024

Here are 12 of the prettiest town and city parks in Maine.
• Brewer Riverwalk, Brewer
• Cascade Park, Bangor
• Riverfront Park, Houlton
• Riverfront Park, Old Town
• Belfast City Park, Belfast
• Harbor Park and Amphitheatre, Camden
• Harbor Park and Marina, Ellsworth
• Agamont Park, Bar Harbor
• Library Park, Bath
• Winslow Park, Freeport
• Eastern Promenade, Portland
• Fort Williams Park and Portland Head Light, Cape Elizabeth

Scientists are still puzzled on what makes unique lobster colors so rare

ASSOCIATED PRESS • September 7, 2024

Orange, blue, calico, two-toned and … cotton-candy colored? Those are all the hues of lobsters that have showed up in fishermen’s traps, supermarket seafood tanks and scientists’ laboratories over the last year. The funky-colored crustaceans inspire headlines that trumpet their rarity, with particularly uncommon baby blue-tinted critters described by some as “cotton-candy colored” often estimated at 1 in 100 million. A recent wave of these curious colored lobsters in Maine and beyond has scientists asking just how atypical the discolored arthropods really are. It’s complicated. The best available estimates about lobster coloration abnormalities are based on data from fisheries sources, said marine sciences professor Markus Frederich of the University of New England in Maine. However, he said, “no one really tracks them.”

Shocked by Extreme Storms, a Maine Fishing Town Fights to Save Its Waterfront

NEW YORK TIMES • September 7, 2024

Stonington’s storied way of life has come to feel more tenuous, its existence more fragile, as pressure builds from climate change and economic forces. In small towns and fishing ports up and down Maine’s coast, fishermen have faced a slew of challenges in recent years: Tighter federal rules to protect endangered whales have limited the days they can fish and the gear they can use, while an influx of newcomers has driven up the price of coastal real estate and the pressure on tiny, cash-strapped towns to preserve their working waterfronts. “We’ve got a wall of water coming at us, and a wall of money coming at us, and we’re fighting these two big forces,” said Linda Nelson, Stonington’s economic and community development director.

New book: Loving the North Woods

DOWN EAST BOOKS • 2024

In Loving the North Woods, Karin Tilberg, one of Maine’s experts on Maine’s vast woodlands and the highly regarded president/CEO of the Forest Society of Maine, chronicles the difficult challenges that led to tremendous conservation successes. Focusing on the remarkable period of activity from 1990 to 2015, during which historic achievements in American conservation unfolded, the author explores how people love a place and bring that love into action. The heretofore untold stories of conserving Maine’s North Woods hidden in files of land trusts, state government archives, forest landowner records, and in the memories of those who participated, will inspire and guide us now and far into the future. Loving the North Woods will be published in October 2024.

Federal report OKs Gulf of Maine for offshore wind leases

MAINE PUBLIC • September 6, 2024

The federal government is preparing to sell offshore wind power plots in the Gulf of Maine after determining that leasing the area would not harm the environment. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said that installing buoys and conducting surveys to assess leases across one million acres of ocean would have no significant environmental impact. The actual installation of offshore turbines would require separate environmental reviews, according to the bureau. But the report opens the door to a sale by the end of the year for eight lease areas off Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The agency said the areas could produce enough energy to power 5 million homes.

Opinion: The common-sense case for the Gorham Connector

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 6, 2024

The Turnpike Authority’s Gorham Connector would connect a driver from this bypass roundabout to the Maine Turnpike’s Exit 45, north and south, in four minutes. Thirty seconds later is I-295 with Scarborough, South Portland and Portland only minutes away. Another 60 seconds and you reach Route 1 North and South. Let the MTA allow traffic to flow with a safe, self-funded toll road and alleviate the stress on our Main Streets and backroads. Population growth west of Portland is a fact that will not stop. Each year Gorham approves 100 new housing units. How’s this going to work with last century’s infrastructure? No more studies, no more surveys, no more meetings. Now is the time to build the Gorham Turnpike Connector, by eminent domain if necessary. ~ Gary Dube, Gorham

Letter: Getting outdoors a surefire cure for teen apathy

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 6, 2024

Jonathan Haidt’s recent bestselling book, “The Anxious Generation,” calls out the downsides of a phone-based life for young people. The book has led many communities to initiate phone-free schools. While taking away a young person’s phone may remove the culprit, it does not provide a cure. This is why Teens to Trails encourages schools to offer playful outdoor time during and after school, or start an outdoor club. The results are students who are more engaged in their learning. Teachers have witnessed this time and again during our Life Happens Outside Challenge. ~ Alicia Heyburn, Executive Director, Teens to Trails, Brunswick

West Quoddy Head is not the easternmost point in the US

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 6, 2024

Bad news: Maine’s beloved, candy-striped lighthouse at West Quoddy Head is not the easternmost point in the United States, as it’s so often called. In 1884, when the International Date Line) was drawn, an uninhabited, volcanically volatile, 85-square-mile outlying island in the Aleutian Archipelago in Alaska is the easternmost point in the United States. But even though Alaska’s Semisopochnoi Island is technically the easternmost point in the U.S., Mainers can still boast. Since that island is uninhabited, we’ve still got the easternmost lighthouse, town, state park and gift shop.

Column: This migratory shorebird surprised me 20 miles offshore

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 6, 2024

We were 20 miles offshore on a whale watch boat. when a least sandpiper fluttered within three feet of my head. Most birds are reluctant to fly over water, but some find they have little choice. Migrants from across Maritime Canada flow through Nova Scotia until crossing the Gulf of Maine is their only option. Islands are migration traps. Birds caught over the ocean seek landfall wherever they can find it. Monhegan is such a migrant trap that eBird lists 317 species that have been seen on the island. That’s 32 species more than any other location in Maine. Maine Audubon’s East Point Sanctuary at Biddeford Pool in southern Maine is the runner-up, having recorded 285 species. Although it is not an island, it juts out into Saco Bay far enough to act like one. Another island — Stratton Island off Old Orchard Beach — holds the third spot, with a list of 279 recorded species. ~ Bob Duchesne

Leonard Leo is making bigger plays in Maine politics

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 6, 2024

Leonard Leo has owned a home on Maine’s Mount Desert Island for years. The conservative legal titan’s recent donations show he is becoming a boon to Republicans here. His advocacy group gave $375,000 to For Our Future, a political action committee tied to state Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn. Libby’s The Dinner Table is focused on state-level races in Maine. Leo’s fund has also been helping groups opposing lobstering regulations while working closely with legislative Republicans who are critical of offshore wind.

Grassroots group’s report sharply criticizes Gorham Connector proposal

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 5, 2024

Opposition to the proposed Gorham Connector has reached fever pitch, with a grassroots group issuing a report outlining its preferred alternatives to a project more than 30 years in the making. At the same time, town councilors in Scarborough, one of four communities that would be impacted by the connector, are poised to take a stand against the Maine Turnpike Authority’s project unless the proposal is altered substantially to address growing public concerns.

A Maine town’s largest elm comes down at 158 years old

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 5, 2024

After various delays due to rain, lightning and a truck breakdown carrying a crane, the largest elm in Blue Hill was taken down on Aug. 29, along with another elm next to it. The two elms, located on Tenney Hill between the First Congregational Church and George Stevens Academy’s Hinkley House property, had been infected with Dutch elm disease. A third tree, 75 years old, was removed elsewhere on GSA’s main campus the previous week. Blue Hill tree warden Phil Norris counted the rings on the larger tree’s stump and determined it was 158 years old, which means it was planted in 1866.

Maine dams receive $34 million for upgrades

MAINE PUBLIC • September 5, 2024

A $34 million cash infusion from the federal government will support repairs and upgrades for Maine’s aging hydroelectric dams. Twenty dam projects across the state will receive federal incentive payments to strengthen the electric grid and improve safety and environmental quality. Updates include installing new equipment to generate power and adding fish passages. Selected projects include Kennebec River dams in Skowhegan, Fairfield and Waterville. Conservation groups have campaigned to remove those structures. The U.S. Department of Energy says it provided $430 million to nearly 300 projects across the country. Maine received the third biggest share out of 33 states after California and Washington.

$7.5 million grant to Passamaquoddy Tribe Indian Township to cut climate pollution and accelerate clean energy transition

EPA • September 5, 2024

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the Passamaquoddy Tribe Indian Township has been selected to receive $7,427,323 in Climate Pollution Reduction Grant funding for the first phase of the construction of a community microgrid in the Passamaquoddy Tribe Indian Township, including the installation of solar photovoltaic systems with battery backup and load management at residential and municipal buildings.