Maine’s surviving cranberry farms finally expect a bumper season

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 23, 2024

Farmers expect a stronger cranberry crop this fall compared with last. Although cultivated in Maine since the 1800s, cranberries are lesser known than the state’s prolific wild blueberries. While this year is promising a bumper crop, Maine growers are not always so lucky. In addition to increased competition from other states, cranberry growers have had to adapt to heavier rainfalls and additional days of extreme heat as the climate changes. The past four years ranked among the 10 warmest on record in the state, according to the Maine Climate Council. What’s more, Maine is getting one to two additional days per year with 2 or more inches of precipitation, and winters are now two weeks shorter than in the last century. All of these changes can be detrimental to cranberry growing.

Scarborough and Cape Elizabeth plan to remove Sawyer Road

WMTW-TV8 • September 22, 2024

Plans to remove part of Sawyer Road are moving forward due to flooding and environmental concerns. The Cape Elizabeth Town Council approved a Memorandum of Understanding with the town of Scarborough that approved a grant to remove part of Sawyer Road. Sawyer Road, in Cape Elizabeth, and Sawyer Street, in Scarborough, cuts through Spurwink Marsh and often floods. The Maine Natural Resources Conservation Program awarded the town of Cape Elizabeth with a $1.59 million grant that would remove a ¼ mile portion of the road. Scarborough and Cape Elizabeth also agreed to provide $185,000 to fund the project costs. Removal of the road is scheduled to start in December 2026.

Column: With white-tailed deer, so many ask the same age-old question

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • September 22, 2024

“How old do you think this deer is?” It’s a common question. By following some basic guidelines it is possible to at least come close with a certain degree of confidence. The age of a buck is discernible by its antlers and size, but it's much more difficult to know the age of a doe with just a glance. ~ Bob Humphrey

150 years later, Maine Granges are still supporting farmers and their communities

SUN JOURNAL • September 22, 2024

The National Grange of the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry was founded in the 19th century as an advocacy group for farmers looking for a fair shake. Today, it offers rural communities support such as information and activities, and better internet and health care access, according to Maine State Grange Master/President Sherry Harriman. But it remains true to its roots, she said. “We are still advocating for fair agricultural trade practices, benefits, laws and support.” The first Maine Granges opened in 1874. By the end of 1874, there were 64 Granges and approximately 2,000 members. Membership reached about 55,000 among 419 orders by around 1900. Maine’s per-capita membership was the largest in the nation at that time. However, membership has dwindled since the 1960s. Maine now has 80 Granges, with about 2,200 members ages 14 to 114.

Plant-based food columnist explores Maine’s buried vegetarian history

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • September 22, 2024

Avery Yale Kamila knows a thing or two about plant-based eating. A vegan since 1991, she writes the Vegan Kitchen column for the Maine Sunday Telegram and has been the Press Herald’s plant-based food columnist for 15 years. In 2020, she created the Maine Vegetarian History Project. This month, the Maine Historical Society Museum debuted “Maine’s Untold Vegetarian History,” an exhibit that Kamila co-curated. It spotlights the groundbreaking ideas and work of vegetarian Mainers throughout history, from Father Sébastian Rale in the early 18th century, to 19th-century proponents like Seventh-day Adventist prophet Ellen G. White and Portland journalist Jeremiah Hacker, to the back-to-the-land teachings of Helen and Scott Nearing in the later 20th century.

Column: Tracking migration patterns gets a technological tailwind

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • September 22, 2024

With several billion birds migrating south, understanding the destination of birds is a daunting task. Banding birds is a tried-and-true technique but inefficient. For a bird banded in North America that winters in South America, the chances of capturing that banded bird in South America is slim. We now have techniques that do not require a marked bird to be recaptured. Satellite transmitters continue to be miniaturized so that even a small bird’s travels can be tracked from a computer desktop. The Motus Wildlife Tracking System, a project directed by Birds Canada, uses radio telemetry whose signals can be picked up by strategically placed radio antennas. Ultimately, the Motus team would like to have a dense network of antennas from North America to South America so that any tagged bird would be detected regularly on its migration. ~ Herb Wilson

Editorial: Let’s end squeamishness about beach access

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • September 22, 2024

The stretch of land between the high and low tide mark has been the subject of increasingly muscular squabbling up and down the coast of Maine in recent years. The persistent lack of legal clarity on the question has emboldened property owners to erect threatening signs and shoo people off stretches of strand they believe to be theirs alone based on colonial statutes that predate statehood by more than 150 years. We all live in Maine. Stretches of sandy beach are few, far between and deserve to be walked, wandered and in cheerful, respectful use by all of us who take an interest in them. 

Letter: Longtime walkers feeling beach bummed

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • September 22, 2024

My husband and I have been walking on our local beach for a decade, going from our house near Town Landing for a mile or two, and back. The walking route has been one of the best parts about living in our neighborhood. Earlier this year, new owners of a property right in the middle of our route posted no trespassing signs and have shouted at us from the cliff above the beach that we were on their property. Most of us want to live in a place where neighbors are friendly and say hello to one another rather than “Get off my property!” I hope the outcome of this lawsuit gives us the clear right to get back to not bothering anyone at all while we and our dog get a bit of fresh air and exercise. ~ Marian Starkey, Falmouth

Brunswick leaders continue push for fire system shutdown at MRRA board meeting

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 20, 2024

One month after 51,000 gallons of toxic firefighting foam spilled at Brunswick Executive Airport, the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority Board met for the first time to hear and deliberate actions demanded by residents, town and legislative leaders. After a two-hour meeting — including just over an hour of public comments, where residents slammed the MRRA for its response to the spill, the board voted to go into executive session to discuss personnel matters, namely to address calls for Executive Director Kristine Logan’s resignation. Nichols said after executive session, “We’re going to do everything we can to make this right. I think It’s our obligation to do what’s right for the environment and our mission and we’ll continue to do that. And we have all the confidence of [Logan] as well.”

What Trump has promised to do on ‘Day 1’ as president

WASHINGTON POST • September 21, 2024

Donald Trump said that he would not be a dictator “except for Day 1.” Since launching his bid for a second term, Trump has made 41 distinct promises about what he says he wants to do on his first day back in office as president. He has mentioned those promises more than 200 times on the campaign trail, including: 

• Repeal what he describes as Biden’s “electric vehicle mandate.”  

• Repeal the “Green New Deal,” a term that originated in a 2019 climate change resolution.

• Ease various fishing commercial regulations.

Hiker rescued after suffering head injury in fall on Tumbledown Mountain

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 20, 2024

A Massachusetts woman was rescued Friday after she fell while hiking on Tumbledown Mountain. Donna Hobart, 84, of Springfield, Massachusetts, was hiking with a friend up Parker Ridge Trail on the mountain in Weld about 3:45 p.m. when she fell and suffered a head injury. First responders hiked to Hobart to assess her injuries and determined she could walk out with assistance.

76-year-old rescued after falling 8 feet on Maine Appalachian Trail

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 20, 2024

A hiker from Georgia was rescued Friday after he fell 8 feet while hiking the Appalachian Trail in Maine. George O’Connor, 76, of Alpharetta, Georgia, was hiking south on the trail on Little Bigelow Mountain in Dead River Township about 11:10 a.m. when he fell about 8 feet and was seriously injured. The Maine Forest Service airlifted O’Connor off Little Bigelow Mountain and brought him to Carrabassett Valley Airport, where he was moved to another helicopter, which flew him to Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. O’Connor was treated at the hospital for spinal injuries.

A rare polar bear showed up on the shores of Iceland. Police shot it

ASSOCIATED PRESS • September 21, 2024

A rare polar bear that was spotted outside a cottage in a remote village in Iceland was shot by police after being considered a threat, authorities said Friday. The bear, a protected species in Iceland, was killed Thursday afternoon in the northwest of Iceland after police consulted the Environment Agency, which declined to have the animal relocated. The cottage owner, who was alone, was frightened. Other summer residents in the area had gone home. She stayed. “She knew the danger,” said police Chief Helgi Jensson. Polar bears are not native to Iceland but occasionally come ashore after traveling on ice floes from Greenland. A task force that studied the issue concluded that killing vagrant bears was the most appropriate response.

How to avoid common dangers that can ruin a Maine hike

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 21, 2024

Poison ivy, which can cause a person to develop an itchy rash, is recognizable by its three leaves growing side by side. The middle leaf is on a longer stem than the leaves to either side. Also on the list of things I avoid in the Maine wilderness are porcupines. Porcupines are shy creatures, but it’s a real problem if your dog decides to wrestle with one. That’s one of the many reasons I keep any dog I’m caring for on leash. Number three on my steer-clear-of list, and by far the most dangerous, is the deer tick, a pest that carries a cocktail of diseases. Lastly, biting flies such as mosquitoes and black flies have spoiled my hikes multiple times — but only because I wasn’t prepared. Insect repellent is my number one defense against these pests.

Bobcat found near Bangor neighborhood didn’t kill all the missing cats, experts say

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 20, 2024

Wildlife experts say a bobcat found dead near a Bangor neighborhood where roughly 20 pet cats have gone missing in recent months may have played a role but likely wasn’t solely to blame for the disappearances. Trisha Bruen, Bangor’s animal control officer, said a vehicle struck and killed the female bobcat on Buck Street near the horse barn entrance to Bass Park on Thursday.

Developer wants to divide Maine blueberry barren into house lots

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 20, 2024

A developer’s plans to divide a scenic blueberry barren in Blue Hill into nine house lots has met a backlash from people who want the property to remain as it is. Opponents have formed a group called Save the Blueberry Barrens in an attempt to prevent houses from being built on the 32-acre property, which abuts Route 172 and overlooks tidal Salt Pond. The scenic site has drawn wildlife, hunters and landscape painters over many years, becoming a place that area residents feel a connection with and want to preserve, critics say.

Column: This adventure of finding birds rare to Maine offshore is in my top 5 experiences

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 20, 2024

Maine has great birding wherever you go, but to fully appreciate everything our state has to offer, get offshore. That’s what a boatload of birders from 16 states did last Sunday, coming from as far away as Alaska. Maine Audubon enjoyed stunning weather and glassy seas for its annual trip into the Gulf of Maine. Participants watched northern gannets, Atlantic puffins, Wilson’s storm-petrels, red-necked phalaropes, lesser black-backed gulls. Several land birds whizzed by the boat, including a northern waterthrush, mourning warbler, yellow-bellied flycatcher or scarlet tanager .I’ve taken this trip multiple times over the years, but this was the first time I’ve seen long-tailed jaegers. ~ Bob Duchesne

A new tech startup incubator puts climate center stage

MAINE PUBLIC • September 20, 2024

This week Northeastern University’s Roux Institute launched its new ClimateTech Incubator at the Portland Campus. The incubator was seed-funded in part by the Maine Governor's Energy Office. Director Dan Burgess said the hope is that the investment will help spur green job growth in the state. The Governor has set a goal to see 30,000 clean energy jobs created by 2030. The accelerator brings a dozen climate and environment-focused start-ups to the Portland-based program, where they'll have access to prototyping spaces, mentorship opportunities, investors, and academic and business help.

Embrace your Wild Side – Unleashing your Inner Hunter

MORNING SENTINEL • September 20, 2024

Join us for a wide-ranging discussion featuring guests Judy Camuso, commissioner of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, and Erin Merrill, award-winning writer, about the role of hunting in conservation, different paths to becoming involved in or supporting conservation, and current goals for making the outdoors a welcoming space for everyone on Tuesday, November 12 at 7 p.m. at Greene Block + Studios.

Outdoor Explorers course, Brunswick

MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • September 20, 2024

Teens to Trails together with Parks and Rec designed a course called Outdoor Explorers for kids who want to take charge of their own adventures! Each week we'll dive into the woods, streams, and trails around Brunswick Junior High School, exploring whatever sparks our interest. From mastering maps and compasses to tracking animal footprints, watching the clouds roll by, and letting our imaginations run free. The course is led by students from BHS and Bowdoin College. Join us on Tuesdays from Sept 24 – Oct 29. Grades 6-8.