Trial in Popham Beach land dispute ends; judge expected to rule within weeks

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 23, 2024

Two families suing each other over the right to beachfront property in a Phippsburg neighborhood now await the judge’s decision in the more than two-year legal battle. The Hill and Tappen families met in Lincoln County Superior Court for what was expected to be a three to four-day bench trial last week, making their case in front of Superior Court Justice Thomas McKeon over who should be allowed to access the sandy shore in front of their cottages at Popham Beach. The Hill family argues the beachfront has always been considered a common area. But the Tappens said they bought the rights to the land between their properties. The Hill family said their case may have bigger implications about beach access in Maine.

Nation’s largest gathering of conservation leaders to gather in New England, September 25-28

LAND TRUST ALLIANCE • September 23, 2024

This week, the Land Trust Alliance is hosting the nation’s largest gathering of land conservation leaders and practitioners — the 37th Rally: National Land Conservation Conference. This year’s event is at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence, Rhode Island. More than 2,300 people from throughout the United States and beyond will attend Rally 2024, which begins Sept. 25 and concludes Sept. 28 and projects to generate a direct economic impact for the city of Providence of more than $2.6 million, on top of additional revenue from shopping, dining, transportation and more generated by Rally attendees.

Best way to clean up PFAS? Don’t spill it in the first place.

TIMES RECORD • September 23, 2024

Brunswick Landing’s Aug. 19 spill of toxic firefighting foam was one of the worst in decades, renewing concerns about how the former Brunswick Naval Air Station could be cleaned — or if it could be at all. Maine scientists say that eradicating the “forever chemicals” is complex. Without some form of human intervention, PFAS cannot break down naturally in the environment. Currently, the chemical family can only be disposed of by incinerating it at high temperatures. The best solution to PFAS contamination is prevention.

Women in Climate: Forests, Oct 1

THE NATURE CONSERVANCY • September 23, 2024

Join TNC Maine for a conversation with women working to conserve Maine’s iconic forests. Panelists: Dr. Suzanne Greenlaw, a citizen of the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians and Post-Doctoral Scientist for the Schoodic Institute at Acadia National Park; Abby King, TNC Maine Land Conservation Project Manager; and Karin Tilberg, President/CEO of the Forest Society of Maine. The discussion will be moderated by TNC Maine State Director Kate Dempsey. Free, preregister, at Hannaford Hall, Abromson Community Education Center, Portland, 7 pm.

Column: ‘Animal consciousness,’ and climate change, will change our food production

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 23, 2024

Human hunter-gatherers “knew” that animals were conscious and had rituals of apology when they killed them. But the reassuring doctrine of human exceptionalism triumphed everywhere in the “civilized” world — and the scientists, people of their time, just went along with the idea that nonhuman animals are not conscious. The crisis in biodiversity, linked to the climate crisis and almost as grave, is going to impose its own priorities on the present system of food production. In order to preserve the minimum biodiversity necessary for the long-term health of the biosphere, the human race must restore at least half the land currently used for growing crops to its original ecosystem functions over the next several generations. Fortunately, a new technology is making that a realistic possibility. In the long run, we might not even have to kill so many conscious entities. ~ Gwynne Dyer

Uncharted waters: Data gaps obscure Harpswell’s groundwater capacity

HARPSWELL ANCHOR • September 23, 2024

Experts have a good understanding of Harpswell’s potable water sources and extraction methods, but data limitations make it impossible to predict how many more residents the town’s groundwater can support. That was one of the key messages a state hydrogeologist conveyed during a presentation at Harpswell Community School. She issued a call to action for residents to start participating in the data-gathering process so the state can make better predictions.

Largest continuous habitat in southern Maine to be protected from development

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 23, 2024

The largest undeveloped tract on the Maine side of the Salmon Falls estuary with the largest continuous habitat along the coastline in southern Maine will now be forever protected. The Great Works Regional Land Trust secured enough grant funding and donations to buy the 79-acre area. The land trust also purchased 75 acres in North Berwick known as Bauneg Beg Mountain Recreation Area as part of its Woods to Water Campaign, which raised $3 million.

Letter: Heat pump rebate policy leaves many out in the cold

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 23, 2024

Efficiency Maine has become bullheaded about only giving rebates for whole house heat pumps, without any backup. We received no rebate from Efficiency Maine last year when we had our heat pumps installed because we still had a working furnace. Do these people even live in Maine? Between the up-front costs and the already exorbitant CMP bills (which will only keep going up), the state of Maine has now set an impossible goal. ~ Beth Anne King, Durham

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.