The most comprehensive online source of conservation news and events in Maine and beyond, edited by Jym St. Pierre
SUN JOURNAL • November 20, 2024
A vehicle fire Tuesday afternoon on Route 202 spread into the woods, onto Central Maine Power property and burned about 4 acres of woods and low brush. Fire crews from 10 towns battled the quick-spreading fire with the help of two Maine Forest Service helicopters, three Maine Forest Service rangers, Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office deputies and one of its drones, and two bulldozers escorted into town by Lewiston police.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 20, 2024
The federal government says it is concerned with the Tom’s of Maine toothpaste company after the company failed to address its concerns with small levels of bacteria in the company’s water. Tom’s of Maine is based in Sanford and owned by Colgate-Palmolive.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 20, 2024
The South Portland Comprehensive Plan is designed to be based on community surveys and engagement to understand what the residents of South Portland want for the future of their city. However, PK Realty has exerted disproportionate influence during this process. We remain steadfast in supporting No Yard South as we advocate for safe, reasonable and sustainable development next to Bug Light. Let’s ensure that South Portland’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan reflects the values and vision of its residents, rather than the interests of developers. ~ Barbara Dee, retired education administrator, and Linda Skinner, 30-year South Portland resident
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 20, 2024
The gun rights group that filed a lawsuit last week challenging the constitutionality of the Maine law requiring a 72-hour waiting period after purchasing a gun hopes the case makes it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. If it does, it could set a new precedent for a court that in the past has allowed restrictive gun laws to stand, said David Trahan, executive director of Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine. The lawsuit was filed Nov. 12 by Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine and Gun Owners of Maine, citing a violation of the 2nd Amendment. Maine hunters hope that the waiting period will be repealed. Among them is Ben Dyer, who survived being shot five times during the Lewiston shooting.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 20, 2024
The first leg of an 84-mile mountain bike trail was built near Monson in Piscataquis County over the summer. The Elliotsville Foundation Inc. is building the new trail, which will be open to hiking, biking, snowshoeing, cross country skiing and other nonmotorized types of recreation, according to Lucas St. Clair, foundation president. The trail will cost from $30,000 to $50,000 per mile and could take 10 years to complete if the funding continues to come in, he said.
SUN JOURNAL • November 19, 2024
A second phase of shoreland restoration work is wrapped up for the winter on two adjacent lakefront properties of Sebago Lake at the center of a legal battle between the town of Raymond and Auburn businessman Don Buteau for more than two years. The restoration work is part of a consent agreement between the town and Buteau, his real estate holding company Management Controls LLC, his primary contractor Robert Durant, and Q-Team Tree Service.
TIMES RECORD • November 19, 2024
Growing to Give Farm Director Theda Lyden hands over leadership to Lindsay Wasko, who will carry on the mission of cultivating fresh produce for those in need. Recently, the group has attracted attention for its commitment to regenerative agriculture and its role in combatting food insecurity. This August, it exceeded over 100,000 pounds of donated produce — nearly 83,333 meals. n less than a decade, the organization at Scatter Good Farm has grown and distributed 86 varieties of vegetables across seven counties, all while using climate-friendly farming methods and supporting vulnerable communities.
TIMES RECORD • November 19, 2024
Johnson Hall Opera House in Gardiner will present its first feature-length film screening since 1956 on Saturday, Nov. 23, with “A Peace of Forest.” The filmmakers and producers, Lee Ann and Thomas Szelog, will host a Q&A with the audience immediately following the 7 p.m. movie. Created in Whitefield, “A Peace of Forest” is an 87-minute film described by audience members as, “The most beautiful film I have ever seen, exhibiting our natural world,” and “This film is a gift; it is so rich.” Touted as a quiet film, “A Peace of Forest” is a one-of-a-kind cinematic adventure, allowing viewers to experience a wild, peaceful and mysterious world that is filled with complex relationships and ways of wonder.
CENTRAL MAINE • November 19, 2024
This past summer I witnessed an unusual occurrence on China Lake. In mid-May, a baby loon seen swimming along with its parents. This “loonlet” and its parents were defying the odds. For loons to build their nest right on the waters’ edge in a populated area — and for the chick to survive — is amazing. During the Fourth of July fireworks boaters crowded into the area to watch the fireworks display. One of the leading causes of loon-chick deaths is boat strikes, but the loon family survived. Bass tournaments begin at the boat landing, and I cringed every time the bass boats took off, speeding down the lake to claim their fishing spots. But the loons paddled on. One neighbor told me they watched an eagle try to make the baby loon its lunch. Fortunately, by this time the baby was able to dive. Now, having seen the challenges this young loon faced, I have new appreciation for every loon I see. ~ Bill Powell
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 19, 2024
A decade ago, the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens realized that it could take advantage of the natural lull in its calendar and keep its workers on through the winter. It began an annual holiday light display that’s now the biggest in Maine and one of the most well-regarded in the nation. The Gardens Aglow light display recently began its 10th year, with about a mile of paths leading visitors through gardens with 750,000 LED holiday lights. If laid out end-to-end, the lights would stretch 66 miles in total. The team has begun to think less about making it bigger each year, and more about making it sustainable for the environment and the workers.
MAINE MORNING STAR • November 19, 2024
The nonprofit Trust for Public Land is set to return 31,000 acres purchased from a timber investor in Maine to Penobscot tribal management. It will be the largest return of its kind to an Indigenous tribe in U.S. history, without any easements or other restrictions. More than 420,000 acres have been returned nationally to tribal management over the past 20 years.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 19, 2024
Maine is making substantial progress toward reducing carbon emissions through the strategy of becoming reliant on a single source of energy: electricity – and distributing that electricity from the main energy corridors to homes and business through a highly vulnerable network of wooden poles located right next to our roads. In the past 10 years the amount of weight being carried by these poles in many parts of the greater Portland area has increased by close to 50%. This 170-year-old technology is no longer capable of providing Maine with secure and resilient energy. If every federal and/or state-funded transportation project included matching funds and technical assistance for grid relocation and redesign, Maine could, project by project, ensure that we are able to rely upon electricity when it becomes the only game in town. ~ Peter Ryner, research faculty member, University of Michigan, and planning director, University of Southern Maine’s Coastal Zone Laboratory
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 19, 2024
Trump’s anti-climate policy declares war on our children, who will bear the brunt of accelerated climate change. Why would the Republican Party turn its back on climate progress? Because they are beholden to the fossil fuel industry, which has been paying billions of dollars for decades to politicians and political media to spread the lie that climate change is either a hoax or not a big deal. Sen. Collins has previously sponsored legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but she also accepts donations from the fossil fuel industry. We ask her now to step up and be the climate hero that our children need. Someone has to lead the Republican Party out of the wilderness. They have to start representing our families, not multinational corporations. ~ Richard Thomas, Waterville
ASSOCIATED PRESS • November 18, 2024
The volume and value of America’s commercial fishing industry both fell according to newly released federal figures, though members of the industry said the decline was to be expected following a recent spike in supply. The catch at U.S. ports in the 50 states fell 2.6% to 8.4 billion pounds in 2022, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s “Fisheries of the United States” report, which the agency released this month. The same report said the catch was worth $5.9 billion at the docks in 2022, the most recent year with available statistics, and that was a drop of 11%.
SUN JOURNAL • November 18, 2024
The City Council on Monday supported a series of changes to the Lake Auburn watershed ordinance focused on limiting the impacts from farming and other related uses on water quality. While previous changes focused on limiting development, updated septic standards and a process for conducting septic inspections, the new slate of changes focuses on how agricultural uses could impact the lake.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 18, 2024
Commercial Maine fishermen, who have largely supported Donald Trump since he first ran for president in 2015, have high hopes for his upcoming second administration. Many fishermen hope Trump will address are plans for offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine, which they argue would economically harm their fisheries and cause environmental damage to marine habitat. Some fishermen also hope that Trump will put other federal restrictions on the chopping block, including mandates to use whale-safe fishing gear. During his first term, after he imposed tariffs on China in 2018, it responded with a retaliatory 25 percent tariff on American lobster, which cut Maine’s exports by millions of pounds. Trump has pledged to impose tariffs on China again when he is sworn back into office.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 18, 2024
Portland will soon have a pool of money dedicated to paying for projects that reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses released by the city. The Portland City Council voted Monday night to establish a municipal climate action fund, which was recommended by city staff and the council’s finance and sustainability and transportation committees. This pot of money can only be used for its designated purpose – to cut down the city’s carbon emissions.
SUN JOURNAL • November 18, 2024
The Lisbon Water Department, considered a large system by state standards, recently released its Lead Service Line Inventory that identified 630 service lines of concern due to lead exposure, most of them privately owned. The service stopped installing lead pipes about 100 years ago but owners were still allowed to use whatever piping materials they wanted for their homes.
MAINE PUBLIC • November 18, 2024
The number of tourists visiting Maine this past summer dipped by about 9% compared to the previous year. Recent data from the Maine Office of Tourism show that direct spending between May and August barely dipped by 0.4%. In addition, fewer visitors stayed with friends or family or in second homes this past summer and stayed fewer days in Maine, according to the report. Becky Jacobson, executive director of Hospitality Maine, said visitation appears to be settling back down to 2019 levels from before the pandemic.
SUN JOURNAL • November 18, 2024
Sugarloaf Mountain has an ambitious outlook for the upcoming ski season, still planning on opening this weekend ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, weather conditions permitting. Enhancements to Sugarloaf’s snowmaking capabilities include the addition of over 1,100 snowmaking tower guns and fan guns over a five-year period. The installation of a new 20-inch water main line this summer replaces an old 14-inch line along West Mountain Trail. The resort says the bigger diameter water line increases its capacity to move water volume by 10% and is already making a big difference. Snowmaking has now been extended to the Twitcher Trail for the first time, a new trail that is part of the expansion.
