Letter: Right whales are losing the battle

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 10, 2025

Right whales, like other similar species, sequester copious amounts of carbon simply by existing and create entire ecosystems with their migratory feeding patterns. Fishing line entanglement and ship strikes are the leading causes of their mortality, despite what the oil industry and other propagandists would have the unwitting, unknowing individual believe about offshore wind turbines. Yet collectively we do nothing but watch their slow, painful journey to the end. Basic and completely reasonable regulations fall one after the next, forfeited because of a few whining lobstermen and a newly elected fear-mongering degenerate. Someday we will face what we have invited upon ourselves. Until then, we witness. ~ Sarah Perry, Falmouth

Opinion: There are no easy answers when it comes to forest fire

CENTRAL MAINE • February 10, 2025

According to an expert in the White House, the best way to prevent forest fires is to rake all the combustible materials from forest floors. That couldn’t be done before the Maine forest fire of 1947 and it can’t be done now. The forest floor is covered with vegetation as well as dead, dry plant material — including trees. To remove all of this would be an unsustainable cost in any budget. The devastating fires in the Los Angeles area were not solely the result of unkempt plant life. Drought and hurricane-force winds made any ignition source unstoppable. I guess we’ll have to get rid of the wilderness. This would be of particular concern in Maine, where so much of the economy depends on the regeneration of its woodlands and maintaining an environment that attracts those from away. ~ Doug Yohman, East Waterboro

Nick Dorian talks of "The Secret Life of Bees" in horticulture series, Feb. 11

PENOBSCOT BAY PILOT • February 9, 2025

Nick Dorian, Ph.D. ecologist and educator, talks about “The Secret Lives of Wild Bees,” presented by Camden Garden Club, in coordination with the Camden Public Library, Feb. 11, from 9:30 a.m. On Zoom, preregister.

Discover the Largest Whitetail Deer Ever Harvested in Maine

AZ ANIMALS • February 9, 2025

There are about 320,000 deer in Maine. According to the Boone and Crocket Club, in 1965 Ronnie Cox earned the record for the largest whitetail deer harvested in Maine’s history. His trophy scored 193-2/8. Then-teenager Hill Gould shot the non-typical whitetail deer more than a century ago, in 1910. His buck’s antlers earned a score of 259. Word spread pretty quickly about the deer’s impressive and usual rack, but it didn’t enter the Boone and Crockett record books officially until 1994.

A Maine border town finds itself on the front line of a looming trade war

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • February 9, 2025

For many who live in towns like Madawaska, the result isn’t two distinct worlds but one community. External forces are threatening to pull that world apart. Economists have warned that the impacts of President Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs would reverberate through the American and global economies in ways big and small. Maine’s border towns, whose fortunes are closely tied to sister communities in Canada, will feel the effects acutely. Tariffs won’t just make everyday goods more expensive on both sides of the border, but may also cost the town’s millworkers their jobs. Across the border, greater Edmundston is a bustling metropolis compared with Madawaska. Judy Paradis, who represented Madawaska in the Legislature for years, said, “Canada has been so good to us — they don’t deserve this.”

Maine public health experts worry about federal data removed from websites

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 8, 2025

Public health experts say they are worried about access to important federal health data after agencies removed information in the last few weeks. Rebecca Boulos, executive director of the Maine Public Health Association, said, “We rely on data sources to help us understand what’s going on in public health.” Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, spoke out against the cap Monday, saying the “poorly conceived” directive.

Trump has targeted EV charger funding. It leaves $4M for Maine in doubt.

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 8, 2025

The Trump administration is rescinding federal funding to build electric vehicle chargers, leaving in doubt $4 million for Maine to build out a network. Transportation is responsible for 49% of Maine’s carbon emissions from fossil fuels, making the sector one of the state’s largest opportunities to combat climate change. A group of Maine environmentalists and a youth organization have sued the state, accusing officials of failing to comply with targets for reduced greenhouse gas emissions by not adopting policies broadening EV use. President Donald Trump’s action against the chargers is part of a broader policy of favoring fossil fuel production and halting zero-carbon initiatives. An executive order he issued jeopardizes Maine’s efforts to develop an offshore wind.

Using the ‘Magic’ of LiDAR to Map Maine’s Old-Growth Forests

INSIDE CLIMATE NEWS • February 8, 2025

In the remote northern half of Maine, forests dominate the landscape. While few people live in what’s known as “unorganized territory,” timber companies control vast swaths of land there and frequently harvest trees for housing, furniture, paper and more. But technology is revealing hidden gems in this part of the state. Dr. John Hagan, president of the nonprofit Our Climate Common, has recently begun using light detection and ranging, or LiDAR, to find patches of biodiverse old-growth forest. He said, “If you shoot LiDAR at the forest from an airplane, it gives you a three-dimensional signature of the forest. And it turns out, that can tell us exactly where the old forest is. About 4 percent of that 10 million acres is old-growth forest. So not very much percentage wise, but that’s about 400,000 acres that you didn’t know you had, and you don’t want to lose.”

Royal River Conservation Trust names new executive director

FORECASTER • February 7, 2025

The Royal River Conservation Trust has appointed Chris Franklin, an experienced land conservationist, as its new executive director. “I look at this as a great opportunity,” said Franklin, who is 57 and lives in North Yarmouth with his wife and three children. “I think the communities in the watershed really would like to see more open space preservation, more habitat protection, more working farms. Royal River (Conservation Trust) is really well positioned to be a catalyst for that.” Founded in 1988, the Yarmouth-based Royal River Conservation Trust works to conserve and steward 6,140 acres of land in the Royal River watershed across the municipalities Yarmouth, North Yarmouth, Auburn, Durham, Gray, New Gloucester and Pownal.

Maine DEP: $50M sludge bond would preserve landfill space

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 7, 2025

The state Department of Environmental Protection is proposing a $50 million bond to help wastewater treatment facilities buy the costly equipment needed to reduce the volume of sewage sludge headed to the state-owned landfill before it runs out of room by 2040. The proposal to bond funding for grants to help local sewer districts tackle the statewide sludge-disposal problem needs approval by a legislative committee and two-thirds of the House and Senate before it could be sent to voters in November.

Judge allows Maine lobstermen’s lawsuit over ‘red listing’ to advance

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 7, 2025

After almost two years in limbo, a defamation lawsuit Maine lobstering groups filed against a California aquarium can move forward, a federal judge ruled Friday. The Maine Lobsterman’s Association, the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association and three lobster businesses sued the Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation in 2023 after the organization’s Seafood Watch program put lobster on a “red list” of seafood consumers should avoid. The Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation argued that it has a right to make its rating based on Maine’s free speech laws. But Maine lobstermen have said that the red listing not only is false but also has caused significant economic harm to them and the Maine lobster brand.

Donald Trump Jr. accused of shooting protected rare duck in Venice Lagoon

CNN • February 7, 2025

An Italian lawmaker has filed a legal complaint for hunting without a license against Donald Trump Jr. and his hunting party. The president’s son is accused of shooting a protected rare duck in the Venice Lagoon. It comes after video surfaced showing him surrounded by dead birds he and his group allegedly shot in a protected conservation area. The dead birds appear to include an orange-brown ruddy shelduck, which is protected under Italian law. A spokesperson for Trump Jr. said the president’s son had the necessary authorizations to hunt.

Husson University to launch two new degree programs in the fall

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 7, 2025

Husson University will launch two new bachelor of science degrees in fall 2025, expanding the opportunities available to students in Maine and nationally. The BS in wildlife biology and conservation program will launch as both an online degree and an on-campus degree, while the bachelor of science in professional health sciences program will join the university’s popular online degree programs.

Column: Rural Monroe worth visit for scenic beauty and great hiking trails

KENNEBEC JOURNAL • February 7, 2025

Monroe’s 39 square miles are home to a wealth of natural beauty, from woods and wetlands to farms and fields, all nestled amid low, rolling hills. That’s reason enough to make the pleasant drive, but when you discover there are great hiking trails to be enjoyed, as I did recently thanks to a tip from a friend, you consult your Gazetteer and go. Northern Pond Natural Area is considered “the jewel of Monroe” by many in the area. ~ Carey Kish

South Portland halts disputed tree removal near jetport

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 7, 2025

City officials have halted a nearly finished tree removal project by the Portland International Jetport along Interstate 295 that may have violated municipal, state and federal land use regulations. A jetport contractor began removing trees last week to clear a runway approach as required by the Federal Aviation Administration. The project was approved by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, which owns the property in a wooded area to the rear of Calvary Cemetery. But it’s unclear whether the work has complied with a site plan issued by city planners in 2019; a municipal tree protection ordinance approved in 2022; or wetlands protection laws overseen by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Column: These big birds hunt smaller ones at backyard feeders

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 7, 2025

Accipiters are a family of hawks that primarily hunt small woodland birds. They have relatively short wings, enabling them to accelerate quickly. They have long tails that act like rudders, allowing them to maneuver swiftly through forests. They hunt by ambush, flashing in suddenly to snatch an unwary victim. There are three accipiter species in North America. Maine has all three. Sharp-shinned hawks are the smallest. Cooper’s hawks are medium-sized. American goshawks are brutes, roughly the size of a red-tailed hawk. ~ Bob Duchesne

Farmers and lawmakers hope to secure future of Maine’s PFAS support program

MAINE MORNING STAR • February 7, 2025

Thanks to a $60 million allocation in the 2021 state budget, the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry has developed a program to assist farmers and respond to high levels of PFAS in agricultural land. In the years since, the department has made significant progress on those efforts and learned that most contaminated farms can remain viable with the proper support, said Beth Valentine, director of the department’s PFAS Fund. LD 130 would enshrine in statute Maine’s existing response program for PFAS contamination on farmland, which has been touted as a national leader. The PFAS Response program currently has seven full-time staff members who provide technical and financial assistance to more than 80 farms with varying levels of contamination. 

Interior Secretary’s new order sparks concerns over national monument protections

AZ PUBLIC MEDIA • February 7, 2025

Environmentalists say that a new order issued this week by the new Interior Secretary puts national monuments at risk. On Monday, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued a Secretarial Order, prompting an internal review of agency actions related to oil, gas, and mining regulations on public lands. The order requires all assistant secretaries to submit an action plan within 15 days, outlining how to comply with President Trump’s Executive Order, Unleashing American Energy.

Regulators seek approval to cut bills for Mainers who use electricity during off-peak hours

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 6, 2025

Maine lawmakers on Thursday began to dig into the details of how to charge less to electricity ratepayers who plug in an electric vehicle in the middle of the night or run a washing machine before breakfast. The concept, called time-of-use rates, incentivizes people to use electricity at odd hours to reduce the load on the region’s electric grid. Reducing the load frees up the grid to accommodate greater use of electric vehicles, heat pumps and other electrification to replace fossil fuels. It would also reduce the need to upgrade or build costly transmission lines that are billed to ratepayers.

Auburn hires David Hediger as its new planning director

SUN JOURNAL • February 6, 2025

Auburn announced Thursday that it has hired David Hediger as its new planning director. Hediger has more than 20 years experience in comprehensive planning, code enforcement and project management. He previously served as director of planning and code enforcement for Lewiston, leading municipal planning initiatives and managing zoning and land use regulations. Most recently, he was a senior planner for the Land for Maine’s Future program.