The most comprehensive online source of conservation news and events in Maine and beyond, edited by Jym St. Pierre
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 5, 2025
Grand Falls Agromart, a Canadian fertilizer company located 3 miles from the Hamlin, Maine, border crossing plans to set up a facility in northern Maine next year, saying it is the only way to stay in business and circumvent the bilateral trade tariffs that went into effect on Tuesday.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 4, 2025
Tariffs that took effect Tuesday targeted all products from Canada and Mexico, hitting particularly hard in Maine, where residents depend more heavily on heating oil than in any other state. President Donald Trump slapped 25% tariffs against all goods, with energy facing a 10% tariff. Consumers of heating oil and propane will feel the hit by the end of the week, he said, and households that are struggling to make their payments will now pay 10% more. “This will be a hard pill to swallow,” said Patrick Woodcock, president and CEO of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce and ex-director of the Maine Energy Office. More than 80% of heating fuel and gasoline is imported to the state from Canada. ISO-New England, the region’s grid operator, said it estimates it would be on the hook for $66 million to $165 million a year to pay a 10% to 25% tariff on electricity imported from Canada. “In a worst-case scenario, the ISO could be forced to seek bankruptcy protection and the federal government could restrict or ban Canadian electricity imports into New England until the duties are paid,” it said.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 5, 2025
Spurred on by last year’s Brunswick Landing chemical spill, a Maine legislative committee unanimously endorsed two proposals Wednesday that would catalog, collect and destroy the state’s unwanted stockpile of toxic firefighting foam. The bills, plus one other that would require all foam to be removed from Brunswick Landing, have met with enthusiastic support from the Brunswick community, including many neighbors who say they don’t want another community to endure an accidental spill like the one that upended theirs. If approved by both chambers, the bills would still require appropriations committee approval because of the combined $5.2 million price tag.
TIMES RECORD • March 5, 2025
Last Friday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) notified the University of Maine that it would immediately end its funding for the Maine Sea Grant — a key program that has bolstered coastal communities and created thousands of marine jobs over the past 50 years. In a termination letter NOAA official Timothy Carrington wrote that the activities of Maine Sea Grant are “no longer relevant to the Administration’s priorities and program objectives.” Wednesday, the administration agreed to renegotiate funding for Maine Sea Grant following conversations between U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnik and U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. The renegotiation would put funding back on the table so long as the work supported by the program “focuses on advancing Maine’s coastal economies, working waterfronts and sustainable fisheries.”
MAINE PUBLIC • March 5, 2025
State energy officials have regained access to a $62 million dollar solar power award frozen in the early days of the Trump presidency. The Solar for All grant through the Environmental Protection Agency is intended to help low-income and disadvantaged households access solar power and energy storage. Maine lost the funding just days after President Trump took office.But on Tuesday, the Maine Governor’s Energy office said it is again able to access the fund.
MAINE PUBLIC • March 5, 2025
The U.S. Commerce Department said Wednesday it will renegotiate the terms of the Maine Sea Grant. The Trump administration announced over the weekend that it was discontinuing a four-year, $4.5 million award to Maine Sea Grant, describing the program's activities as "no longer relevant to the focus of the administration’s priorities and program objectives." But on Wednesday afternoon, Maine U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, announced that after conversations with her the day before, the Commerce Department agreed to modify the terms of the Sea Grant Award.
NATURAL RESOURCES COUNCIL OF MAINE • March 5, 2025
A final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) issued for four dams on Maine’s Kennebec River ignores the best available science and could doom endangered Atlantic salmon to extinction while harming recovery of other sea-run fish, according to a coalition of local residents, conservation organizations, and fishing groups, together with the Penobscot Nation and Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians and the Conservation Law Foundation. The EIS published by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) ignores comments from more than 2,000 anglers, local businesses, scientists, and others who spoke at public hearings, submitted comments online, or signed a petition, all calling for a solution on the Kennebec that results in recovery of millions of sea-run fish, including critically endangered Atlantic salmon. FERC’s flawed EIS relies on engineered fish passage that has not worked anywhere else in the world.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 5, 2025
Maine is the first state in the country to buy out a farmer driven off his land by forever chemicals. The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry spent $333,000 from the state’s $60 million forever chemical relief fund to buy a secluded 24-acre hay field and 83 acres of forest in Palermo, according to state officials and county land records. “It’s bittersweet,” said Beth Valentine, the director of the state’s Fund to Address PFAS Contamination. “I’m glad we’ve closed on our first property so other landowners can see that this is a potential option if they want to move off the land, but I also recognize it was very hard for this landowner.”
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 3, 2025
The Trump administration has agreed to renegotiate funding for Maine Sea Grant, one of the state’s key coastal resource programs, following conversations between U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnik and U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. The renegotiation would put funding back on the table so long as the work supported by the program “focuses on advancing Maine’s coastal economies, working waterfronts and sustainable fisheries,” Collins’ office said in an emailed statement Wednesday afternoon. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Saturday that it was rescinding the $4.5 million award that supports marine science research, workforce development and education across the state for four years. It’s unclear when the money would be restored and when projects could resume. Maine Sea Grant will need to reapply for funding.
TIMES RECORD • March 5, 2025
One of the signs of spring is the emergence of coastal salt marshes. While not verdant green, they do contain plenty of life — and support plenty more of it. Salt marshes may not be the most romantic aspect of the edge of the sea, as compared to sandy beaches or sparkling tide pools, but they do have a particular, gentle beauty. On a sunny, warm day, they look a lot like fields of hay swept by the wind. In fact, salt marshes are an incredible example of the crossover between land and sea. They live a bit in both worlds. ~ Susan Olcott, Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association
NH PUBLIC RADIO • March 5, 2025
Home heating oil. Lumber. Seafood. Airplane parts. Businesses and consumers across New England rely heavily on these and other Canadian imports, raising fears about the trickle down costs of President Trump’s imposition of a 25% tariff, which went into effect Tuesday. In Maine, Canadian imports were valued at around $4.7 billion last year, with fuel oil, electricity, seafood and lumber the largest sectors. Canada is the region’s largest single trading partner, accounting for $27 billion in goods in 2024. At a time when high food prices continue to drive frustration for shoppers, a 25% tax on Canadian agricultural imports may mean even more sticker shock at grocery stores. Representatives of Maine’s lobster industry are raising the alarm about how the tariffs could impact its closely connected supply chain with Canada.
MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • March 5, 2025
Amy Niemczura-Sowa, the first person to complete all 59 trails, spurs, and mentioned distances in the 12th edition of the Maine Mountain Guide, tells tales. At Lithgow Library, Augusta, March 31, 6 pm, free.
SUN JOURNAL • March 5, 2025
The Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife this week heard from fans and foes who debated a bill that would end a policy that sets no daytime limits on shooting coyotes and replace it with a new coyote hunting season from Oct. 1 to March 31. Susan McHugh of Auburn, a researcher who studies human-animal relations, called the bill “a long-overdue move toward supporting common-sense practices that have proven to work well in other states and countries.” But hunters statewide told the committee Monday to kill the proposal.
CBS 13 • March 5, 2025
In response to tariffs from President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced retaliatory tariffs on the United States. During a news conference on Tuesday, he said the country will also try to buy Canadian products whenever possible and urged citizens not to vacation in the U.S., including Old Orchard Beach, a popular tourist attraction in Maine.
SENTRY/LEADER • March 5, 2025
The Scarborough Land Trust announced this week it has conserved 30 acres of land with 1,800 feet of frontage along the Nonesuch River. The majority of the property is located in Gorham but the river and adjacent lands act as a wildlife corridor in Scarborough, according to the land trust, and conservation of the parcel heightened wildlife protection.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 5, 2025
U.S. Sen. Angus King and U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree are demanding the Trump administration immediately undo its “ill-advised decision” to abruptly end support for the Maine Sea Grant program. In a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick dated March 5, King and Pingree defended Maine Sea Grant as an “invaluable resource” for supporting the state’s coastal economy. For every federal dollar invested, it generates $15 in economic activity, adding up to $23.5 million annually, they wrote. Maine Sea Grant, which started in 1971, supported more than 300 businesses and more than 560 jobs in 2023.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 5, 2025
The town of Bucksport is taking steps to attract a new biofuel plant, starting with seeking a grant to assess how well it and the surrounding region could support such a facility. Biofuels are processed from organic materials, or biomass, such as wood byproducts from the paper or timber industry. Some biomass electricity operations have faltered in Maine. The industry got a $13 million bailout in 2016, but one plant owner ran them only intermittently and filed for bankruptcy in 2022. Two biomass electricity plants in Aroostook County shut down in 2018 and 2019, citing market conditions. But new plant proposals focusing on biofuels have come to other towns recently, including Lincoln, Limestone, Millinocket and East Millinocket.
MAINE PUBLIC • March 5, 2025
Maine's outgoing commissioner of marine resources is warning about the dire impacts of newly imposed tariffs on Canadian imports. Maine sends about $200 million worth of lobster each year to Canada, where it's processed and sent back to the U.S. or to third markets. Marine Resources Commission Pat Keliher said the tariffs could trigger major cuts in what Maine lobstermen are paid for their catch that could "cripple" the state's iconic fishery.
MAINE PUBLIC • March 4, 2025
U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King of Maine have split on a bill that would bar transgender athletes from competing in women's sports and have direct implications in a standoff between Gov. Janet Mills and the Trump administration. If approved, it would effectively enshrine President Donald Trump's recent executive order banning transgender athletes from competing on women's sports teams. U.S. Sens Angus King acknowledged that some may be frustrated that transgender athletes can compete on women's sports teams, but he said that the bill would mean that the state could lose all federal funding if a single Maine school district decided not to comply with a federal mandate. "I find it odd that many of those supporting this legislation have exactly the opposite position when it comes to women’s reproductive choices — that that issue should be left to the states — while the question of transgender athletes requires a federal solution which overrides local control," King said.
ASSOCIATED PRESS • March 4, 2025
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s long-threatened tariffs against Canada and Mexico went into effect Tuesday, putting global markets on edge and setting up costly retaliations by the United States’ North American allies. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country would slap tariffs on more than $100 billion of American goods over the course of 21 days. The U.S. president’s moves raised fears of higher inflation and the prospect of a devastating trade war even as he promised the American public that taxes on imports are the easiest path to national prosperity.
