The most comprehensive online source of conservation news and events in Maine and beyond, edited by Jym St. Pierre
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Jym St. Pierre
Editor, Maine Environmental News
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 13, 2025
Though fewer international visitors are coming to Maine and the numbers of cruise ship passengers in Bar Harbor have dropped off sharply this summer, Acadia National Park had its busiest month ever in July. The reason, according to tourism industry officials, could be the dry weather Maine had last month. While visitation to the park has been historically high since the COVID pandemic, the record traffic through Acadia National Park comes at a time when economic and cultural factors such as threats of tariffs from the Trump administration and resulting soured relationships with traditional American allies have created economic uncertainty and slowed traffic across the border from Canada. The total estimated number of visits to the park in July was 797,000.
SUN JOURNAL • August 13, 2025
Representatives from a company developing a $1 billion pumped storage hydropower project in Oxford County met Monday with the Dixfield Select Board. “This is a long process…about four or five years. It’s going to be regulated by FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission),” said Tom Brennan, public affairs director with Western Maine Energy Storage, a company established in May 2024 and operating out of Cianbro Corp.’s Pittsfield headquarters. The project would be the first of its kind in Maine and among the largest in the Northeast, capable of generating about 500 megawatts of on-demand power. The project would use two 100-acre artificial reservoirs to store and release water for electricity generation during peak demand. The developer estimates annual energy output at 1 million megawatt hours; Maine uses a little more than 11 million megawatt hours of electricity a year.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 13, 2025
It is not uncommon for firefighters to be called to Sappi’s Somerset Mill in Skowhegan a few times per year. The paper mill is a massive, industrial facility, with no shortage of combustible material on site. But a stretch of dry, hot weather has led to a recent uptick in fires at the mill on Waterville Road, according to company and fire officials, drawing in emergency resources from around the region to battle each blaze. In a typical year, the Skowhegan Fire Department is called to about three to five fires at the facility, Deputy Chief Ryan Johnston said. This year, the department has responded to nine or ten fires — with six or seven those in June, July and the first half of this month. “I attribute maybe 80% of it to the high heat and the lack of rain.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS • August 13, 2025
A study recently published by the National Academy of Sciences found that when asked to rank actions, such as swapping a car that uses gasoline for an electric one, carpooling or reducing food waste, participants weren’t very accurate when assessing how much those actions contributed to climate change. “People over-assign impact to actually pretty low-impact actions such as recycling, and underestimate the actual carbon impact of behaviors much more carbon intensive, like flying or eating meat,” said Madalina Vlasceanu, report co-author. The top three individual actions that help the climate, including avoiding plane flights, choosing not to get a dog and using renewable electricity, were also the three that participants underestimated the most. Dogs have a big climate impact. Dogs are big meat eaters, and meat is a significant contributor to climate change.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 13, 2025
Chefs at the farmers’ market are like kids in a candy store. “This time of year at the market, it’s so exciting, because every week it changes,” Chef Neil Zabriskie of Regards said. “You can’t beat the vegetables we have at the market right now. They’re just insane. It blows me away. I’ve cooked all over this country, and Maine’s produce and farmers — the work they’re doing to bring this to the public every week — it just gets better all the time.”
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 13, 2025
Maine’s national parks, public lands and coastal programs are under threat. Acadia National Park, a cornerstone of Maine’s identity and economy, has lost essential year-round staff and canceled dozens of seasonal jobs due to federal cuts. That’s not just bad for the land — it’s bad for the communities and businesses that rely on it. Our National Wildlife Refuges — like Maine Coastal Islands and Moosehorn — have seen staffing and habitat restoration efforts slashed. Vital programs to protect puffins, marshlands and forest ecosystems are disappearing. A $9 million habitat restoration project was abruptly canceled. These cuts don’t just endanger wildlife and ecosystems — they put Maine people and livelihoods at risk. Public lands are our heritage, our economy and our responsibility to future generations. I urge our elected officials to fight for full funding of Acadia, protect Maine’s refuges and coastlines and reject the sale or privatization of any public lands. ~ Elizabeth Nitzel, Farmingdale
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 13, 2025
Located 10 miles off the coast, Monhegan is a place that’s so picturesque it’s hard to believe it’s real. The island is as magical as Neverland, yet I can assure you that you don’t need fairy dust to reach it. Just a boat. Ferries serve the island daily, launching from Port Clyde, New Harbor and Boothbay Harbor. The crossing takes 70-90 minutes. The island itself is less than 2 miles long and about half a mile wide. The last population count, in 2020, recorded 64 residents. Yet this small community is well-prepared for visitors, offering everything from fine art to Monhegan-themed apparel. Many people visit Monhegan to hike and enjoy nature. In fact, the majority of the island is wilderness, explorable by a network of well-kept trails. Nearly 400 acres are owned by Monhegan Associated Inc., which is one of the first land trusts.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 13, 2025
Rep. Jared Golden’s recent column claims that only one right whale death has been traced to Maine lobster gear over the last 30 years. But for decades, the lobster industry avoided sufficiently marking their fishing gear, so connecting their gear to whale deaths was virtually impossible. Since 90 percent of the lobster industry is in Maine and getting entangled in fishing gear is a primary killer of right whales, it stands to reason that Maine fishing gear has contributed to more than one premature death. Golden asserts that “fishermen need more time” before rules are put in place to protect the barely 370 right whales that remain on our planet. The government has considered right whales endangered since the Endangered Species Act passed more than 50 years ago. Right whales needed new regulations protecting them years ago, not a decade from now. ~ Erica Fuller, Conservation Law Foundation
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 13, 2025
A 6-acre sporting camp near Maine’s 100 Mile Wilderness with numerous cabins is for sale for $1.1 million. Established in 1895, the property, called Buckhorn Camps, sits on more than 6 acres and has 11 buildings on the property. This includes one main cabin, eight cabins of various sizes that the owners rent, an old dining hall called “the hangar,” and a workshop. The compound is on a peninsula of Jo-Mary Island in the North Maine Woods and is located in T4 Indian Purchase Township, an unorganized territory west of Millinocket. The property has 3,300 feet of lake frontage.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 13, 2025
In early June, Nice, France, hosted a series of ocean-focused events. The One Ocean Science Congress (OOSC) — a high-level scientific meeting — drew more than 2,150 ocean scientists from 113 countries who addressed the priority of a healthy and sustainable global ocean that shows continuing evidence of decline. Following five days of debate, the UNOC3 delegates issued the Nice Declaration, incorporating recommendations. It was adopted by acclamation and presented to the United Nations General Assembly for formal endorsement. On June 30, the vote was 162 nations in favor, one against, and no abstentions. The one negative vote was cast by the United States. The lone dissenting vote was by a nation that, despite having marine scientists at the forefront of the research, did not send those experts to the international forum where such research was discussed and debated, and recommendations drafted for the UN General Assembly. ~ Malcolm Shick, emeritus professor, UMaine
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 12, 2025
Wildlife monitoring technology has made huge strides. Remote cameras can not only record photos and color video, but track the date, time, temperature and even barometric pressure. The increased use of modern game cameras, some of which are quite valuable, also means they are tempting targets for thieves. While such theft is not an epidemic — the Maine Warden Service receives reports of several stolen trail cams each year. After making attempts to conceal a trail camera, the next line of defense is to attach it to a tree or other object using a cable or other mechanism with a lock. Hunters also say placing cameras where they are concealed by branches, while still providing a view of the area, helps keep them out of sight. Those who have experienced theft or vandalism say two cameras are better than one. While one is aimed at the target area, another is positioned to monitor the first.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 12, 2025
A spike in visits to a remote offshore section of Acadia National Park hasn’t sparked the same concerns about crowding and overtourism that have divided neighbors of the much more famous Mount Desert Island section of the park. The park owns about half of Isle au Haut, which is accessible by a 45-minute boat ride from Stonington. And that section of Acadia hasn’t been spared from the overall growing popularity of park, which has seen a roughly 20 percent increase in total annual visits since the COVID pandemic, from about 3.3 million visits each year to now nearly 4 million.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 12, 2025
Maine had 107,543 fewer international visitors in July than in the same month of 2024, increasing the gap from June and continuing a slump that started in February, according to new data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Travelers crossing the border into Maine last month numbered 276,951 compared to 384,494 in July 2024, a roughly 28 percent drop.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 12, 2025
Little Whaleboat Island in northern Casco Bay is a special place. Actually a trio of small islands and ledges named Little Whaleboat (West), Nate and Tuck, they’re connected at low tide. I’ve been visiting them since I began sea kayaking a couple of decades ago. The reason is simple — it’s a beautiful location easily reached by launching from Mere Point in Brunswick or Lookout Point and Mitchell Field in Harpswell. Little Whaleboat was privately owned and access was due to the generosity of the landowner. When the island was placed up for sale, Maine Coast Heritage Trust led an effort to raise $1.3 million to buy and conserve the island for the public for perpetuity.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 12, 2025
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the U.S. District Court’s decision that Bar Harbor can limit the number of cruise ship passengers allowed to disembark each day but sent the case back to the lower court for review. While the Court of Appeals backed most of the District Court's ruling last year, it directed the lower court to determine whether Bar Harbor's ordinance goes further than necessary.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 12, 2025
The Yarmouth Town Council is considering a moratorium on development in parts of town served by Royal River Pump Station sewershed, as the sewage pumping station is at capacity and in need of an upgrade. The proposed moratorium would temporarily suspend development in the over 1,225 designated Yarmouth parcels for 180 days, with the possibility of extension. Any construction that would lead to “additional sewer discharge,” including detached dwelling units, renovations that add to the number of bedrooms and commercial development on 19% of all Yarmouth land would be paused.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 13, 2025
The town of Lincoln closed a stretch of West Broadway on Wednesday afternoon, after a wildfire broke out. As of 5:20 p.m. some areas had been extinguished, but the fire continued to burn in others and the road remained closed. Dry conditions prompted the fire department last week to stop issuing open burning permits and rescind existing permits for the towns of Lincoln, Winn and Chester.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 12, 2025
Current wildfire locations and status updates can be monitored through ESRI’s StoryMaps and Living Atlas teams.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 12, 2025
The dry conditions in Maine mean that people enjoying the outdoors should use extra care to avoid starting a forest fire. The North Maine Woods and KI Jo-Mary Forest announced Monday they were not issuing fire permits. That means no fires are allowed at any unmaintained backcountry site or any area that requires a fire permit. Fires are still allowed at established campgrounds with maintained facilities and at private camps where permits are not required.
