Stop the spread: protect Maine’s waters

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 2, 2025

Imagine heading out for a peaceful day of boating and swimming, only to find the water clogged with invasive plants. Or to your favorite fishing spot, where you discover your choice fish species is struggling to survive as a newly introduced invasive fish is beginning to thrive. This is the reality when aquatic invasive species take over. All eradication, suppression, and other management strategies are costly and cause irreversible damage to the water and its native species of fish, plants, and wildlife. Preventing the spread of aquatic invasive species is the most effective way to protect Maine’s waters.

Judge sides with federal agencies, won’t pull permits for NECEC

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 1, 2025

A federal judge has decided not to revoke permits for the controversial New England Clean Energy Connect corridor, effectively ending a long-running legal battle — but not until more than a third of the project had already been completed. Chief U.S. District Judge Lance Walker on Monday ruled in favor of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Department of Energy, after several environmental groups sued the federal agencies over their environmental analysis of the $1.5 billion 145-mile transmission corridor to bring Canadian hydropower to the New England grid.

Emerald ash borer confirmed on Mount Desert Island

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 1, 2025

The Maine Forest Service expanded its emerald ash quarantine zones to include all towns on Mount Desert Island. The quarantine follows the discovery of a “well-established” population of emerald ash borers, an extremely invasive wood-boring beetle that kills nearly all species of ash trees in Maine.

Town of Brunswick to host spring Coastal Cleanup for Earth Day

TIMES RECORD • April 1, 2025

The Town of Brunswick has partnered up with Mere Point Oyster Co., Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust and others for the fourth annual Coastal Cleanup event on Saturday, April 5. Cleanup will be from 10 a.m. to noon alongside Paul’s Marina, Merrymeeting Shellfish Co., Smith’s Boatyard and Flight Deck Brewing in celebration of Earth Day. All ages are welcome to volunteer. The event will include scavenger hunts and a shell-decorating station so children will have fun while making a positive impact on the environment.

Bill would eliminate coyote killing contests in Maine

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 1, 2025

A bill that will go to public hearing in Augusta on Wednesday would prohibit coyote killing contests in the state if enacted. LD1293, An Act to Prohibit Coyote-killing Contests in Maine, targets a longtime practice in the state in which private rod and gun clubs or other nonprofits will award prizes or honors or otherwise compensate hunters who kill coyotes to support popular game animals such as deer. Animal rights advocates see the control programs and contests as exploitative, cruel and unsportsmanlike.

Towns want to take over Bucksport-area dams to avoid ‘catastrophe’

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 31, 2025

Four towns in western Hancock County say they are on a tight timeline to find a way to take over two dams built decades ago to supply the defunct Bucksport paper mill. The salvage company that bought the former mill is asking the state to let it abandon the dams, potentially releasing the water from them, using a 30-year-old Maine law that’s never been tested. Now, representatives from Blue Hill, Orland, Penobscot and Surry want to form two quasi-municipal agencies to take over ownership and maintenance of the aging, hazardous dams on Alamoosook Lake and Toddy Pond.

Lawmaker argues it’s a ‘moral imperative’ to address high energy costs alongside climate change

MAINE MORNING STAR • March 31, 2025

While the struggle for low-income residents to afford their power bill is not new, Rep. Sophie Warren believes that the transition to clean energy needs to prioritize such economic justice issues to ensure no one is left behind in the state’s efforts to address climate change. Last session, she introduced a bill that sought to bolster support for low-income residents to access energy efficiency and weatherization programs. Although that bill died, part of what Warren had hoped to achieve eventually came to fruition when the Maine Climate Council for the first time included in updated Climate Action Plan strategies to lower the energy burden on Maine residents. Though Warren applauds that work, she introduced LD 1037 to go a step further by requiring the climate council to include in its annual report to lawmakers specific recommendations for how to reduce the portion of Mainers’ income that is being spent on electricity and home heating fuels.

Maine Coast Heritage Trust raises funds to boost climate awareness

TIMES RECORD • March 31, 2025

The second annual Tides of Change fundraiser brought hundreds of people from across southern Maine to Freeport to support Maine Coast Heritage Trust’s (MCHT) efforts to mitigate the damaging effects of climate change. Kate Stookey, president and CEO of the Topsham-based MCHT, said the Tides of Change fundraiser on March 27 at Maine Beer Company brought in over $92,000, surpassing last year’s event, which pulled in about $75,000. Fundraisers like Tides of Change bring awareness to MCHT’s work, such as conserving Maine’s coastlines and natural areas with programs like The Rivers Initiative and The Marshes for Tomorrow Initiative and efforts to secure land for conservation through its Land Trust Program.

King-backed bill would force USDA to pay farmers’ federal contracts

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 31, 2025

Despite a judge's orders and the Trump administration's promise to release the funding, farmers across the country, including in Maine, are still waiting for millions in federal reimbursements for agricultural conservation projects. Maine Sen. Angus King joined with Senate Democrats on Monday to introduce legislation that would force the Trump administration to release federal agricultural funding that has been withheld from farmers with signed contracts.

Woolwich rep. wants free state park admission for veterans’ families

TIMES RECORD • March 31, 2025

Rep. Allison Hepler, D-Woolwich, introduced legislation on March 25 that would restore free admission to state parks and historic sites for the immediate family members of veterans and active military personnel. Hepler said, “Veterans make up nearly 10% of Maine’s population, the fifth-highest percentage in the nation with more than 105,000 living here. My bill aims to extend admission to the family members of our veterans as a small way to also recognize their sacrifices, so they too can freely access and enjoy our state parks and historic sites.”

Opinion: Logging is quietly ravaging US forests. Trump is taking an axe to protections

THE GUARDIAN • March 31, 2025

The world is running out of time to halt deforestation and forest degradation. Yet instead of stepping up, the United States is dismantling forest protections and undermining global progress – highlighting the dangers of global forest policy that fails to hold the wealthiest, most powerful countries accountable. It is a system built on the false assumption that the global north behaves responsibly, while scrutiny is reserved for tropical countries. But the latest actions by the US highlight just how dangerous and unbalanced this paradigm is. Trump’s latest action clearly shows the current model needs to change. ~ Jennifer Skene, Natural Resources Defense Council

Maine moving forward with budworm control, but funding delay will limit spray area

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 31, 2025

Maine will move forward with an effort to control spruce budworm infestations near the Canadian border, but the failure to get emergency state funding will limit the acreage that can be sprayed with insecticide this spring. The state has enough money to spray about 85% of the land on the verge of a spruce budworm outbreak.

Opinion: Electricity pricing proposal is all wrong for Maine

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 31, 2025

LD 186, “An Act to Clarify the Public Utilities Commission’s Authority to Establish Time of Use Pricing for Standard Offer Service,” would allow the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to implement time of use (TOU) pricing, which involves charging different rates for electricity usage during peak and off-peak hours. While this may seem like a fair approach to managing energy consumption, it disproportionately affects retirees, family caregivers and those who work from home. ~ André Chassé, AARP Maine’s volunteer state president

Opinion: Maine’s highest court spoke up for cyclists. Drivers and lawmakers should listen.

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 29, 2025

In State v. Ray, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court recently vacated a trial court decision against an experienced cyclist, who was wrongly ticketed by a law enforcement officer for allegedly violating the statute. As the court made clear in its decision, “because the statute leaves it entirely up to a cyclist to determine how far to the right it is safe to ride, it becomes unenforceable against a cyclist who claims it would have been unsafe to have ridden farther to the right.” This holding was a powerful affirmation of something we at the Bicycle Coalition of Maine have said for years: cyclists deserve the right to make safety-based decisions about where and how they ride. ~ Andrew Zarro, Bicycle Coalition of Maine.

Maine Climate Council says it’s ‘not all doom and gloom’ amid concerns about federal cuts

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 28, 2025

Most of the federal money Maine is counting on to achieve its ambitious climate goals is still flowing, at least for now, despite President Donald Trump’s plan to withdraw support for clean energy and conservation projects, according to state climate officials. The council may eventually have to reconsider some of Maine’s climate change projections, timeline and goals. But that can’t happen until “after the dust settles,” most likely toward the end of the year.

Maine climate programs proceed amid federal funding freezes and uncertainty

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 28, 2025

Some state agencies are still receiving promised federal funding for climate initiatives in Maine, although others are not, creating an atmosphere of anxiety and uncertainty about what the future will bring, members of the Maine Climate Council said in a quarterly update meeting Friday. The Trump administration has put on hold many federal grants awarded to Maine and other states under the Biden administration. That includes millions of dollars promised to improve woodland harvest practices in the state.

Column: Saying goodbye to spring migrants

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 28, 2025

The spring bird migration is really ramping up, as we’re hearing an audible increase in blackbirds and seeing waterways filled with waterfowl (appropriately). While we celebrate each day with the arrival of new species — I can’t wait for the first eastern phoebe to return, or my backyard pine warbler to be singing from the treetops — I wanted to draw your attention to some of the species that are leaving soon. Maine hosts many species of birds in the winter that will be departing for breeding grounds across Canada’s boreal forest. ~ Doug Hitchcox, Maine Audubon

Opinion: Maine has an ocean of potential

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 27, 2025

Maine as an ideal place to be a national leader in growing what has come to be known as the blue economy — those businesses and industries that rely on or contribute to healthy oceans and coasts. However, other states are already way ahead of us in promoting this kind of economic development. Recognizing this gap, last year the Maine Legislature established a Blue Economy Task Force to report on how the state can best capitalize on the opportunities emerging in marine biotechnology, offshore renewable energy, and maritime and shipping modernization. Innovation in legacy ocean industries like commercial and recreational fishing, aquaculture, ship and boatbuilding, and recreation and tourism, also represents a massive opportunity for our coastal communities to prosper. We can make Maine a leader in developing future industries in the communities we are proud to call home. ~ Michael Conathan, Upwell Collaborative and consultant supporting the work of the Blue Economy Task Force, South Portland

UMF outdoor recreation hub expands workforce, boosts western Maine

SUN JOURNAL • March 28, 2025

The University of Maine at Farmington’s Outdoor Recreation Hub is set to strengthen Western Maine’s outdoor economy and workforce by partnering with key industry players and fostering small business development. UMF has introduced the Western Maine Outdoor Recreation Hub of Excellence, a program designed to strengthen Maine’s outdoor economy by cultivating a highly skilled workforce in the outdoor recreation industry. The initiative aims to supply a pipeline of skilled professionals to support industry partners.

Gorham councilor opposes turnpike connector; the issue is headed to Augusta

AMERICAN JOURNAL • March 26, 2025

Two Gorham councilors are sparring over merits of a nearly dead, proposed turnpike connector and everyone can air it out next week in a legislative hearing. Councilor Charles “Lou” Simms opposes the toll road connector. Councilor Philip Gagnon says the town board wants the connector to spur commercial development that homeowners need to ease their tax burdens. The issue now moves to Augusta.