How businesses along Maine’s northern border see Donald Trump’s trade war

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 26, 2025

Business owners from northern Maine and Canada attending the Top O’ Maine Trade show this weekend had the trade war on their minds, with some opposed to tariffs and others unsure that it will have a major effect on their operations. Business owner Scott Beaulieu said the tariffs may not have a direct impact on them, it will ultimately hurt the economy and tourism. “They’re creating a kind of a scare for people, and it’s too bad because we’ve had a relationship with the United States and Canada for so long that people who used to come and go each day are starting to get a little nervous, not to go, but to come back,” he said.

Some Maine landowners see a future in ecological forest management

MAINE MONITOR • April 26, 2025

Sustainable forestry, exemplary forestry. Foresters argue the pros and cons of each model, but the overall goal is the same: Timber harvests generate profits; woodlands remain healthy. Such approaches are more labor intensive and can be slower to produce income than traditional timbering practices. Even so, their earnings can be substantial — sometimes greater — and they tap into a natural, regenerative loop. The New England Forestry Foundation has developed a model it calls Exemplary Forestry, which strives to balance the conditions in individual forest tracts with those of the surrounding landscape, filling gaps in habitat needs for plants and wildlife while producing high-quality timber. The goal is to have a healthy mix of land uses, as well as a diversity of tree species and sizes. 

Opinion: Maine’s farmers and retailers can’t afford cuts to SNAP

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 26, 2025

Maine’s farms are in the news for all the wrong reasons — federal funding freezes, grant funding cuts, concerns over proposed tariffs and the end of a USDA program that helped schools purchase directly from farms. While support from our communities, media and members of Congress is important in the wake of these announcements, we need the same level of support against proposed cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Food Assistance Program (SNAP), which will have dire consequences for Maine farmers and residents. ~ Jamie Cermak, Belfast Community Co-op, and Noami Brautigam and James Gagne, Second Frost Farm in Monroe

Avoid the crowds at Acadia by hiking this steep trail with granite steps

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 26, 2025

On the steep eastern side of Mansell Mountain is an impressive talus slope, a jumble of angular granite rocks baking under the sun. Adorned with faint blooms of white and green lichen, the rocks vary greatly in size and shape. Some of the hunks of granite are no larger than a book, while others are true boulders, exceeding the height of the hikers who labor past. It would be a tricky area to traverse if not for the stone staircase that strikes right through its center. Such is the magic of Acadia National Park. The trail, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933, is steep and fantastical, its many steps forming a clear path through the wilderness. Yet it almost seems a part of the landscape.

Maine trappers are being suspended from YouTube with little explanation

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 26, 2025

Maine outdoorsmen who post trapping videos on YouTube were stripped of their ability to earn money on the platform, with little explanation as to why. Two of those channels were reinstated Friday after a Bangor Daily News reporter questioned YouTube over why the channels were demonetized. YouTube, which is owned by Google, is one of the few that allows channel creators to earn money from subscribers, merchandise, advertising and marketing. Two outdoorsmen recently posted videos on their YouTube channels explaining that they stopped posting content because YouTube demonetized their pages. YouTube cited its animal abuse policies as the primary reason for the demonetization in emails with the creators.

Opinion: The Endangered Species Act is endangered

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 26, 2025

Protecting imperiled species against destruction and fragmentation of their habitat is essential to conserve biological diversity. Habitat loss is the single biggest reason that many species face extinction. Yet, the Trump administration has proposed a rewrite of the definition of “harm” in rules under the Endangered Species Act. Regulations under the ESA define “harm” to include “significant habitat modification or degradation where it actually kills or injures wildlife by significantly impairing essential behavioral patterns, including breeding, feeding or sheltering.” The proposed change would remove this clause. The Trump proposal is illegal, ill-advised, and intended to disable the law that has worked to protect America’s wildlife for more than 50 years. ~ Sharon S. Tisher, lecturer emerita, UMaine

Big Tech’s soaring energy demands are making coal-fired power plant sites attractive

ASSOCIATED PRESS • April 26, 2025

Coal-fired power plants, long an increasingly money-losing proposition in the U.S., are becoming more valuable now that the suddenly strong demand for electricity to run Big Tech’s cloud computing and artificial intelligence applications has set off a full-on sprint to find new energy sources. President Trump suggested that coal can help meet surging power demand. He is wielding his emergency authority to entice utilities to keep older coal-fired plants online and producing electricity. Scores of coal-fired plants that have been shut down the past couple years — or will be shut down in the next couple years — are the object of growing interest from tech companies, venture capitalists, states and others competing for electricity. They have a very attractive quality: high-voltage lines connecting to the electricity grid that they aren’t using anymore and that a new power plant could use.

Column: This bird-tracking technology is mind-blowing

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 25, 2025

Bird migration is both orderly and chaotic. Nocturnal flight is no longer invisible thanks to BirdCast, a joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Colorado State University and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Migrating birds show up on weather radar, so since the turn of the century, BirdCast has watched migration in real time via radar. It now shares the results and makes migration predictions online. The information may help address a long-time predicament. Ever since humans started building things skyward, birds have been crashing into them. It’s one of the major reasons bird populations have plummeted by 3 billion since 1970. Another project called BirdFlow launched a YouTube video that graphically shows the movements of a billion birds from Argentina to Canada. Look up Spring Bird Migration Data Visualization, and prepare to have your mind blown. ~ Bob Duchesne

Coast Guard proposes removing navigation buoys from Maine waters

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 25, 2025

The U.S. Coast Guard has proposed to remove navigation aids from up and down the East Coast, including more than 100 in Maine waters. The buoys targeted for removal mark harbor entrances, ledges, and other routes and hazards. Some are lighted, while others have gongs, bells or whistles, according to detailed descriptions in the notice. According to the Coast Guard, most, if not all would be removed to modernize a constellation of navigation aids “whose designs mostly predate global navigation satellite systems, electronic navigation charts, and electronic charting systems.”

'Toss the Tanks' campaign ramps up in South Portland

MAINE PUBLIC • April 25, 2025

A new campaign in South Portland wants a Canadian oil company to remove old, mostly empty holding tanks from a residential area. And supporters are imagining the possibilities for sprawling real estate the tanks occupy in the heart of the city. "Toss The Tanks" wants to persuade Suncor Energy that their Hill Street tank farm isn’t a good fit for the city. "Suncor has to understand that the community does not want them here any longer," said organizer Tim Honey during a recent community forum. Almost 20 tanks sit on about 100 acres bordered by schools and homes. Some of the tanks date back to the Second World War, and they have prompted concerns about health and environmental safety. The tanks are mostly empty, but are designed to hold crude oil shipped to Canada through the pipeline — not for U.S. consumers.

The Trump administration cut a key FEMA grant. What does that mean for Maine projects?

MAINE MONITOR • April 25, 2025

The Federal Emergency Management Agency program — Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities, or BRIC — has dished out roughly $133 million to fund local resilience projects since it was launched in 2020 under the first Trump administration. In 2023, FEMA awarded an additional billion dollars through BRIC after the agency received a windfall in congressional funding from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law and saw a surge of applicants. The program’s most recent applications included $5 million for more than 30 separate resilience projects at the state, tribal and municipal level in Maine that have been awarded BRIC grants or identified for further consideration by FEMA. According to the agency’s April 4 announcement, any future grants and funds not yet distributed to local grantees will be returned.

Gulf of Maine scallop fishery halted again, this time for the year

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 25, 2025

Federal regulators are once again halting scallop fishing operations in the Gulf of Maine, this time through the end of March 2026. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration paused scallop fishing on April 12, marking the first midseason closure since regulations were first put in place about 16 years ago. That pause lasted just over a week. But on Friday, the agency announced a second closure, which takes effect at 12:01 a.m. Monday and lasts through the end of the fishing year, March 31, 2026.

Proposed 96-unit development draws opposition in Scarborough

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 25, 2025

Opposition is mounting against South Portland Housing Authority’s proposed 96-unit senior and workforce housing development on Route 1 in Scarborough at the location of the former site of the Southern Maine Indoor Flea Market. The Marshview Apartments would consist of a four-story building containing 60 affordable units for ages 55 and older, plus three buildings with 12 workforce housing units each. A 114-space parking lot, playground and walking trails are also in the plans. Located on Route 1 near the Payne Road intersection, the proposal calls for a right-turn-only exit and a right-turn-only entrance on and off Route 1, providing no access to the southbound side of the road. That is a concern voiced by community members and abutters.

Trump administration stalls UMaine’s offshore wind project

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 24, 2025

The federal government has directed the University of Maine to halt activity on $15.8 million in offshore wind research projects, including a floating turbine that is over a decade in the making and weeks away from a final launch off the coast of Castine. The University of Maine System received a letter from the U.S. Department of Energy on April 11 saying it was suspending the projects for “failure to comply” with federal policies, but did not specify which ones. The notice came just hours after contractors had towed an important piece of the university’s major project, a 375-ton concrete floating hull, to Mack Point, an industrial port in Searsport, university spokesperson Samantha Warren said. And researchers and contractors were just weeks from finalizing the installation of the floating offshore wind turbine.

Proposal for passenger rail to Bangor loses steam in committee

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 24, 2025

A renewed effort to restore passenger rail service from Portland to Bangor was soundly rejected Thursday by the Legislature’s transportation committee, following a similar failed attempt last year. The committee voted 9-1 against LD 487, recommending that it “ought not to pass” when the bill goes before the House and Senate in the coming weeks. The bill would direct the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority (NNEPRA), operator of the Amtrak Downeaster, to apply for at least $500,000 in federal funding to develop a proposal for passenger service between Portland and Orono, just north of Bangor. Opponents say passenger service to Bangor would be too slow, attract too few riders and cost too much to establish and operate.

Proposed bill will provide resources to farmers affected by federal funding cuts

MAINE PUBLIC • April 24, 2025

A legislative committee heard testimony today on a bipartisan bill to provide resources to farmers affected by federal funding cuts. The bill presented by Senator Stacy Brenner, D-Cumberland, would modify the Agricultural Marketing Loan Fund to provide funding in the event of lost federal grants or loans or to recover in the event of a disaster.

Bangor named one of the best cities in the country for air quality

MAINE PUBLIC • April 24, 2025

The American Lung Association released their 2025 "State of the Air" report today. The report named Bangor one of best cities in the country for air quality in an otherwise bleak outlook for the country. Almost half the people in the U.S. live in areas with unhealthy levels of air pollution, according to the latest findings from The American Lung Association.

Renovations of Hearts of Pine’s new home field in Portland unearths contaminated soil

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 24, 2025

The City of Portland is taking steps to remove contaminated soil unearthed during renovations to Fitzpatrick Stadium, the future home of the Hearts of Pine professional soccer team. On Monday, the City Council will vote on whether to accept a federal Brownfields grant worth $205,000 to dispose of 850 cubic yards of contaminated soil currently fenced off near the field’s parking lot, according to a meeting agenda posted by the city. The soil was excavated last year as part of more than $2.5 million worth of upgrades to ready Fitzpatrick for the Hearts of Pine.

Cross-country dust is causing ‘dirty rain’ in Maine

ASSOCIATED PRESS • April 24, 2025

April showers are supposed to bring May flowers, but the light rain that fell across the region last Friday and Saturday brought dirt instead. Strong wind brought the dust from New Mexico to an altitude of around 10,000 feet (3,000 meters), he said, below the level of rain clouds.

New bill would ban floating camps from Maine waters

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 24, 2025

A new bill before the Legislature would ban floating camps and other nonwater-dependent structures from Maine’s inland or coastal waters. It also would establish a fine system ranging from $100 to $500 for violations, and make it legal for state, municipal or other enforcement authorities to remove, sell, destroy or keep the illegal structure. Floating camps, which resemble camps you see onshore but are anchored on the lake bottom or tied to a dock, are increasing in numbers. Some have decks and other on-shore amenities. Some are offered as rentals.