Opinion: Protect our national parks, don’t exploit them

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 7, 2025

National parks are a beautiful reflection of our country’s magnificent national and cultural heritage. Their protection is a high form of patriotism and worldwide source of inspiration. National parks also generate significant revenue for national, regional, and local economies. National parks are a good deal for America. Nevertheless, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum is eliminating resource specialists, who provide protection for all 400-plus national park units. Our national parks are constantly under siege. Those wishing to develop, prospect, mine, hunt, trap, harvest, irrigate, and generally extract something from nature’s last refuges are persistent and powerful. To save money cut questionable subsidies that give away public resources at below market rates for water, timber, grazing fees, and oil, gas and mineral extraction. ~ Michael Soukup, National Park Service chief scientist, 1995 to 2007, Blue Hill

Column: The real cost of the state’s trout stocking program

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 7, 2025

A recent bill to increase fishing license fees to raise more money for hatcheries got a lot of people talking. Is this what Maine should be promoting? Is stocking the best use of our limited funds? During public hearings, some said that anglers want, and in fact expect, more and bigger stocked trout. Are we obligated to provide this? Can we afford to do so? Who should pay for these fish? Stocking is rooted in the belief that trout should be unlimited. How did we get to the point where stocked fish are so universally accepted by trout anglers? Trout stocking is an economic black hole. The cost to raise fish continues to go up. The belief that trout should be unlimited is flawed economically and ecologically. It’s time to reduce stocking, not increase it. ~ Bob Mallard

Letter: Do not sell our public lands

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 7, 2025

I was dismayed to read Congress is considering selling public lands. National parks, monuments, and scenic trails are part of our heritage and our history. They belong to all of us and should stay that way. If you’ve taken your kids on vacation to Acadia National Park, seen the beauty of Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, marveled at the Grand Canyon, or benefited from the outdoor recreation economy, like I and my family have, now is the time to take speak up and speak out. Keep our public lands public. ~ Katie Simpson, Cumberland

Trump budget proposal portends deep cuts to public lands

MONTANA FREE PRESS • May 6, 2025

Taking aim at “climate ideologies antithetical to the American way of life,” President Donald Trump’s proposed 2026 federal budget would reduce spending on public lands and shift some national park facilities and forest management to states. The Interior Department would take an overall $3.8 billion reduction from its 2025 budget of $18 billion. That includes a $1.2 billion cut to National Park Service operations.

Sens. Collins and King press Trump administration officials on frozen funds and canceled contracts

MAINE PUBLIC • May 6, 2025

Maine Sen. Susan Collins pressed President Trump's agriculture secretary on Tuesday for details on when farmers will receive remaining federal funds that were frozen as part of the Trump administration's policy changes and cost-cutting initiatives. During a subcommittee hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Collins told U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins that she has heard from numerous farmers in Maine who were still waiting for word on previously approved grants or loans that had been frozen. Collins, a Republican who chairs the powerful budget-writing Appropriations Committee, told the secretary that the uncertainty is troubling to the farming industry. Maine Sen. Angus King, meanwhile, had a spirited exchange with Trump's secretary of veteran's affairs over a list of hundreds of cancelled federal contracts.

Scarborough adopts open space plan, unveils new barometer for conserved land

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 6, 2025

The Scarborough Town Council recently adopted a new open space master plan, which catalogs all open space in the town and identifies areas to target for conservation. The plan, passed unanimously by the council last month, is Scarborough’s first open space master plan since the 1990s. It will aid the town’s effort to achieve its goal to have 30% of land in town under conservation by 2030. When the council set the goal in June 2023, the town had 5,391 acres, or roughly 17%, of its land either under conservation or reserved for open space and public recreation. That number now stands at over 23%.

Angus King III, son of U.S. senator, announces campaign for Maine governor

MAINE PUBLIC • May 6, 2025

Angus King III — son of independent U.S. Sen. Angus King — announced on Tuesday that he's running for governor. King has never held elected office, but his announcement video highlights some of the same traits that have helped define his father, a two-time governor and Maine's current junior senator. King III pitches himself as a renewable energy businessman with big ideas. Among them, an operation in Clinton that uses cow manure to produce energy. But unlike his father, King III is running as a Democrat, not an independent. He joins a field of candidates that's expected to grow and already includes two Democrats, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and former Senate President Troy Jackson.

Angus King III, son of U.S. senator, announces campaign for Maine governor

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 6, 2025

Angus King III, a businessman, renewable energy leader and the son of U.S. Sen. Angus King Jr., announced Tuesday that he is running for governor of Maine. King is the founder and former president of Peaks Renewables, a renewable energy development company that recently spearheaded a project to develop an anaerobic digester to produce natural gas from cow manure in the town of Clinton. His father, U.S. Sen. Angus King, is an independent who was governor from 1995 to 2003 and who has served as Maine’s junior U.S. senator since 2013. Seven candidates have so far filed campaign finance paperwork with the state for the governor’s race.

Maine joins coalition of states suing Trump administration for blocking wind energy development

ASSOCIATED PRESS • May 5, 2025

Attorneys general from 17 states and Washington, D.C., including Maine, are challenging an executive order signed by President Donald Trump during his first day in office, pausing approvals, permits and loans for all wind energy projects both onshore and offshore. They say Trump doesn’t have the authority to unilaterally shut down the permitting process, and he’s jeopardizing development of a power source critical to the states’ economic vitality, energy mix, public health and climate goals. They’re asking a federal judge to declare the order unlawful and stop federal agencies from implementing it.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills and northeastern governors invite Canadian premiers to summit

MAINE PUBLIC • May 5, 2025

Maine Gov. Janet Mills and five other northeastern governors are inviting six Canadian premiers to participate in a summit to discuss cross-border relations and President Donald Trump's tariffs. The invitation comes as the region's governors try to maintain their close relationship with Canada in trade, energy and tourism as the president pursues tough tariffs and threats of annexation not seen since President William McKinley. Canadian leaders have responded with a nationalist posture, boycotting American vacation destinations and discussing moving away from the U.S. as an economic partner. That's a big concern in Maine where Canada is the state's largest trade partner and where tourism officials are predicting a 25% drop-off for the upcoming summer season.

Maine bill would make oil companies pay into ‘climate superfund’

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 5, 2025

Lawmakers in Maine are looking to create a climate superfund that would collect fees from groups that extract fossil fuels and refine crude oil, then use that money to fund clean energy initiatives. Two states — Vermont and New York — have passed similar laws, and they are being challenged in court by businesses and the Trump administration. Maine is among 11 states currently considering bills to create similar climate superfunds. LD 1870, a bipartisan bill sponsored by Rep. Stacy Brenner, D-Scarborough, would be retroactive and apply to any fossil fuel extractor or crude oil refiner between Jan. 1, 1995, to Dec. 31, 2024. Brenner said the proposal is a matter of fairness, because greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels are causing increased storm damage and public health concerns, and the costs are being borne by state and local taxpayers.

Maine Coast Heritage Trust award recognizes land conservation efforts

TIMES RECORD • May 5, 2025

Maine Coast Heritage Trust has awarded the 2025 Espy Land Heritage Award to Niweskok: From the Stars to Seeds, a Wabanaki-led food sovereignty organization based in Swanville. The annual award recognizes those who are making contributions to land conservation and includes a $5,000 donation to a conservation effort of the recipient’s choice.

Senators press Trump administration on how it will protect endangered species

ASSOCIATED PRESS • May 5, 2025

Three U.S. senators are asking the Trump administration to explain how it analyzed a proposed rule to eliminate habitat protections for endangered and threatened species, whether industry had a hand in drafting it, and how the administration plans to protect species if the rule is changed. At issue is a long-standing definition of “harm” in the Endangered Species Act, which has included altering or destroying the places those species live—the No. 1 cause of extinction. Last month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service proposed a rule that says habitat modification shouldn't be considered harm because it isn't the same as intentionally targeting a species, called “take.” Environmentalists argue that the definition of “take” has always included actions that harm species, and the definition of “harm” has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Former Gov. Paul LePage will challenge Rep. Jared Golden for Maine's 2nd District

MAINE PUBLIC • May 5, 2025

Former Gov. Paul LePage announced Monday that he's running for Maine's 2nd Congressional District seat. LePage served two terms as Maine's governor and left office in 2019, the same year Democratic Congressman Jared Golden kicked off his first term.Now LePage is seeking to challenge Golden for a seat that the Democrat has managed to hold despite skewing conservative since President Donald Trump was first elected in 2016. He has often been described as a Trump prototype.

Maine bills would make oil companies pay for climate damages

MAINE PUBLIC • May 5, 2025

The world’s largest fossil fuel companies could be required to pay for climate change damage to Maine under proposals being considered by state lawmakers. Two bills to create a climate superfund are up for debate just as the Trump administration files lawsuits against similar state laws. The measures would make oil and gas companies responsible for at least 1 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas pollution since the 1990s compensate Maine communities for storms and other harms made worse by a warming climate. Nicholas Janzen, director of policy and partnerships at Maine Conservation Voters, says, "The trump admin is really trying to bully states for their oil and gas buddies to not act on climate.”

Applying Wabanaki Wisdom to our Watersheds, May 27

MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • May 5, 2025

Mihku Paul and James McCarthy will share stories about their relationship to the watersheds where they live and share photographs of ancestral Wabanaki places. At Topsham Public Library, May 27, 7 pm, free. Sponsored by Cathance River Education Alliance and Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust.

Former Gov. LePage announces run for Congress in Maine’s 2nd District

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 5, 2025

Former Gov. Paul LePage announced Monday that he is running to represent Maine’s 2nd Congressional District in Congress. The Republican served as governor from 2011 to 2019 before leaving office because of term limits. He ran again for governor in 2022, when he lost to Democratic Gov. Janet Mills. LePage was elected governor in 2010. He ushered in a new era of divisive politics with his election, proudly disavowing political correctness and openly clashing with environmentalists and others.

Maine lobsterman charged with illegal possession of certain lobsters

WMTW-TV8 • May 5, 2025

Officials with New Hampshire's Fish and Game Law Enforcement Division have charged a Maine man with several charges related to illegal fishing practices. Conservation officers say on April 23, they boarded the vessel "For the Win" operated by Rodney Genthner, of Friendship, Maine, in the waters off Portsmouth. The vessel had been monitored because Genthner did not have appropriate licensing and did not follow required equipment regulations. Genthner faces several state and federal charges after finding V-notched female lobsters, which are illegal to possess because they are supposed to be left alone to breed. He also allegedly possessed short lobsters and wolf fish, a state and federally protected species, and his vessel allegedly didn't have a vessel monitoring system, another requirement.

Trump budget puts clean-energy spending in crosshairs

MAINE MORNING STAR • May 5, 2025

President Donald Trump’s budget request for the next fiscal year proposes deep cuts to renewable energy programs and other climate spending as the administration seeks to shift U.S. energy production to encourage more fossil fuels and push the focus away from reducing climate change. The budget proposes slashing $21 billion from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law for renewable energy, electric vehicle charging infrastructure and other efforts to cut climate-warming carbon dioxide emissions. The request also targets climate research spending and initiatives meant to promote diversity.