Timber company game-changing initiative will have big impact on wildlife

YAHOO! NEWS • May 12, 2025

Conservation groups and the timber company Wagner Forest Management have unveiled a groundbreaking initiative to protect 78,000 acres surrounding the Rangeley Lakes in Maine. Mark Berry, forest conservation manager for The Nature Conservancy, hailed the project as "significant at the scale of the entire Appalachian corridor." By permanently preserving this stretch of land, the effort strengthens regional biodiversity while contributing to the Appalachian wilderness. The newly announced project focuses on the Magalloway River watershed, a cold stronghold for trout.

Learn about protecting lands for the future at Rockport library

PENOBSCOT BAY PILOT • May 11, 2025

The last talk in the Rockport Conservation Commission's 2025 Climate Series at the Rockport Public Library will explore the critical role of natural lands and conservation in responding to climate change. On Wednesday, May 21, at 6 p.m., Jeremy Gabrielson, Associate Director of Planning with Maine Coast Heritage Trust (MCHT), will talk about the organization's work to enhance climate resilience and protect ecosystems. Attendees will learn what can be done to be good stewards of local lands for the future.

Maine lawmakers considering new dam safety reforms

MAINE MONITOR • May 10, 2025

After decades of understaffing, underfunding and dire warnings about the condition of Maine’s dam safety agency, state lawmakers are now considering expansive legislation that would revamp the office in charge of overseeing hundreds of aging Maine dams and set aside funds to fix them. L.D. 1848 would bolster the state’s enforcement actions against the owners of the most dangerous, derelict dams; expand mapping efforts to understand the downstream damages those dams would cause if they fail; and update the pay scale for Maine’s chief dam inspector after years of difficulty filling the position. L.D. 1382, seeks to allocate $5 million and up the maximum limit for a revolving loan designated for municipally- or quasi-municipally-owned dams. Together, the two bills mirror steps that other New England states have taken in the aftermath of catastrophic flooding and dam failures.

Debate over Maine’s ‘right to food’ continues with 3 new proposals

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 11, 2025

It’s been eight years since Maine passed the country’s first Food Sovereignty Act, allowing towns to approve ordinances letting residents buy and sell most food free of state regulation. And it’s been almost four years since voters amended the state’s constitution to include a right to food, laying the groundwork for future legal decisions about local food deregulation. But farmers, homesteaders, state agencies and lawmakers are still working out how to apply those principles. That’s apparent in the legislative session underway in Augusta, where bills addressing backyard chickens, working dogs and the right to food itself have continued the conversation and sparked some big reactions.

Car sinks in Sebago Lake after man drives off ferry dock

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 10, 2025

A car sank into Sebago Lake on Saturday morning after a Portland man drove off the unoccupied Frye Island Ferry dock and into the water. The driver, a 73-year-old Portland man, was able to escape the car before being helped to shore by good Samaritans. Officials notified the Maine Environmental Protection Agency of the incident because of the potential that the water could be contaminated.

Washington County wreath-making company fined nearly $16,000 for worker housing violations

MAINE MONITOR • May 10, 2025

The Maine Department of Labor contacted its federal counterpart last fall with concerns about the living conditions of workers at Worcester Resources, the family-owned Washington County company that supplies wreaths for the nonprofit Wreaths Across America. There were allegations that Worcester Resources was housing migrant laborers beneath the factory floor of its wreath-assembly facility in Topsfield, where smoke detectors weren’t functioning and debris was falling into the kitchen and sleeping quarters. Next door, thirty additional workers were allegedly living in two small, unsanitary bungalows, without access to potable water. fter a federal inspection, the company was cited for three “serious” violations and ultimately fined nearly $16,000. Over the past four years, Worcester Resources has racked up more than $50,000 in federal fines.

Opinion: Let’s align fisheries policies to protect Maine lobster harvesters

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 10, 2025

Canadian fisheries, in many cases, operate under stricter sustainability and size-based requirements than their U.S. counterparts. This regulatory disparity creates confusion, inefficiencies and competitive imbalances that must be addressed, not by retreating into isolation, but by working toward regulatory harmony at the federal level. The U.S. and Canadian fisheries are deeply interdependent. Species don’t recognize borders, and neither should sound fishery management. We urge policymakers to pursue solutions that reflect the reality of a shared ecosystem and a shared responsibility. ~ Tom Mazzetta, Mazzetta Company, LLC and Atwood Lobster, LLC, South Thomaston.

Letter: The real driver of Maine’s rising electricity rates

SUN JOURNAL • May 10, 2025

The recent article on Maine’s rising electricity rates (“Maine’s electricity prices grew at third fastest rate in U.S., analysis shows,” April 27) gives an incomplete picture of the real causes and solutions. Rates have risen in Maine, but they are still among the cheapest in New England. The article blames high costs on renewable energy but downplays the real driver: our dependence on natural gas. Renewables have no fuel cost. Solar, wind, geothermal and hydropower energy will always be cheaper than polluting gas, oil and coal. The wise investment is to build infrastructure that will deliver lower-cost clean energy efficiently. ~ Daniel Amory, Portland

Maine fishermen chart new course after Trump’s push to deregulate

ASSOCIATED PRESS • May 9, 2025

Trade imbalances with Canada, tight regulations on fisheries and offshore wind farms towering like skyscrapers on open water pose three of those threats, said Virginia Olsen, part of the fifth generation in her family to make a living in the lobster trade. That’s why she was encouraged last month when President Donald Trump signed an executive order that promises to restore American fisheries to their former glory. The order promises to shred fishing regulations, and Olsen said that will allow fishermen to do what they do best — fish.

AmeriCorps cuts threaten climate resilience, conservation across Maine

MAINE MONITOR • May 9, 2025

The notice came late Friday, April 25: Federal funding for all eight AmeriCorps programs that Volunteer Maine administers in the state — $2.5 million annually — was being immediately terminated. The cuts are part of a broader Trump administration effort to dismantle AmeriCorps, a 30-year-old independent federal agency whose mission is to “improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic engagement through service and volunteering.” Nationwide, more than 1,000 state and national AmeriCorps programs and $400 million in grants have been axed. In Maine, the move threatens services in dozens of communities spanning all 16 counties, including programs focused on climate resiliency and conservation, and more than 120 AmeriCorps positions. “These terminations are undermining the promise we made to those who answered the call to serve. You’re going to have generational loss.”

Column: 10 popular birding walks are coming up in the Bangor area

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 9, 2025

To become an experienced birder, you only need one thing. Experience. There are two ways to get it. You can just get out there, do it, make every mistake in the book and learn slowly. Or you can borrow experience from someone else and speed things up a little. Penobscot Valley Audubon has launched this year’s series of Neighborhood Bird Walks. I’ll lead the walk on Monday, May 19. If you’ve ever worried that people will laugh at your mistakes, don’t fret. You can go on my walk and laugh at my mistakes instead. ~ Bob Duchesne

Rumors of a wealthy landowner swirl after Maine hiking land closes

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 9, 2025

Rumors of a super-wealthy landowner are circulating after a newcomer closed a prime piece of hiking land along Moosehead Lake and began building a large waterfront home. Joe Babbitt, the Select Board chair in Beaver Cove, said, “There’s all kinds of gossip out there, saying it’s everyone from the sultan of Egypt to ‘insert your billionaire of choice here.’” The owner bought four parcels totaling more than 1,400 acres for $8.1 million in 2022 through two holding companies in a transaction that included Burnt Jacket Mountain and its trail system, which was closed to the public last October, along with 12,000 feet of lake frontage. The sudden decision to close the land to the public has saddened residents and caused concern for local businesspeople. Carla Ritchie, president of the Moosehead Regional Land Trust, wants to know the landowner’s identity so her organization can work with them to preserve public access to the mountain and its trails.

Opinion: How water bottles became the unofficial mascot of American overkill

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 9, 2025

I want to talk about the perils of hauling around what amounts to a personal metal water tower in your bag and the psychic trauma it inflicts upon those around you when you drop it. It’s finals week. It was harrowing. It was the chorus of thunderous metallic gongs hitting the floor throughout the entire exam. CLONGGG! I’m talking about the ubiquitous 32-ounce metal hydration flask, the unofficial mascot of American overkill. Once a humble container to hold a modest amount of water, it has become something larger and louder. At what point did we, as a society, decide that carrying around enough water to sustain a family farm was necessary to survive an hour-long meeting? Let’s bring back the humble 12-ounce water bottle. Let’s resurrect the modest water fountain. Let’s accept that we can make it through our day without tactical hydration gear. ~ Rob Glover, associate professor of political science, University of Maine

Opinion: Conservation is an American value. A federal proposal threatens to change that

AKRON BEACON JOURNAL • May 8, 2025

In 1973, the American people — speaking through their elected representatives — passed the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This landmark legislation received near-unanimous support from both Democrats and Republicans. The law unambiguously affirms that conservation is an American value. Following its passage, the responsibility for implementation was assigned to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. For decades, the ESA has been implemented based on the best available science, carefully balancing species protection with economic impacts and individual property rights. For more than 50 years, it has served as the gold standard for how Americans do conservation and is credited with saving hundreds of species from extinction. Unfortunately, a recent federal proposal threatens to undermine the ESA and make meaningful species protection nearly impossible. You can submit comments on the proposed rule change at: https://federalregister.gov/d/2025-06746 

Feds cut $9M for Down East coastal restoration project

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 8, 2025

Maine has lost $9 million it was awarded to reduce flooding and restore fish habitat Down East, making the project another victim of the Trump administration’s continued efforts to cut federal spending. NOAA notified the Maine Department of Marine Resources that the project was no longer “relevant” to the administration’s priorities. The grant was meant to elevate a road in Addison so it wouldn’t flood and to add a culvert that would help fish and lobster swim into a salt marsh along the Pleasant River. The effort is part of a larger project to restore tidal flow in that area after it was blocked in the 1940s. Down East communities are among the “most vulnerable” in the state to rising sea levels.

Former National Park Service Directors Urge Burgum To Reverse Course On Parks

NATIONAL PARKS TRAVELER • May 8, 2025

In a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum five former directors of the National Park Service say new directives tell "park managers to ignore their park resource protection responsibilities in favor of providing for visitor services. We believe that these directions are contradictory with the law and the intent of Congress.” The letter was signed by Jonathan Jarvis, NPS director under President Obama; Fran Mainella (George W. Bush); Robert Stanton (Bill Clinton); James Ridenour (George H. W. Bush); and Ronald Walker (Richard Nixon); as well as 13 former deputy directors. Donald Trump since taking office has worked with businessman Elon Musk to rescind offers for seasonal positions to some 1,000 NPS employees. In addition, an estimated 2,500 employees have resigned or retired. Meanwhile, Trump's proposed 2026 budget calls for more than $1 billion in cuts to the Park Service and a number of parks to be handed over to states to manage. 

Bill to kill Gorham Connector crashes in committee

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 8, 2025

A bill that would ensure the controversial Gorham Connector proposal is dead was soundly rejected by the Legislature’s transportation committee this week. LD 1020 would repeal 2017 legislation that directed the Maine Turnpike Authority to plan and build a toll highway extension from South Portland, through Scarborough and Westbrook, to Gorham. The bill follows the authority’s announcement in March that it enlisted the Maine Department of Transportation to consider alternative solutions to commuter traffic congestion west of Portland. Neither agency has said the connector proposal has been dropped entirely.

Wabanaki group restoring 245-acre farm in Swanville as food hub

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 8, 2025

A Wabanaki-led food sovereignty organization recently acquired a 245-acre farm in Swanville, marking the return of Wabanaki stewardship to ancestral lands in the Penobscot Bay region. Niweskok: From the Stars to Seeds, a collaboration of Wabanaki food and medicine providers, has focused for years on reinvigorating traditional crops and land management strategies, distributing traditional foods and hosting workshops. But they did not have a permanent land base until buying the farm. “Now, with this land, we have permanency of place — and the ability to continue this work for generations to come,” said Alivia Moore, a Penobscot Nation citizen and Niweskok co-director.

Taking the Pulse of Our Parks & Public Lands

Jym St. Pierre, May 6, 2025

I first became aware of the expansive array of national lands in the United States more than half a century ago when I read One Third of the Nation’s Land (1970, Public Land Law Review Commission) for a college course. Since then, I have been fascinated by the extraordinary collection of parks, forests, refuges, and other areas designated for people and wildlife across the wide expanse of North America. Over the decades, I have had opportunities to explore dozens of public lands in the eastern and western parts of the U.S. However, I had not been to many of those in the middle.

This Spring, I spent five weeks on a cross-country road trip from Maine, down the spine of the Appalachians, across a southern tier, over the western deserts and mountain ranges to the Pacific, then back east through the northern states. I could not get to every national park, historical park, monument, preserve, parkway or other unit within the National Park System, or other public land, but I did visit more than four dozen in the whirlwind tour (list below). It gave me a better sense of the scope of our nation’s public lands coast to coast.

You can read the entire report here.