Go back in time by hiking along this old Bar Harbor railway

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 15, 2025

Originally built by Maine Central Railroad in the 1880s, the railway used to carry passengers to McNeil Point in Hancock, where they would board steamer ferries to cross Frenchman Bay to Bar Harbor. This once-popular method of travel, known as the Bar Harbor Express, chugged along until 1931, when the railway from Ellsworth to Hancock was discontinued. An auto bridge had been built to MDI, providing easier access to the island’s oceanside resorts and the newly formed Acadia National Park. Nowadays, you can still ride a train on a 13-mile section of the restored the Downeast Scenic Railroad, starting at the rail yard and boarding platform on Washington Junction Road in Hancock. Or you can walk along a 3-mile stretch of the former railway on the Old Pond Railway Trail.

Bill would aid Harpswell in coastal rebuilding from January 2024 storms

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 15, 2025

Maine Senate President Mattie Daughtry, D-Brunswick, has submitted a bill to the Legislature that would allow Harpswell’s working waterfront to bypass certain zoning rules to rebuild structures damaged during back-to-back coastal storms in January 2024. The bill, L.D. 1864, would allow an exception for Harpswell property owners whose working docks, piers or wharves were damaged or destroyed in the twin storms. If passed, it would let the town grant variances to its shoreland zoning and floodplain management ordinances to repair or rebuild structures that don’t meet the typical threshold for approval.

UMaine engineering center lays off 9, citing Donald Trump’s research cuts

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 14, 2025

The University of Maine’s high-profile engineering and offshore wind research hub laid off nine employees this week after President Donald Trump’s administration paused millions in awards to help the center build floating turbines and complete other projects. Trump is seeking to halt offshore wind projects, something that could threaten much of the center’s groundbreaking work in that policy area. The layoffs come after the U.S. Department of Energy suspended in April three awards to the UMaine research center worth $15.8 million, including a $12.5 million federal award for the Orono-based center to continue work on its floating offshore wind turbines. The Energy Department did not cite any specific violations by the university.

It’s farmers market season in Maine. Here’s what to expect

MORNING SENTINEL • May 14, 2025

armers market season takes root in May with the promise of sweet vegetables and sunny days ahead. Vendors change, products trend in and out and markets shift locations, but the interest in buying local remains strong each summer in Maine. This summer, after some uncertainty, the Yarmouth Farmers Market is back — right in front of town hall. Fiddleheads are available for a short stint in Augusta, and farms are extending their growing seasons. On top of the usual ebbs and flows, recent warehouse E. coli outbreaks and Avian flu-related egg shortages mean more Mainers want to know where their food is coming from.

EPA announces rollback of limits on forever chemicals in drinking water

TIMES RECORD • May 14, 2025

The Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that it plans to ease limits on some so-called forever chemicals in drinking water that were finalized last year, while maintaining standards for two common ones. Those limits on PFAS, which are man-made and don’t easily break down in nature, were expected to reduce their levels in drinking water for millions of people. The move comes as Maine is working to find and remove PFAS contamination in residential wells, including by installing filters in private homes.

Maine Calling: Allagash Wilderness Waterway

MAINE PUBLIC • May 14, 2025

Covering more than a million acres, Maine's Allagash Wilderness Waterway is the largest undeveloped watershed east of the Rockies. It's home to precious wildlife and is popular for outdoor recreation. A new guidebook presents the ecology and history of the waterway, and what changes are in store for this ecosystem in the face of climate change and other threats. Panelists: Janet McMahon, author of A River in Space and Time; Daniel Dinsmore, Allagash Wilderness Waterway Foundation; Paul Johnson, fishery biologist with 35 years on the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. VIP Callers: Don Hudson, Allagash Wilderness Waterway Foundation; Alexandra Conover Bennett, professional canoe and snowshoe guide specializing in traditional wilderness travel; Mark Deroche, superintendent of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway.

Gov. Mills signs first-in-nation PFAS bill

WMTW-TV8 • May 14, 2025

A formal PFAS response program is now officially law after Gov. Janet Mills signed it on Friday. The program requires the state to clean up PFAS and address threats and hazards posed by these "forever chemicals." It will also update the state fund to combat PFAS contamination and provide financial support to farmers impacted by PFAS, including those forced out of business. "It's caused their farm to go out of business," said Sen. Henry Ingwersen, D-York. "In extreme cases, farmers have had to stop farming altogether, and this bill helps farmers rethink their plans as far as farming on their land goes." Ingwersen, who is sponsoring this legislation, said he has farmers in his district who have seen the impact firsthand.

Opinion: Maine will benefit from staying the course on clean energy

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 14, 2025

The dirty secret in energy policy is that there aren’t any easy options. But just because the path isn’t an easy one, doesn’t mean it doesn’t lead to a better place. Moving away from fossil fuels like oil and propane to heat pumps reduces heating burdens, especially alongside energy efficiency and air quality improvements. Electric vehicles cost the equivalent of $1.25 per gallon to fill up and cost less to maintain. This is why Maine’s new energy plan shows that by moving to 100% clean energy, and cutting expensive fuel use, average household energy costs would fall by an average of $1,300 a year. If we keep working toward an energy system that works for everyone, we can power Maine forward toward a future with cleaner air, better jobs, thriving businesses and, yes, lower energy costs. ~ Jack Shapiro, Natural Resources Council of Maine

Here is the conundrum of Maine’s floating camps bill

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 14, 2025

Floating camps are a growing problem, according to those who steward the state’s waters for the people of Maine. LD 1763 defines floating camps as “nonwater-dependent structures,” and includes specific definitions for house boats, motor boats, docks and other entities found on or around Maine’s waters. There are exceptions for water toys, ice fishing shacks and a handful of similar structures, but there is no specific allowance for businesses contained in or that use floating buildings. One such business is DeMillo’s on the Water, a floating restaurant that is moored at a Portland marina. It’s a dilemma that could stall the legislation and force it into the next session, allowing even more of these to pop up on Maine’s water landscape.

Maine CDC Provides Tips to Reduce Exposure to Browntail Moth Hairs

MAINE GOVERNMENT NEWS • May 13, 2025

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Maine Forest Service, remind Maine residents and visitors to take precautions to protect against browntail moth caterpillar hairs this spring. Browntail moth caterpillars are hairy, dark brown caterpillars with two red-orange dots on the back. The hairs can stay toxic in the environment for up to three years. Over the last several years, the MFS has found evidence of browntail moths in all 16 Maine counties.

International visits to Maine have tanked since Donald Trump took office

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 14, 2025

The number of international travelers coming through Maine border crossings has fallen off sharply in the months since President Donald Trump took office. Before January and the change of administrations, Maine had been on track for a busy year. But in January and February when the winter lull in visits typically levels out before ramping up in the warm season, visits in 2025 continued to drop. By April, Maine had almost a third fewer visitors than in April 2024 — down to roughly 98,800 from 147,000.

Maine sees steep drop in Canadian visitors crossing border

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 13, 2025

In the first three months since President Donald Trump’s inauguration, 166,000 fewer travelers came into Maine from Canada, a decline of 26% over the same period in 2024. If that trend — or anything close to it — continues into the late spring and summer, the state’s signature tourism season could be imperiled. Data released this week by U.S. Customs and Border Protection suggests Canadians are making good on their threats to boycott Maine and other border states in protest of Trump’s trade policies and his continued rhetoric about making Canada the 51st state.

Manufacturers prepare for Maine’s sweeping PFAS restrictions

MANUFACTURING DIVE • May 13, 2025

Maine is gaining attention for having some of the country’s strictest PFAS regulations. In 2016, state officials began investigating PFAS contamination on farms fertilized with wastewater sludge; the compounds have now been discovered on more than 100 farms in the state. The discovery of widespread contamination led to Maine lawmakers passing a groundbreaking bill in 2021 to ban the compounds from most products sold in the state. “The only way we can prevent further PFAS contamination is to stop it from coming into the state,” said Sarah Woodbury, VP of Defend Our Health, a Maine nonprofit that pushed for the legislation. Maine’s ban remains among the strictest in the nation. With a ban on PFAS in many types of consumer products going into effect next year, manufacturers and environmental advocates alike see Maine as a testing ground for how PFAS regulation could play out in other states.

Maine lawmakers urged to back climate superfund despite federal threats

MAINE NEWS SERVICE • May 13, 2025

The Trump administration is suing four states for their efforts to counter climate change, but conservation groups in Maine are urging lawmakers to take a stand. One bill being considered in Maine would allow state officials to charge a one-time fee to companies that have released more than 1 billion tons of greenhouse gases since 1995. Another would create a “climate superfund” to help pay for infrastructure damage and future mitigation efforts. Nick Janzen, policy and partnerships director with Maine Conservation Voters, said, “We’re really targeting the largest fossil fuel producers.” Opponents of the legislation, including the Maine Chamber of Commerce, say it’s impossible to link environmental damages to pollution by specific companies, and that costs would ultimately be passed on to consumers. Officials from Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection are urging lawmakers to hold off on creating the “climate superfund” to see how federal lawsuits against other states play out.

Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust acquires 270-acre Newcastle property

TIMES RECORD • May 13, 2025

Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust in Damariscotta has closed on the purchase of its largest independent acquisition to date in Newcastle. The 270-acre Deer Meadow Brook Preserve is part of a block of nearly 4,700 acres of undeveloped wildlife habitat along Deer Meadow Brook. Located on West Hamlet Road, the Rugman family property extends from the shore of Damariscotta Lake at State Route 215 (Pond Road) to Deer Meadow Brook, where it includes over 1,600 feet of stream frontage. Deer Meadow Brook flows into Marsh River and eventually into the Sheepscot River. The forested corridor to either side of the brook represents the largest undeveloped block of land in Newcastle.

Trump administration threatens to pull money from Maine wildlife department

CBS 13 • May 13, 2025

President Donald Trump is coming for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s money. The Trump administration said Maine’s efforts to have diversity in its hiring practices is “discriminatory” and has to stop. Until this week, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife had a policy to attempt to have a 50/50 balance on hiring panels who interview potential employees. The federal government threatened to cut off all grant funds to the department if it didn’t reverse the practice. The wildlife department said it has dropped the policy.

Fishery biologist presentation at Trout Unlimited meeting in Topsham, May 20

TIMES RECORD • May 13, 2025

Sebago Lake region fishery biologist Jim Pellerin will present “Region A Fisheries – A Review of Recent and Future Work.” May 20, 7 pm, free, Sea Dog Brewing, Topsham. Sponsored by Merrymeeting Bay Chapter of Trout Unlimited.

Events celebrating the return of alewives to Maine rivers

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 13, 2025

Alewives are river herring that live most of their lives in saltwater but travel to freshwater each year to spawn. Historically they were caught in Maine and canned and smoked, but now, they’re mostly used as lobster bait. Although the construction of dams blocking rivers dramatically reduced alewife populations in Maine over the past centuries the fish is making a comeback. Thanks to the restoration of fish ladders and the removal of dams spearheaded by environmental organizations and volunteers, the river herring’s population in the Penobscot River grew to six million by 2023. The Damariscotta Mills Fish Ladder Restoration is one example of a group renovating a fish ladder that was first built in 1807. The annual alewife migration draws visitors from across the state, and even across the country, to witness the fish travel upstream. Birders also flock to alewife migrations to witness the eagles and ospreys feast.

Opinion: Do not remove rail line from Maine

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 13, 2025

The Legislature is currently considering a bill, LD 30, that would authorize removal of 25 miles of state-owned rail line from Portland to Auburn and replace it with a pedestrian trail costing at least $1 million a mile for which no funding is currently available. This would be a serious mistake, and the Legislature should reject or at least amend it to prohibit the use of state funds to remove rail. Most of the line is still in use for freight service. Rail removal in no way constitutes “interim use,” as LD 30 claims. Once rail is removed, it is highly unlikely rail service will ever return. A trail could be built alongside the railroad, as Maine has already done in six other locations. We support rail-with-trail construction on state-owned lines. ~ Peter Cole, Maine Rail Group

Opinion: Big Oil should pay Maine’s climate bill

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 13, 2025

Big Oil has denied for years that its products are harmful. Its members claim to be the clean energy leaders. The top five oil companies spend $125 million a year on green advertising to convince us of this. The facts present a different picture. In 2024, world oil production reached a new high, sending 40 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Rep. Grayson Lookner and Sen. Stacey Brenner have introduced legislation to establish a “Maine Climate Superfund.” The money would be used to clean up from storms and build new infrastructure to accommodate climate change. Damage to public and private infrastructure from last year’s winter storms cost over $100 million. Repair to our state electric grid cost an additional $228 million. Maine communities and taxpayers should not be stuck with these bills. Urge your legislators to support LD 1808 and LD 1870, the climate superfund bills. ~ Sue Inches