Why homes on Maine’s Moosehead Lake are prized for privacy

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 19, 2025

People of all stripes have long flocked to the Moosehead Lake region to get away from everyday life, making the region prized for its privacy for regular Mainers and high-income outsiders alike. The pandemic-era real estate market has tilted things more toward wealthy buyers, something that has been a slow trend in the region’s long tourism history. Property has remained affordable because of inaccessibility. But the pandemic changed that dramatically. Home values in Greenville have increased over 75 percent. Luke Muzzy, executive director of the Moosehead Historical Society, doesn’t worry about the region changing forever because of new buyers. “You’re looking at an area larger than the size of Rhode Island that will always remain undeveloped,” he said. “The overall footprint of where development has occurred in the last 100-plus years is relatively unchanged. Never will change.”

Livermore woman works hard to maintain ATV trails | Face Time

SUN JOURNAL • May 18, 2025

Ashley Langlin-Hebert has enjoyed riding an ATV for years and is putting her love of the sport into organizing and helping to maintain the local trails. “I have always enjoyed getting out into nature with friends and seeing places you might not always see, local and afar.“

Column: A conservation success story in Maine’s North Woods

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • May 18, 2025

Maine is the only state with wild populations of Atlantic salmon. Yet these sea-run fish face significant threats as they attempt to migrate thousands of miles from the ocean to their natal waters to spawn. Barriers such as dams and inadequate culverts that block their safe passage have impeded the recovery of this ecologically and culturally important species. In 2003, the Appalachian Mountain Club launched the Maine Woods Initiative to promote multiuse conservation and recreation in the famed 100-Mile Wilderness. This initiative included one of the largest fisheries restoration projects in the country, helping protect and enhance the habitat that salmon, brook trout, alewives and many other species rely on. Restoration efforts have already demonstrated early signs of success. ~ Steve Tatko, Appalachian Mountain Club

Hatchery upgrades will boost trout stocking in Maine lakes and ponds

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 18, 2025

Three of the state’s eight hatcheries are undergoing major renovations, including its oldest facility in New Gloucester built in the 1940s and not updated since the early 1990s. The other two facilities are in Grand Lake Stream, which is the most difficult to reach because of its remoteness, and in Embden, which was the state’s first round tank farm and had a major renovation in the early 2000s. The state is using more than $25 million in one-time American Rescue Plan Act funding for the renovations. The hatcheries produce approximately 1 million fish that are released in some of Maine’s 6,000 lakes and ponds. The public can learn what lakes and ponds the DIF&W stocks, with what fish and when on the department’s stocking report online.

Maine packaging waste law needs improvement

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 17, 2025

Maine has long embodied its motto — Dirigo (I lead) — in environmental policymaking. Real leadership, however, requires a willingness to adapt when necessary to ensure policies remain effective, practical, and aligned with evolving realities. In 2021, Maine led the nation by passing a landmark law, shifting the financial burden of managing packaging waste away from municipalities and taxpayers and onto the producers that generate it. The Board of Environmental Protection in December 2024 voted on a detailed rule outlining how the Stewardship Program for Packaging will be implemented. However, the rule didn’t undergo legislative review. That decision has left critical concerns raised by Maine’s business community unresolved. LD 1423 would clarify the law’s definitions, better align Maine’s program with national peers, and prevent unintended economic harm. ~ Ashley Luszczki, Maine State Chamber of Commerce

Opinion: Gorham’s deer population is under threat

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 17, 2025

Gorham is home to one of southern Maine’s most robust and thriving deer herds, but our town officials, if allowed to continue on their present track, are pushing the entire herd into extinction. The deer herd in the Narragansett Game Sanctuary has been protected by state law since 1927, but our present crop of elected and appointed officials seem hell-bent on sidestepping the law’s protections and killing off the herd by systematically destroying its habitat. Rezonings have then been followed by massive development proposals. ~ Roger Brown, Gorham

Maine preservation commission cancels grants, layoffs loom without without federal funding

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 16, 2025

Facing delays in receiving federal funds, the Maine State Preservation Commission has canceled more than half a dozen grants in an attempt to avoid laying off nearly half its staff. The terminations included about $145,000 worth of grants to nonprofits and municipalities, which were canceled last week. Developers and preservation advocates say that a potential loss of funding and personnel would be devastating to historic rehabilitation projects that rely on the commission to secure major tax credits. In recent years, the state office has received about $870,000 annually from the federal government, which is distributed by the National Park Service. The National Park Service has been subject to widespread staffing cuts.

Column: The best place for spring birding is right in Bangor

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 16, 2025

Quit reading this. Grab your binoculars, and get outside. We’ve arrived at peak bird-finding season. Here are my top three places to go in the immediate Bangor area. Rolland F. Perry City Forest. If I could bird only one place in the area, it would be here. There are so many different trees at various heights that habitat is plentiful for every woodland bird. The Orono Bog Boardwalk offers an entirely different habitat for bog specialists. This boardwalk is as good as it gets. Essex Woods is my second favorite birding spot in Bangor. The walking path around the wetland is awesome for birding. Rounding out my top three: Caribou Bog Conservation Area in Orono. It was always good for birding. It’s now extraordinary, thanks to land trust efforts to reclaim the wetlands and improve the paths. ~ Bob Duchesne

Maine resilience projects face yet another funding setback

MAINE MONITOR • May 16, 2025

Just a month after the Trump administration cancelled a popular grant program and millions of dollars for local Maine climate resilience projects along with it, Maine municipal officials are facing yet another potential federal funding setback. This time it’s the Hazard Mitigation and Grant Program that the administration is downsizing, a multi-billion dollar program that states have long used to protect vulnerable homes and infrastructure from floods and other disasters. As a former FEMA official with decades of emergency management experience at the state and county levels, York County emergency management director Arthur Cleaves has seen the federal agency at every angle and is keenly aware of the opportunities to improve its efficiency and cost-effectiveness. What he doesn’t understand, however, is what good will come out of sinking vital FEMA programs that can protect communities like his from the next big storm. 

Aroostook County sawmill fined $240,000 for environmental violations

MAINE PUBLIC • May 16, 2025

A Canadian-owned saw mill in Aroostook County has agreed to pay $240,000 dollars to resolve water pollution violations. The state Department of Environmental Protection says Daaquam Lumber Maine Inc. failed to control stormwater runoff, illegally discharged wastewater and had an improperly sited and unregistered sand salt pile. The owner, Quebec based Lebel Groupe, has since corrected the problems. The mill was sold to J.D. Irving Limited in 2025, according to Lebel's website. The company did not respond to a request for comment. The company was fined $99,000 and will pay another $141,000 to enhance fish habitat in a nearby stream.

Funding approved for Camp Ellis erosion project

MAINE PUBLIC • May 16, 2025

Residents of Saco’s Camp Ellis neighborhood are hoping they may finally get relief from severe coastal erosion that has plagued them for generations. $23 million in the federal budget will pay for construction of a 750-foot stone jetty spur intended to reduce wave force and sand loss. Shoreline damage is blamed on a nearby Saco River jetty expanded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the 1950s.

Letter: Address climate concerns to reduce teen anxiety

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 16, 2025

As a retired middle school teacher and lifelong educator in Maine, I strongly support LD 1543, “An Act to Establish the Green Schools Network.” This bill offers an opportunity to advance sustainability, save money, and, crucially, address the mental health needs of our students. Climate anxiety is real and rising, especially among teens. They’re deeply worried about the future, and too often, they feel powerless. This bill can help turn that anxiety into action by giving students a sense of agency and purpose. ~ Carey Hotaling, Freeport

We have an alternative to Atlantic salmon fishing

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 15, 2025

Since the rights to many sectors of the best salmon rivers are still privately owned by individual people, corporations or the provincial government in Canada, average fishermen would have to take out second mortgages on their houses to lease fishing rights for a week. But Mainers have a less expensive option nearby known as black salmon fishing. Black salmon are Atlantic salmon that moved from the ocean into their home river to spawn during late summer and fall, and then spent the winter in that river or its feeder lake. New Brunswick and Quebec are the best answer to a Maine salmon angler’s prayer. It’s possible to catch half a dozen a day. The Canadian rivers are close to Mainers, the price is fair and the fish take flies fast and furious from mid-April through May.

Pingree questions EPA administrator on PFAS standards

MAINE PUBLIC • May 15, 2025

Under questioning from Maine Congresswoman Chellie Pingree today, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin testified that the agency's decision to remove maximum contaminant limits on four PFAS chemicals in drinking water was because of a procedural error made when the standards were set. The agency also announced Wednesday that it will delay the timeline for enforcing the remaining two standards. "The science is sound, and there's no question that PFAs is harmful to human health," Pingree said. "So why is the EPA not fully committed to defending all PFAS rules? Pingree also questioned him about cancelled PFAS research grants for the University of Maine and the Central Aroostook Soil and Water Conservation District. Zeldin said he agrees that the research is important, and implied that the grants could move forward under a different office in the future.

Hannah Pingree wants Maine to continue its climate work ‘with or without’ Trump administration

SUN JOURNAL • May 15, 2025

When Hannah Pingree was chosen to lead the state’s new Office of Policy Innovation and the Future in 2019, Gov. Janet Mills’ administration was in a similar position as it is now. The federal government, under President Donald Trump, was slashing programs and working against policies to address climate change — something that has resumed after four years under the Biden administration. But Pingree said the governor’s attitude was reflected in the Maine Climate Council’s first report, titled “Maine Won’t Wait.” “(Mills) said we would act whether or not the federal government was with us,” Pingree said. During a Great Falls Forum discussion Thursday, Pingree said she’s hopeful that Maine can continue to implement and fund its goals around climate resilience, carbon emissions, clean energy and energy efficiency.

Avangrid to conserve 50,000 acres near Western Maine power corridor

MAINE PUBLIC • May 15, 2025

Central Maine Power's parent company Avangrid has submitted a plan to conserve almost 80 square miles of woodland in western Maine. Land preservation is required under state permits for Avangrid's electricity transmission line to carry Quebec hydropower to the New England grid. A permanent conservation easement will encourage mature tree growth, protect wildlife habitat and shelter streams that support cold water fisheries, according to the company's submission to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. The company said the line is on track to start operating by the end of 2025.

UMaine lab lays off 9 employees, blames federal funding uncertainty

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 15, 2025

A University of Maine research lab leading efforts in offshore wind and 3D printing has laid off nine employees after the federal government halted millions of dollars in funding. Nine employees of UMaine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center were notified Monday. The layoffs come just one month after the Trump administration directed UMaine to halt activity on $15.8 million in offshore wind research projects, including a floating turbine that researchers have worked on for over a decade and was weeks away from a final launch.

Mt. Abram ski area says Greenwood noise ordinance would harm them

SUN JOURNAL • May 15, 2025

A dispute developed when one homeowner was running his generator on his property on Howe Hill Road 24 hours a day. A neighbor who complained said she could not enjoy her backyard with the constant hum asked the town to implement a noise ordinance. If approved, the ordinance could seriously impact operations at nearby Mt. Abram Ski & Ride, company officials say.

Plan to loosen federal habitat protection seen as threat to iconic Maine wildlife

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 15, 2025

The Trump administration wants to weaken federal habitat protections for imperiled plants and animals, and advocates in Maine say the changes could threaten some of the same species the state has been working to protect. Proposed federal changes would narrow the scope of the country’s landmark Endangered Species Act, making it easier to obtain federal development permits in areas used by endangered wildlife for nesting, breeding and foraging. Environmental groups say the proposed changes could hurt some Maine species, such as Atlantic salmon, Furbish’s lousewort, or piping plover.

Company could pay $240K for Aroostook lumber mill violations

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 15, 2025

A company that owned a Masardis sawmill until January could pay $240,000 in fines for violating state environmental regulations, including improper handling of wastewater. Daaquam Lumber, owned by Groupe Lebel and Bois Daaquam of Riviere-du-Loup, Quebec, allegedly discharged pollutants into local waters and failed to collect samples to monitor wastewater, among other violations, according to the DEP. Under a consent agreement, Daaquam will pay a $99,000 civil penalty and contribute $141,000 to enhance fish habitat in a nearby waterway. Commonly known by the name of its longtime former owners, J. Paul Levesque and Sons, the sawmill operation has a history of Canadian owners since its founder died in 2013. Maibec, also of Quebec, bought it in 2015. Daaquam acquired it from Maibec in 2018 and owned it for about seven years. Irving Forest Products acquired it on Jan. 5.