Body of second missing hiker found on Katahdin

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 4, 2025

Search teams found the body of Esther Keiderling, 28, of Ulster Park, New York, around 1 p.m. Wednesday in a wooded area off the Tablelands between two known trails, according to Baxter State Park officials. Her father, Tim Keiderling, 58, was found around 2:45 p.m. Tuesday on the Katahdin Tablelands by a Maine Warden Service K9 search team. The pair had been missing since Sunday morning. The search included 25 game wardens, four game warden K9 teams and 21 Baxter State Park rangers. Helicopters from the Maine Forest Service and Maine Army National Guard assisted with the search and transported crews to the summit.

2nd missing hiker found dead on Katahdin

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 4, 2025

The body of the second hiker missing on Katahdin was found Wednesday afternoon, Baxter State Park officials said. Esther Keiderling, 28, was found around 1 p.m. Wednesday by search teams off the Tablelands, in a wooded area between two known trails. Her father, Tim Keiderling, 58, was found dead Tuesday afternoon.

Donald Trump insists disputed island off Maine’s coast is US territory

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 4, 2025

The Trump administration is insisting that a small island off Maine’s coast belongs to the United States even though Canada has long claimed it and operates a lighthouse there. Machias Seal Island is roughly 12 miles southeast of the Down East fishing harbor of Cutler and roughly the same distance southwest of Grand Manan Island in New Brunswick. It sits in a long-disputed 280-square-mile section of the Gulf of Maine known as the “gray zone” that has been getting renewed attention as rhetoric between the U.S. and Canada has heated up with Trump back in the White House. The gray zone has been increasingly prized by fishermen from both countries as lobster populations have grown there, and some Maine lobstermen are now pressing Trump to make progress in resolving the dispute in their favor.

Letter: Hunting on the rise in Maine, thanks to Commissioner Camuso

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 4, 2025

V. Paul Reynolds’s May 28 column attacked Inland Fisheries & Wildlife Commissioner Judy Camuso for seeking gender parity on hiring panels. Despite the fact that half of Mainers are women, he considers equal representation in hiring processes to mean she is “hell bent” on “the creation of a matriarchy.” He also seems to have big feelings about the department’s efforts to introduce new communities to the Maine outdoors, apparently preferring to limit hunting and fishing to people who look and think like him. The department’s outreach to new communities is preserving Maine’s outdoor heritage. ~ Jeremy Cluchey,
Bowdoinham

Katahdin reminds us of the limits of human endurance

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 4, 2025

Katahdin is the crown jewel of the Maine outdoors. It looms large over the landscape, towering over the vast stretches of forest and lakes of the North Woods. Hikers from all over come to test their mettle on Maine’s highest peak, the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. Once again, the mountain has become the stage for a tragedy as old as storytelling itself: us versus nature. Over the years, more than 60 people have died on Katahdin. It’s a reminder that the reward of summiting Katahdin is matched only by the peril that haunts every hike, waiting for a seemingly inconsequential mistake or momentary blunder to manifest it.

What to do when you see a turtle crossing the road

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 3, 2025

Maine is home to seven species of native freshwater turtles which are an integral part of our natural heritage. Three are on the state’s list of endangered, threatened and special concern species: the wood turtle, the spotted turtle, and the Blanding’s turtle. Two species most commonly sighted are snapping and painted turtles. Drivers should keep an eye out for turtles crossing the road. If safe to do so, you can pull over and move the turtle to the side of the road in the direction they were traveling. Do not relocate them to a different area or care for them by taking them home. Learning to ID Maine’s turtles and how to handle them will aid in reducing disturbances and impacts to turtle populations that may be struggling.

Maine DEP issues air quality alert for Wednesday and Thursday

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 3, 2025

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has declared an air quality alert up and down Maine’s coastline for Wednesday and Thursday. Ozone levels are expected to rise in conjunction with “particle pollution,” spawned by smoke from wildfires in Canada.

Missing hiker’s body found on Katahdin, search continues for daughter

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 3, 2025

The body of a hiker who had not been seen since Sunday has been located on Katahdin, according to Baxter State Park officials. At around 2:45 p.m. Tuesday, the body of Tim Keiderling was located by a Maine Warden Service K9 search team on the Tablelands region near the summit of Katahdin. Tim Keiderling, 58, and his daughter, 28-year-old Esther Keiderling, both of Ulster Park, New York, were last seen on Katahdin’s Tablelands heading toward the summit about 10:15 a.m. Sunday, according to Baxter State Park. Esther Keiderling has not been located. A search effort remains underway to locate the woman. 

Farmworker minimum wage on track to become Maine law

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 3, 2025

Maine farmworkers could soon be covered by the state’s minimum wage law for the first time after lawmakers voted this week to extend the law to the state’s agriculture industry. The proposal, sponsored by Sen. Rachel Talbot Ross, D-Portland, is similar to one proposed last year by Gov. Janet Mills. That effort fell short. Under existing law, Maine farmhands can earn as little as $7.25 an hour. That is the federal minimum wage, which has not been raised since 2009. Talbot Ross’ bill, which was supported by a range of agricultural associations, would require farmworkers be paid at least the state minimum wage, which is currently $14.65 an hour and increases automatically with inflation.

Falmouth council passes divisive pesticide ordinance again, but public vote looms

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 3, 2025

The Falmouth Town Council has passed a controversial pesticide and fertilizer regulatory ordinance for the second time in a vote split 5-2. The action came following the invalidation of the previous vote due to an unmet requirement.

Maine lobster industry urges Trump to deliver on pledge to ease rules

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 3, 2025

Members of Maine’s fishing community are calling on President Donald Trump to change policies they say are harming the state’s lobstermen. “The Maine lobster fishery has, unfortunately, been no stranger to federal regulatory abuse,” Patrice McCarron, president of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, wrote in a recent letter to Trump. “MLA welcomes the policy changes.” Since passing an executive order in April to support the U.S. seafood industry, Trump has been signaling that he intends to change commercial fishing and lobstering regulations in New England. It’s unclear, though, exactly what Trump wants to address and whether any of those rules could change things for Maine fishermen.

Multiyear restoration of Portland Head Light complete

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 3, 2025

A three-and-a-half-year restoration project on Portland Head Light at Fort Williams is finally complete. In that span, the iconic and historic lighthouse has had new windows and a new roof installed, a complete exterior repaint, and an updated AC unit and HVAC system. The museum inside the lighthouse has also seen enhancements, including new carpeting, which addressed damage to the first floor after it flooded during a storm last winter.

First mushroom casket in the U.S. honors life through nature

MAINE PUBLIC • May 3, 2025

In the back woods of Industry, Maine, an intimate gathering was held to honor the life of Mark Ancker. While the ceremony marked the end of Ancker’s 77 years on earth, it also marked the start of something new — the first time a mushroom casket has been used in the United States. An artist and longtime gardener, Anker's longtime wish was to be returned to the land that he loved. The casket, made by Loop Biotech, is made entirely out of mycelium. This allows it to decompose quickly, with full decomposition occurring 45 days after burial. It is also designed to provide nutrients to the surrounding soil. This was key for Ancker-Robert, who alongside family and friends, will be turning the site into a garden.

Gov. Mills signs new law targeting septic system runoff near freshwater bodies

SUN JOURNAL • June 3, 2025

Gov. Janet Mills signed a bill into law Tuesday updating septic system regulations aiming to safeguard Maine’s lakes and ponds. The new law, LD 1550 sponsored by Sen. Henry Ingwersen, D-York, addresses “short circuiting” in systems on properties abutting freshwater bodies such as lakes and ponds. Short circuiting occurs when septic system effluent skirts natural filtration processes by draining quickly through sandy soils or along shallow bedrock and into water bodies.

New law targeting septic system runoff near waterbodies signed by Mills

SUN JOURNAL • June 3, 2025

Gov. Janet Mills signed a bill into law Tuesday updating septic system regulations aiming to safeguard Maine’s lakes and ponds. The new law, LD 1550, addresses “short circuiting” in systems on properties abutting freshwater bodies like lakes and ponds. Short circuiting occurs when septic system effluent skirts natural filtration processes by draining quickly through sandy soils or along shallow bedrock and into water bodies. Maine Department of Health and Human Services will be required to revise design standards for septic fields in high-risk soil profiles only which address nutrient pollution through natural soil processes.

Father-daughter hiking duo reported missing at Baxter State Park

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 3, 2025

Baxter State Park rangers are searching for two hikers from New York who were last seen Sunday on the Katahdin Tablelands. Tim Keiderling, 58, and his daughter, 28-year-old Esther, were last seen Sunday morning as they headed toward the summit of Katahdin.

A fight may loom over tiny Machias Seal Island

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 3, 2025

For decades, the legal status of puffin-friendly Machias Seal Island has been taken lightly. That easy reality may not last. While the U.S. has long claimed Machias Seal Island, Canada also calls the uninhabited island 20 miles south of Machias its own. Almost two centuries ago, Canada erected a lighthouse with a foghorn there…and it still sends out lighthouse keepers. The Republican leader of the state House, Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham of Winter Harbor, last week urged President Donald Trump to defend “sovereignty over our waters,” referring to the little island in the Gulf of Maine. “We’ve been taken advantage of for too long,” Faulkingham said. Them’s fighting words.

A father and daughter are missing on Katahdin

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 3, 2025

Tim Keiderling, 58, and his daughter, 28-year-old Esther Keiderling, both of Ulster Park, New York, were last seen on Katahdin’s Tablelands heading toward the summit about 10:15 a.m. Sunday, according to Baxter State Park. The Keiderlings left Abol Campground that morning for the hike. Park rangers began searching for them Monday morning when they discovered the Keiderlings’ vehicle still in the day-use parking lot. No sign of them was found during a search of the Abol and Hunt trails and the Tablelands. The search expanded Tuesday morning, with more than 30 game wardens along with tracking dogs, three Maine Forest Service helicopters and two Maine Army National Guard helicopters outfitted with infrared thermal imaging assisting park rangers.

Acadia wants to require reservations for this popular park attraction

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 2, 2025

Acadia National Park is trying to figure out how to manage hot spots that get congested during its busy summer tourist season, but its top priorities aren’t the places that social media users might think. Last week, a video of a long line of hikers slowly snaking its way up the ladder trail on The Beehive mountain got ample attention online and discussion about conditions at Acadia. But crowded trails on the mountain, where hikers can climb up a series of iron ladders fastened to a steep rock face that overlooks scenic Sand Beach, are not a new phenomenon during the post-COVID boom, according to park officials.

New Maine law requires forest carbon program reporting

MAINE PUBLIC • May 2, 2025

A new state law requires Maine woodland owners to report contracts they've entered with forest carbon offset programs. University of Maine forest resources professor Adam Daigneault said the law will help policymakers and others better understand Maine's changing forest industry and clarify the state's greenhouse gas reduction goals. Carbon markets have grown in recent years as companies and other entities try to offset their greenhouse gas pollution by preserving woodlands and other environments that are natural carbon dioxide traps. The programs pay landowners to manage forests in ways that maximize that storage.