Opinion: Why Maine lobstermen need an extended pause on new right whale rules

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 1, 2025

Three years ago Maine’s lobster industry was on the verge of shutting down because of a regulatory process that was based on flawed interpretation of federal law and biased modeling that relied heavily on hypothetical threats that fisheries posed to the North Atlantic right whale. One of my proudest accomplishments in Congress was the successful effort in 2022 to enact a moratorium on these regulations until 2028, coupled with additional funding to support right whale research. More time is needed to incorporate the research and data collected during the pause into future right whale regulations. I’m working with my colleague Rep. Nick Begich of Alaska on legislation to amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act that would extend the regulatory pause until 2035. ~ U.S. Rep. Jared Golden

Maine offshore wind projects blown away by federal cancelation of plans

ASSOCIATED PRESS • August 1, 2025

Maine will be impacted by the Trump administration canceling plans to use large areas of federal waters for new offshore wind development, the latest step to suppress the industry in the United States. More than 3.5 million acres had been designated wind energy areas, the offshore locations deemed most suitable for wind energy development. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management under Trump is now rescinding all designated wind energy areas in federal waters, announcing on Wednesday an end to setting aside large areas for “speculative wind development.”

Beech leaf disease has hit all 16 Maine counties. What does it mean?

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 1, 2025

A new forest disease identified in Maine just three years ago is now present in all counties, raising concerns among ecologists and wildlife managers as it targets one of the Northeast’s most ecologically valuable trees. Beech leaf disease is caused by a microscopic nematode, a worm, and causes leaves to present with dark banding and curling, eventually causing a dieback from the tips of branches inward to the tree. It’s causing great concerns about beech tree mast, or the production of beechnuts, a source of food for many of the state’s native species including black bears, deer and turkeys. There are no known methods for containing the disease or eradicating it in natural settings. Impacted forests are undergoing ecological transition as dieback opens up forest canopy. “One particular concern would be if invasive plant species proliferate and prevent the healthy regeneration of native tree species.”

Opinion: Maine’s changing climate is making us sick

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 1, 2025

The recent trend of hotter and more polluted summers — Maine’s changing climate is making us sick. Five years ago, I polled physicians in Maine, and 78% said that climate change poses a threat to the health of their patients. Since this study was done, the U.S. has experienced three of its hottest years on record, and 2025 is likely to end up in the top four, so Maine’s clinicians are no doubt seeing even more of these health impacts today. Instead of undermining American science and public health, disinvesting in medical care and emergency response and retreating from our climate leadership roles and obligations, we need to recognize that climate action improves our health, and that is a necessary outcome for all of us. ~ Gail Carlson, associate professor at Colby College, teaches and conducts research on environmental public health

Letter: Peaks Island offers a bird’s-eye view

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 1, 2025

For a few dollars, visitors can drive right onto the Casco Bay Lines car ferry and enjoy the refreshing sea breezes of a boat ride across the bay to Peaks Island. Go up the hill and turn left onto the road that runs down the lee side of the island and on past the yacht club, past Trefethen and to the Pine Landing at the north end of the island. There must have been a building there once, for the foundation remains. It’s there all right. It was left in perpetuity to the birds. ~ Orrin Frink, Kennebunkport

Another change to deer hunting licensing system gives hunters an edge

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 31, 2025

In 2022, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife changed its licensing system to allow deer hunters to apply for a doe tag in addition to their buck-only big game hunting license. This meant that I could shoot a doe and continue to hunt for a buck instead of having a one-and-done deer season. Deer hunters under the age of 16 are allowed to take a doe or buck during the youth deer hunt (Oct. 24-25 this fall). If a young hunter harvests a deer no matter if it is a buck or a doe, they are done for the rest of the season unless they have a doe tag and can continue to hunt for a doe to fill that tag. For the rest of us, this year things are changing again. Hunters in Wildlife Management Districts (WMDs) 21-25 and 29 will be able to take either a buck or a doe with their hunting license, not both. If a hunter in WMDs 21-25 and 29 wants to take both, they will still need a hunting license and an antlerless deer permit. These six districts cover a large portion of the state.

New downtown Portland ambassador program aims to address growing safety, cleanliness concerns

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 31, 2025

In the wake of increased complaints from business owners, a nonprofit organization is dispatching a team to help clean up needles, graffiti and waste, and to respond to calls about loitering and drug use. Portland Downtown is a nonprofit that aims to create a thriving downtown neighborhood.

Biddeford faces a smokestack dilemma as it moves past its ‘Trash Town USA’ rep

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 31, 2025

More than a decade ago, Biddeford tore down the widely despised trash-burning plant that had dominated and degraded its downtown for 25 years. Now, city officials are considering whether the plant’s 240-foot-tall smokestack — a municipal moneymaker that still stands on Lincoln Street — should be transformed into public art and celebrate a remarkable downtown rebound that has occurred in the years since the trash incinerator closed. But while some seem eager to beautify the stack and emphasize its historic role in the city’s development, others loathe that it still towers over downtown as a regrettable remnant of its “Trash Town U.S.A.” reputation. They say it would be a mistake to decorate it.

Farmington boy, stepfather to conquer last of Maine’s 4,000-foot mountains Friday

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 31, 2025

Griffin Chouinard, 10, of Farmington, and his stepfather, Terry Storer, were on their way to Baxter State Park, north of Millinocket, on Thursday morning to hike the last of the state’s 4,000-foot and higher mountains in Maine. They and their dog, Rosie, a walker coonhound, plan to hike North Brother Mountain, a 4,151-footer Friday. Chouinard started hiking the tallest mountains in Maine last year when he was 8. They have documented each hike with photos.

ESPN returns to Maine for Lobster Festival ‘SportsCenter’ segment

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 31, 2025

ESPN will be making its second trip to Maine in little over a month, spotlighting the Maine Lobster Festival in Rockland as part of its “50 states in 50 days” tour that began in Washington, D.C., on June 27. The sports television giant was also in Newport when Cooper Flagg was drafted by the Mavericks on June 25.

Rangeley Scenic Byway Ambassador program boosted by grant supporting businesses, conservation

SUN JOURNAL • July 31, 2025

Rangeley Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce was recently awarded a $303,150 grant to support the chamber’s Scenic Byway Ambassador Program and other community initiatives over three years. The grant from the Northern Border Regional Commission Catalyst Program was established to strengthen communities and support local businesses. Ambassadors meet and greet visitors at three of the region’s scenic overlooks: Height of Land on Route 17 in Rangeley Plantation, Whip Willow on Route 4 in Rangeley, and on Quill Hill in Dallas Plantation.

A Walk in the Maine Woods

SAIL MAGAZINE • July 30, 2025

We’d been hiking for an hour in Seal Bay on the east side of Vinalhaven. A blaze mark had led us to a 2-mile trail that climbed a steep hillside through firs and birches. It had been a lovely leg stretch—just what we needed as a little break from our Sabre 30, Ora Kali—but when we descended, a wide mudflat devoid of puddles stretched between our dinghy, open water, and our boat resting peacefully at anchor some 400 yards away. We waited an hour and a half for the tide to return. By the time the sun was descending towards the trees across the way and the air was starting to lose its heat, a rill of water finally reached the plank we laid across the mud to bridge the last gap, and we got home in time to watch the full moon rise. Such are the risks one encounters when trying to take advantage of the many hiking trails and paths that Maine’s islands have to offer. They’re more than worth it. 

Friends of Merrymeeting Bay to host walk-and-talk on ‘Insects & Other Natural Wonders’

TIMES RECORD • July 30, 2025

Friends of Merrymeeting Bay will host ecologist Kathy Claerr for a walk-and-talk from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 5, in Bowdoinham on the topic of “Insects & Other Natural Wonders.” Nonnative invasive insects harm forests through “piercing-sucking,” defoliating, wood boring and disease spreading. For directions and to pre-register, which is necessary, contact Kathy Claerr at 666-3551.

Column: How bucket stockers are destroying Maine’s cold-water fishery

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 30, 2025

There is a monster loose upon the lands and waters of Maine: the Bucket Stocker. Why would any person willfully introduce crappies or bass into a classic Maine trout or salmon fishery? Is it a revenge crime? Do these individuals, in a moment of deluded thinking, fancy themselves as some kind of fishing activists hell-bent on transforming Maine into their own fantasy concept of a diverse fishery? These bucket stockers are a disaster for Maine’s nationally known and priceless cold-water sport fishery. Because of Maine’s vast network of drainages and interconnected waterways, a fish that is invasive — and illegally introduced — can wind up almost anywhere. This is happening in spades. Bass are increasingly being found in formerly pristine trout waters. In Maine, illegal stocking is a Class E crime, with fines ranging from $1,000 to $10,000, and a mandatory suspension or revocation of fishing licenses for one to five years. ~ V. Paul Reynolds

Opinion: Maine’s updated ‘bottle bill’ is bad for consumers

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 30, 2025

Maine has long been a national leader in environmental stewardship, and our bottle bill, first enacted in 1976, has been one of our proudest accomplishments. It’s helped reduce litter, encourage recycling and set a strong precedent for responsible policy. But even the best-intended laws can have unintended consequences. We’re seeing that play out in real time now. The latest revision to Maine’s bottle bill, which took effect July 1, 2025, expands redemption requirements to include all direct-to-consumer (DTC) wine shipments. In just the past month, all three small wineries where we hold memberships have stopped shipping to Maine. These are small, family-run vineyards that rely heavily on DTC sales to stay afloat. They also happen to be among the most environmentally responsible producers I’ve encountered. We’ve created a system that punishes the very producers who are often the most environmentally conscious. ~ Paul Richardson, Yarmouth

Trump EPA moves to repeal finding that allows climate regulation

ASSOCIATED PRESS • July 27, 2025

President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday proposed revoking a scientific finding that has long been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change. The proposed Environmental Protection Agency rule would rescind a 2009 declaration that determined that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare. The “endangerment finding” is the legal underpinning of a host of climate regulations under the Clean Air Act for motor vehicles, power plants and other pollution sources that are heating the planet.

Sappi finishes Skowhegan mill’s $500 million paper machine overhaul

MORNING SENTINEL • July 29, 2025

The multiyear, $500 million effort to convert and expand a paper machine at the Somerset Mill in Skowhegan is complete, Sappi North America announced Tuesday. Sappi, a Boston-headquartered subsidiary of a large international company based in South Africa, said it is now delivering customers commercial product manufactured on Paper Machine No. 2 at the Skowhegan mill on Waterville Road. Production is expected to ramp up to volume in 2026. The effort to overhaul the machine, which was announced in 2022 and dubbed Project Elevate, doubled its production capacity and made the Skowhegan facility a top production site of high-performance solid bleached sulfate paperboard, which is used for packaging across several industries.

Penobscot elder ‘Butch’ Phillips dies at 85

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 29, 2025

Reuben Elliot “Butch” Phillips, a Penobscot elder, artist, culture-bearer and the former lieutenant governor of the tribe, died Sunday at the age of 85. In the 1970s, Philips was one of the Penobscot representatives on the team that negotiated the Maine Indian Land Claims Settlement of 1980. The legislation was viewed by many as the only way for tribes to secure limited compensation for stolen land. It also subjected tribal nations to state government control and excepted them from the sovereignty all other federally recognized tribes have. Its impacts have shaped the work of Maulian Bryant, who served as Penobscot tribal ambassador before she became executive director of the Wabanaki Alliance in January. Bryant’s work today is largely dedicated to unraveling many of the restrictions imposed by the settlement act. Conversations with her great-uncle caused her to shift her thinking. “I never wanted those tribal leaders to feel ashamed or that they did a bad thing, because it was a historic thing and there were good things for the tribe and they were between a rock and a hard place,” she said.

Maine lakes, ponds at risk as invasive bladderwort plant moves in

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 28, 2025

An invasive aquatic plant first identified in southern Maine two years ago is now confirmed across southern and western parts of the state, and officials and local groups are taking steps to keep it from spreading farther. Swollen bladderwort, which forms dense mats on the water’s surface and can change ecosystems and hinder recreation, has been found on eight Maine waterbodies, including Tilton Pond in Fayette, where it was discovered two years ago and has since worsened, making it harder to swim and boat. aAboater using Tilton Pond’s now-closed public launch was likely to blame for the infestation. Keeping the plant from hurting more waterbodies in Maine will take diligence.

Paddlers in birch bark canoes honor Wabanaki culture on Moosehead Lake

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 29, 2025

It was with uncanny ease that the first few birch bark canoes glided into view, cutting the wind-riffled surface of Moosehead Lake. Their paddlers directed the boats in loose courses around one another with short, confident strokes as the fleet grew from three to 10. Soon, a flotilla of 15 boats had gathered about 50 feet offshore. To observe a gathering of 15 birch bark canoes, like that one that took place at the Greenville Junction Wharf as part of the Thoreau-Wabanaki Trail Festival, is exceedingly rare.