POSTED INHUNTING Maine Guide and tracker recover partially eaten black bear

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 89 2025

Lindsay Ware, a large-game blood tracker, was called to assist with a black bear recovery on Friday for a client of registered Guide Corey Robinson of Briar Run Guide Service. What made this recovery unusual was the condition of the animal. The black bear Robinson was carrying out of the woods was partially eaten, missing its lower limbs and torso. It had been scavenged by coyotes or possibly another bear — though Ware and Robinson suspect the latter. Robinson said his hunter shot the bear with a crossbow. The bear went 400 yards from the shot location. The team’s efforts ensured the hunter was able to recover the animal, despite the unusual scavenging — a reminder of both the resilience of bears and the unpredictable realities of the Maine woods. 

Colby College to build new science complex using $150 million anonymous gift

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 9, 2025

Colby College announced Tuesday that it will use the largest donation in its history — a $150 million anonymous gift — to build a science complex on its campus and expand its statewide research footprint. The new 200,000-square-foot complex, slated to be complete by 2030, will include classrooms, laboratories and new specialized equipment. “We’re trying to build a science complex and a science program for the next century, not for the last one,” Colby President David A. Greene said. Last month, the college announced it was building a Center for Resilience and Economic Impact in Port Clyde, where interdisciplinary researchers will work on solutions before and after natural disasters.

Maine’s black market for baby eels is spawning a crime-thriller subgenre

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 8, 2025

In the mid-2010s, the elver fishery became one of Maine’s most profitable. But legally catching the young eels, also called glass eels, meant following government regulations to prevent overfishing, including a limit on how many could be captured. Under those restrictions, a high-stakes black market for elvers soared — until a federal sting started taking it down. Joshua Viertel looped in his father, Jack — a retired Broadway producer living in Deer Isle — and they began cowriting under the pseudonym J.J. Viertel. Their debut novel,“The Glass Eel,” is headed to shelves on Tuesday, Sept. 9.

Navy dispute threatens angler access to Great Pond in Aurora

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 9, 2025

Going back to the 1800s, there was always a public boat launch and right-of-way to Great Pond. That changed when the U.S. government was gifted part of the lakeshore. The government later developed an elaborate recreational facility known as the Great Pond Adventure Center for active and retired military. In 1946, Rick Musson’s father built and ran a sporting camp on the lake’s Loon Island until 2000. Called Great Pond Lodge, hunters and fishermen reached the island from a boat that launched at the now-disputed access point beside the military facility. Musson, who lives on Great Pond and inherited the now-closed lodge, alleges that in 2018 the government confiscated his $25,000 aluminum dock at gunpoint. He says he has not been compensated. Tom Stott, a Great Pond selectman, warns that “there is a cloud hanging over this entire issue — not only regarding the public road ownership, but the public right-of-way to the boat launch.”

Massachusetts man found dead near Bremen accidentally drowned

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 8, 2025

A Massachusetts man whose body was recovered hours after he was reported missing from his sailboat near Bremen last month had accidentally drowned, according to the state’s Office of Chief Medical Examiner. Mark Metzger, 74, of Waltham, Massachusetts, was reported missing on Aug. 31 after his friends noticed he was not aboard his 19-foot sailboat which was anchored on the western side of Bremen Long Island. Members of the public found Metzger’s body hours later near Long Island Ledges.

Falmouth Land Trust works to quell invasive plant takeover at new preserve

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 8, 2025

The woods at the end of Eagles Lane in Falmouth were once overrun with bittersweet. A woody vine with broad green leaves, the invasive species overtakes and strangles trees, creating a dense wall of vegetation and pushing out native plants, leaving behind a “food desert” for the insects and birds. But today, many of the trees in the 24-acre parcel are cleared of the creeping vine, and monarch caterpillars can be found feasting on the native milkweed growing between trees. The invasive species removal project is being managed by the Falmouth Land Trust, which acquired the parcel last year and started opening it to the public this summer.

Central Maine Power Co. taps longtime VP as new president

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 8, 2025

Central Maine Power Co.’s former vice president of customer service is taking over as president, effective immediately, the company announced Monday. Linda Ball, who had served in her previous role since 2019, succeeds Joe Purington, who became CEO of Avangrid Networks, which oversees parent company Avangrid’s utility subsidiaries in New York and New England, in July. CMP is Maine’s biggest electric utility and serves roughly 660,000 customers in southern and central parts of the state.

CMP adds new tech to minimize power outages

MAINE PUBLIC • August 8, 2025

Central Maine Power is installing hundreds of devices on its system to restore electricity more quickly following outages. CMP spokesperson Dustin Wlodkowski said the equipment can isolate problem areas and reroute power to nearby homes and businesses. The units can reduce restoration time from a few hours to just a few minutes.

Volunteers tidy up Brunswick Town Mall

TIMES RECORD • September 8, 2025

On a rainy morning Friday, a handful of volunteers got to work on the Brunswick Town Mall, picking up cigarette butts, wrappers and other litter. They were participating in a Coastal Cleanup with the Friends of Casco Bay, part of a series of summer litter-picking events scattered across the Casco Bay region. “All of the drops of water that fall today, eventually, if they’re not evaporated, make it into the Androscoggin River and into the bay, and we want to make sure that it stays clean and safe for the animals, the people, the plants,” said Katrina Venhuizen, Friends of Casco Bay cleanups coordinator.

Invasive, disease-carrying tick found in Maine, the farthest northeast it has been spotted

ASSOCIATED PRESS • September 8, 2025

Researchers have confirmed the presence of an invasive species of tick in Maine for the first time, marking the farthest northeast in the United States the pest has been discovered. The University of Maine and state conservation officials said Monday they confirmed the presence of the Asian longhorned tick in the state in July. The tick is native to east Asia, where it is capable of spreading tickborne infections such as spotted fever.

All-access trail in Rumford Community Forest to open to the public Sept. 20

SUN JOURNAL • September 8, 2025

An all-access looped trail designed specifically for wheelchairs, strollers and people using walkers and crutches is getting ready to open to the public for the first time in Rumford Community Forest. A grand opening will be held Saturday, Sept. 20, at the 446-acre forest at 161 Isthmus Road. Secured in partnership by Trust for Public Land, the town, Inland Woods + Trails, and the Northern Forest Center, the project stemmed from the community’s desire to boost its economic vitality, strengthen their outdoor recreation assets, and protect a valuable tract of natural land close to town.

Drought: Causes & Impacts

MAINE PUBLIC • September 8, 2025

It's been a glorious summer for beachgoers and other outdoor enthusiasts—day after day of sunshine and blue skies. But that same weather pattern is not good for farms, lakes and ponds, private wells, forests, and fire danger. Experts discuss the impacts of the ongoing drought, and what it will take for conditions to improve. Panelists: Nick Stasulis, chief, monitoring operations section, New England Water Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey; Sarah Jamison, federal hydrologist, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service in Gray; Tom Gordon, program coordinator, soil & water conservation program, Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry. VIP callers: Susan Gallo, executive director, Maine Lakes; Ivan Fernandez, professor emeritus and climate research scientist, University of Maine; also with the Maine Climate Council; Gale Ross, foliage reporter, Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry.

Energy prices are complex. Here’s what Maine lawmakers can and have done to lower them

MAINE MORNING STAR • August 8, 2025

House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor), said, “The reason Maine ranks so high in electricity rates is because of bad policies” that encourage sustainable energy. However, the actual dollar amount ratepayers end up shelling out each month is influenced by a multitude of factors. While the global markets that dictate prices of natural gas and other energy sources are beyond the reach of state senators and representatives, there are some ways that energy costs can be addressed from Augusta. In June, Gov. Janet Mills signed legislation to reform net energy billing and rein in future costs. The new law is projected to save Maine electricity customers more than $1.2 billion over the next 16 years. Electricity prices in New England could have been 11% lower last winter if contracted offshore wind projects had been operational. That would have translated to about $400 million in savings. However, the Trump administration took action early on to pause the development of offshore wind projects.

Column: Are Maine summers losing their magic?

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 8, 2025

Summers in Maine always go by too fast, but did this one even happen? It started with the rain. For a dozen straight Saturdays, soggy weather shut down hope of squeezing in any seasonal activities before Massachusetts schools let out. Then, the heat set in, bringing seven days when the “feels like” temperature exceeded 90 degrees; there are usually four. Soon after, the shark sightings started and didn’t stop. Deer ticks the size of a sesame seed have been spreading Lyme disease at a higher rate and with a larger reach in Maine than ever. Wildfire smoke from Canada resulted in multiple alerts. Most of these things have something to do with climate change, meaning there’s more to come. Meanwhile, I’ll be re-attempting my staycation this month. ~ Leslie Bridgers

More tourists than ever are visiting a remote part of Acadia

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 8, 2025

The Schoodic section of Acadia National Park so far this year is busier with tourists than it ever has been, and area business owners say the increased traffic has been paying off. As of last weekend, the area tallied roughly 40,000 more visits so far in 2025 than at the end of August in recent years, which saw park visitations nationwide surge in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 268,000 estimated total visits at Schoodic from January through August is more than any entire year prior to 2016 — and Maine’s tourist season is expected to last another several weeks.

House Natural Resources Committee Holds Hearing on Another Ill-Conceived Permitting Reform Bill

LEGAL PLANET • September 7, 2025

On September 10, the House Natural Resources Committee will convene a hearing on the SPEED Act—the latest NEPA reform bill championed by Chairman Bruce Westerman. The bill includes provisions that would fundamentally compromise the integrity of federal decision making processes by allowing—or even compelling—the government to ignore scientific and technical information critical to understanding the effects of a federal action and how those effects could be mitigated. It is Orwellian indeed to require an agency to seek input from the public that the agency is expressly excused from having to consider. And if you’re wondering if this is an intended consequence, it clearly is, because the bill specifies that permitting agencies to ignore information in environmental review processes does not affect their obligation under the Administrative Procedure Act to respond to comment when issuing or revising regulations.

On land and at sea, Maine’s chaplains tackle climate anxiety

MAINE MONITOR • September 7, 2025

As a maritime chaplain with Seafarer’s Friend, a 200-year-old New England organization, Thomas Kircher boarded vessels from Portsmouth to Searsport. Research shows that climate change has led to more frequent marine heatwaves and more intense storms, among other changes, according to NASA. The seafarers Kircher worked with had more immediate concerns than a warming planet, he said, but they all had stories of bigger waves and stronger winds. This summer, Kircher retired from Seafarer’s Friend to focus more on climate advocacy within faith communities, joining other faith leaders in Maine who are putting more emphasis on addressing people’s spiritual needs in the face of a warming planet.

Maine scientist skis Greenland to document climate change

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • September 7, 2025

If all has gone according to plan, 38-year-old Susana Hancock should be more than halfway through a 600-mile trek in one of the planet’s most remote and hostile environments to document the rapid retreat of the Greenland ice sheet. The small, one-pound sensors she is installing as she skis across the world’s second-largest polar ice cap will measure greenhouse gas emissions and ice thickness. That data is critical for global climate monitoring in a region that is “very poorly monitored in real time,” Hancock said during an interview last month before leaving for Tasiilaq, an island in East Greenland, where she was set to begin her trip a week later.

See moose and stunning views of Katahdin on this 15-mile trail network

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 6, 2025

Since opening its doors and trails to the public in 2019, Penobscot River Trails has been welcoming local and far away visitors to experience riverfront recreation. The facility offers more than 15 miles of trails for biking and hiking, and they even groom the trails during the winter season for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. Shortly after biking past one of the kayak launch points, I came around yet another bend in the trail and river, and through a small opening in the trees, my eyes caught something moving in the water. It was a moose! Penobscot River Trails offers an opportunity for any and all to visit a riverfront nature preserve without the worry of needing gear (rental fees are by donation) or the complexity of how to get there. Also, the facility is home to the Maine Outdoor Education Program. [Originally published in July 2022.]