Crispy blueberries, flash drought: Maine farmers seek support with extreme growing conditions

MAINE MORNING STAR • September 22, 2025

Although farmers and growers have historically been able to rely on even rainfall throughout the growing season in Maine, the agricultural community has been forced to deal with more moisture extremes. The 2020 growing season marked the driest in state history, while the wettest growing season on record came just three years later. Coping with these conditions has become a challenge for farms whose income hinges on precipitation levels and could even have larger economic effects as wild blueberries alone contribute more than $350 million annually to the state economy. Many farmers don’t have the money or expertise to plan and install irrigation infrastructure on their land, so they are hoping state support can fill those gaps.

7 Maine foliage treks with an antique twist

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 22, 2025

Don’t just take a foliage drive this year. Take a vintage adventure. Maine has brilliant and breathtaking foliage most years. But the state’s small towns are also filled with antique shops and vintage stores, where you can spend blissful hours browsing all sorts of historic gems or charming clutter. Happily, just like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, it’s easy to combine two great things into one. Here are suggestions for seven foliage/antique destinations around the state. 

Column: Cheaper ways to see Bar Harbor, one of the priciest U.S. travel spots

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 22, 2025

 A couple flying into Maine and staying three nights at a hotel in Bar Harbor, eating meals out and having a few beers, would ending up spending $2,294 over their visit, according to personal finance website GoBankingRates, which in June ranked the Mount Desert Island town No. 4 on its list of America’s Most Expensive Tourist Destinations. But for Mainers living in driving distance, maybe even close enough for a day trip, visiting Bar Harbor doesn’t have to break the bank, especially with the help of some insider tips that will keep costs down without sacrificing any fun. ~ Leslie Bridgers

Soaring taxes threaten longtime residents of Maine’s Unorganized Territory

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 22, 2025

A recent surge in taxes on long-held generational lands and camps in the state’s unorganized territory threaten Mainers’ ability to hold on to cherished properties. Some of the hardest hit residents have been those in vacation destinations such as along Moosehead Lake and near resort areas such as Sugarloaf ski mountain. For some landowners in these real estate hot spots, their property valuations have recently doubled or tripled.

Bar Harbor’s lost cruise ships are Eastport’s gain

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 22, 2025

Musicians played live music, vendors were set up in front of the local port authority building and City Hall closed at noon Thursday as Eastport welcomed the first Virgin Voyages cruise ship to ever visit Maine. As Bar Harbor sought to increase its cruise ship business, which over 30 years grew from a little over 20 visits a year to nearly 160 in 2019, officials there would hold similar events celebrating visits by ships such as the Queen Elizabeth 2. The red-carpet rollout for the Virgin ship Brilliant Lady, which can carry 2,800 passengers, contrasts with summer scenes in downtown Bar Harbor these days, which has banned large cruise ship visits. This year Eastport is expected to get roughly 25 visits; seven can carry more passengers than Eastport has residents.

Watch out for these fuzzy caterpillars in Maine this fall

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 21, 2025

Several caterpillar species in Maine can cause skin reactions, including the invasive browntail moth. One of the most common caterpillars in the fall — the hickory tussock moth — can cause skin irritation if touched. At first glance, they may look almost cute, but don’t be fooled.

What led to Maine having its worst August for wildfires in 20 years

MAINE MONITOR • September 21, 2025

When a campfire jumped its ring near a remote northern Maine lake last month, it took Maine Forest Rangers five days of ferrying resources by boat and digging away vegetation around the resulting four-acre blaze to stop its spread. Just a few weeks later, rangers returned to the area by helicopter, canoe and foot to douse a cluster of escaped campfires before they reached the surrounding 100 Mile Wilderness. Campfires and open burns were two of the primary causes of wildfires this August, when Maine saw more wildfires than in any other August over the last 20 years, according to the Maine Forest Service. What made the landscape more susceptible to wildfires might seem counterintuitive: a wet spring. Plenty of rain in May sprouted the growth of fine fuels such as grasses and shrubs. Then three months of severe drought dried them out, turning the Maine landscape into a tinderbox.

TikTok is changing how people visit Acadia National Park

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 20, 2025

As visitation to Acadia National Park has soared over the past decade, social media has played a growing role in how people approach their trips. They often look to TikTok, Instagram and other sites for ideas, inspiration and travel tips. A decade ago, Facebook and Twitter (now called X) were the dominant platforms for people to share their photos and videos on social media. But in recent years, user-produced videos have exploded on other apps such as Instagram Reels, TikTok and YouTube, both from casual travelers and professional influencers. A spokesperson for the park declined to comment on what sort of impact social media might be having on visitation to Acadia, saying that park officials do not track or otherwise have data on it. Warm weather certainly is a factor in how busy the park is, but it’s unknown what other factors might contribute to high numbers at Schoodic or in the park more generally, the spokesperson said.

1 year ago, a teen girl vanished into northern Maine’s unpredictable wilderness

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • September 21, 2025

Stefanie Damron walked into the woods on the family’s property in New Sweden on September 23 of last year and has not been seen since. Federal and state authorities have mounted a massive rescue effort for Stefanie in the last year, combing through more than 4,500 acres of thick backcountry forest between Caribou and Canada with searchers on horseback, packs of trailing dogs and a half-dozen helicopters. It’s easy to get lost in Maine’s vast wilderness. It’s much harder to be found. There are about a dozen active missing persons cases in the area.

What do ever-hotter summers mean for Maine’s economy?

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • September 21, 2025

As Maine charts increasingly hotter and longer summers, businesses across all industries are planning for more weather extremes — and its impact on their bottom lines. Some are already feeling the effects of hot days on worker productivity and customer demand. Extreme heat manifests in higher energy bills at food banks, art museums and movie theaters. It can mean lower blueberry crop yields, but also longer growing seasons and new opportunities. It brings the dangers of uncomfortable — or unsafe — working conditions for those most exposed to the sun. And while Maine’s temperatures largely remain workable, business leaders say they are watching the thermometer, and their electricity bills, in ways they never needed to before.

Letter: Maine summers haven’t lost their magic

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • September 21, 2025

This is in response to the column “Are Maine summers losing their magic?,” by Leslie Bridgers. The real magic in Maine is not found at water parks, but in the nature this great state provides. Ticks are a problem, but they are a problem for most woodland areas, and that’s why it’s important to take the proper precautions. The waters are as safe as ever. What’s more, this column also referred mostly to the Portland area. Portland is only a small piece of Maine, and other areas don’t share its problems to the same extent — like the heat. Maine summers have attracted visitors from all over since I was a little kid. There is something magical about them. That isn’t going away anytime soon. ~ Joe Lazaro, Vinalhaven

Column: Enjoying Baxter State Park’s beautiful wilderness, miles from nowhere

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 20, 2025

We spend two nights and three glorious days at the Martin Ponds Lean-to, one of three shelters in the Katahdin Lake sector of Baxter State Park. The others are located on the south side and north side of Katahdin Lake. The shelter at the southerly of the two tiny Martin Ponds is a 2.3-mile hike from the Avalanche Field trailhead on the Roaring Brook Road. Katahdin Lake is a relatively new addition to Baxter State Park. In late 2006, after a long and complicated conservation deal involving a host of public and private entities, 4,100 acres around the lake were gifted to the park, finally fulfilling a long-held dream of Percival Baxter. Since that time, several other small private inholdings around the lake have also been acquired. ~ Carey Kish

Coast Guard seeks public feedback on changes to navigational buoys in Maine waters

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 20, 2025

The U.S. Coast Guard is seeking public input on proposed changes to buoy placement in Maine waters as its works to modernize its system of navigational aids across the Northeast. The Coast Guard previously announced in April that it would be removing more than 300 buoys in New England, prompting confusion and concern among mariners. U.S. Sens. Angus King and Susan Collins, along with eight of their fellow coastal New England senators, wrote a letter to acting Coast Guard Commandant Kevin Lunday in June calling for the agency to hold off on the changes. The Coast Guard said last month that it would pause and adjust its plan. It announced Saturday that it is reopening public comment through Nov. 15.

Opinion: Join us for ‘Sun Day’ in the park in Portland

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 20, 2025

On Sept. 21, the autumnal equinox, events will be held all over the country to celebrate that clean energy revolution. And one of those events will be held right here in Portland’s Lincoln Park. In a nod to Earth Day, the day is called Sun Day. The event is sponsored by Third Act, an organization founded by Bill McKibben to support old hippies like me in their attempts to preserve a safe and flourishing home for their children and grandchildren. Earth Day was a bipartisan day of protest to protect the health and well-being of our lands and waters.  It is my hope that Sun Day will also be a day that unites us as a community over our shared concerns for the future of our oceans, our forests and our children. ~ Kathleen Sullivan, Freeport

Maine public water supply complies with law, but is it safe?

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 19, 2025

Nearly half a million Mainers are drinking tap water containing amounts of cancer-linked chemicals that, while complying with state and federal limits, still pose a public health danger, according to a new study from a national public health advocacy group. The Environmental Working Group is calling for stricter regulatory standards for hexavalent chromium, arsenic and nitrate, and urging public water systems to invest in technology that could filter them all out at once. “The public health benefits are undeniable,” Melanie Benesh, an Environmental Working Group spokeswoman, said Wednesday when the findings were published, adding that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “is moving too slowly.” She said: “Our laws haven’t kept pace with the risks from our tap.”

Column: How technology is changing bird photography and birding in Maine

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 19, 2025

Once upon a time, wildlife photography was the domain of professionals with outrageously expensive gear. Then the world changed. Cameras became affordable. Digital replaced film. Big name manufacturers began an arms race to see who could develop better features faster — more pixels, higher resolution, quicker autofocus. The trend of birding through cameras continues to accelerate. The newest technology — mirrorless cameras — is rapidly replacing digital single lens reflex cameras (DSLRs). Many of these new cameras have autofocus so precise it can lock onto a bird’s eye. Use whatever camera you have — even your smartphone. After all, you probably paid more for it than I did for my old Canon. ~ Bob Duchesne

Janet Mills highlights climate priorities in visit to Belfast

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 19, 2025

Gov. Janet Mills used visits to two businesses in Belfast on Friday to highlight various priorities her administration has set for responding to climate change in the state. She used a visit to a waterfront restaurant to highlight the damage that it and other places faced from devastating coastal storms that hit the state early last year. Her second stop was at Logix, a growing company that installs solar panels and heat pumps around Maine. Storms and flooding are generally expected to become more severe as human consumption of fossil fuels warms the planet. At Logix, located on Searsport Avenue, Mills expressed concern about disruptions to federal funding for solar energy projects under the Trump administration. 

Maine health officials respond to study showing hexavalent chromium contamination in drinking water

MAINE PUBLIC • September 19, 2025

Health officials in Maine say they are working with water utilities to stay below maximum contaminant levels for hexavalent chromium. That's after a report from the Environmental Working Group, or EWG, pointed to thousands of public utilities nationwide that had traces of the compound, along with arsenic, nitrate or a combination of the three. Exposure to these chemicals at high levels can cause harmful health effects in humans including cancer. But according to publicly available water quality reports, Maine water utilities that were flagged in the EWG report are in compliance with federal standards.

Spreading sand to save a salt marsh

MAINE MONITOR • September 19, 2025

On a humid August morning, the Webhannet salt marsh in Wells was a sea of tousled, neon-green grass. But at the marsh’s northern edge, one spot stood out — about two acres of glittering white sand with only a few plants breaking through. Late last winter, excavators spread sand dredged from the nearby harbor there, in a bid to save the sinking marsh and protect the birds that rely on it. The marsh is a test site for a type of restoration never before tried in Maine, known as the “beneficial use of dredged materials.” The method involves spreading a thin layer of sand and sediment to raise the marsh surface, helping it better withstand sea level rise and support birds like the endangered saltmarsh sparrow and black ducks. At this site, crews used 1,000 cubic yards of sand to raise the elevation by 3 to 6 inches.

$500K cleanup of former Navy gym starts in Cutler

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 19, 2025

Plans to spend a half-million dollars removing toxic materials from a recreation building at the former Naval base in Cutler are underway, and more work may be needed before the building can be put to use again. The Washington County Development Authority was awarded the $500,000 grant through the Environmental Protection Agency’s Brownfields Program in 2021.