The most comprehensive online source of conservation news and events in Maine and beyond, edited by Jym St. Pierre
RANGELEY HIGHLANDER • October 2, 2025
The Trails for Rangeley Area Coalition (TRAC) formed in 1995, a product of the Lakes Alliance for Vision and Action Convention. In the early years, participants identified, cleared and maintained trails, in addition to hiking them. Now, the group is more focused on hiking the trails.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 2, 2025
New proposed rules expanding protections for vernal pools and other at-risk wildlife habitat will move on to public hearings following a Thursday morning review by the Board of Environmental Protection. The proposals from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection update the Natural Resources Protection Act and related permitting standards to reflect recently passed laws requiring DEP to strengthen safeguards for vernal pools and protecting habitats of endangered and threatened species, such as peregrine falcons and spotted turtles.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 2, 2025
A Topsham man had to be rescued on Wednesday afternoon after he became stuck up to his waist in coastal mud in Brunswick. Matthew Alexander, 31, called 911 shortly after 2 p.m. to report that he was stuck in the mud off Wharton’s Point in the intertidal zone of Maquoit Bay and couldn’t get back to shore. He had shot several ducks from the shore, and when he went to retrieve them he suddenly sank. Brunswick police officers used their department’s Marine Patrol air boat to reach Alexander. It took two officers to break the suction and get Alexander into the boat, according to the department. The ducks were retrieved later.
TIMES RECORD • October 2, 2025
A Brunswick business, 157 Pleasant LLC, a real estate company managed by Stephen Goodrich, will pay the Maine Department of Environmental Protection more than $10,000 after an employee illegally dumped 275 gallons of oil at a former auto dealership and garage owned by the company. A cellphone video taken by a witness showed a forklift driver carried the oil storage tank out of the building at 149 Pleasant St. and flipped the tank over to drain the motor oil before bringing the empty tank back inside. Goodrich hired an excavator to remove 34.5 tons of contaminated soil. Goodrich agreed to pay roughly $10,600 to the DEP, including a fine of $5,000 and $5,600 in reimbursement costs to the department. The employee who was recorded dumping the oil was fired.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 2, 2025
On the second day of the federal shutdown, Acadia National Park has barred visitors from driving up the summit road on Cadillac Mountain, but is allowing people to either walk or bike to the top. The park’s Visitors Center in Hulls Cove was closed Wednesday, but the park’s campgrounds at Blackwoods, Seawall and Schoodic remain open. The majority of Acadia employees have been furloughed during the shutdown, with exceptions made for a small number of staff deemed “necessary to protect life and property.” Eric Stiles, president and CEO of Friends of Acadia, said that parks across the country already have lost 24% of their staff since President Donald Trump took office in January, and that the shutdown is “discouraging” for Acadia’s employees. “This is not an efficient or good way to take care of the national parks,” he said.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 2, 2025
On Saturday, Oct. 25, buyers can purchase any of 14 properties in Jonesport up to four acres large. All but one of those neighboring plots are undeveloped, ready-to-build land. Virginia-based waterfront development company American Land Holdings is selling the properties, which will form a new community in Jonesport called Seaberry Landing. While the offer is the first of its kind for the small coastal town and presents an opportunity for anyone to own a sizable chunk of waterfront property, Michele Johnson, Jonesport’s town manager, hadn’t heard of the offer as of Wednesday. Johnson had reservations about the sale, as she said developers need prior approval before creating a subdivision in the town.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 2, 2025
Last winter was boring in the Maine woods. Food was abundant in Canada, so finches stayed north. I’m excited to report that this year looks very different. The Finch Research Network issued its annual winter forecast this week, and it starts with a bang. “It looks to be a flight year for many species in eastern Canada. With mostly very poor crops in the boreal forest from central Quebec westward to Manitoba, this has the potential of being the biggest flight year since 2020-21.” That winter was awesome. All the northern-breeding finches flooded into Maine. ~ Bob Duchesne
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 2, 2025
it was heartening to hear last week about an agreement to remove dams on the Kennebec River, returning more of the waterway to its natural, free-flowing state, while also seeking ways to support the Sappi mill in Skowhegan, a vital source of jobs for the region. Last month, The Nature Conservancy announced that it was undertaking a $168 million project that would restore more of the central Maine river for fish, including endangered Atlantic salmon. This would restore unfettered access for Atlantic salmon and other seagoing fish from the Gulf of Maine to their historic spawning grounds upstream. It is easy to criticize such a large project and to make assumptions about its outcome, but an open mind, a commitment to working together and patience can lead to a more vibrant river.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 1, 2025
Despite the lack of an agreement in Congress to fund federal operations past the end of September, Acadia National Park remained mostly open on Wednesday. The park’s visitor center in the Bar Harbor village of Hulls Cove was closed. But the Island Explorer bus system and local bicycle rental companies that transport customers and their bicycles into the park were coming and going from the parking lot as usual. The Park Loop Road was open. Rangers were manning the booth at the bottom of Cadillac Mountain’s Summit Road and were making sure visitors had required reservations before driving to the top. A couple who was leaving Acadia Wednesday morning to head back home to New York said it was a shame that the park’s operations would be affected at all by politics. “These parks are for everyone. People plan these trips in advance,”
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 1, 2025
The 2025 September moose hunt was a tough season for many, with all wildlife management zones seeing a decline in harvest numbers compared with 2024. Maine’s moose biologist, Lee Kantar, said during the roughly two- to three-week rut, cows come into and out of estrus in stages, while bulls search for receptive cows. Kantar noted that drought and warm weather likely affect moose movements, feeding behavior and times of activity, and may lead them to use smaller home ranges, staying closer to areas with moisture and green vegetation.
CENTRAL MAINE • October 1, 2025
Billboards have been banned in Maine since 1977, when the Legislature voted to prohibit “off-premises” advertising signs. The law took effect in 1978 and required the removal of most existing billboards within several years. It followed Vermont’s earlier example and made Maine the first state on the East Coast to eliminate highway billboards. There are exceptions. Businesses may still display signs “on-premises,” and Maine law allows certain “categorical signs,” including noncommercial and religious messages. Scenic America, a national nonprofit that tracks billboard laws, says only three other states have statewide bans: Vermont, Hawaii and Alaska. Each state enacted its prohibition decades ago to protect its scenic character.
CENTRAL MAINE • October 1, 2025
A 46-year-old Anson man died Tuesday when he was struck by a falling tree while cutting wood with his father in Embden. First responders found Daniel Nile with a serious head injury and performed life-saving measures, but he was ultimately pronounced dead on the scene.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 1, 2025
The federal government shutdown is already having an impact on one of the most cherished slices of Maine. While open to the public, Acadia National Park is down to only staff deemed essential to the protection of the park and the health and safety of visitors. Eric Stiles, president and CEO of the Friends of Acadia nonprofit, said the shutdown is “highly disruptive” to national park employees, visitors and the local economy. Employees whose roles are considered “exempt” from the shutdown, or reliant on non-federal dollars, are expected to continue working for as long as those funds are available. Volunteer activities will continue, unless the “necessary oversight by NPS personnel cannot be provided,” the plan states. Employees who do not fall under those categories are to be furloughed, the plan says.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 1, 2025
Around 170 Midcoast fourth graders spent the day out of the classroom, getting some hands-on learning at the Merrymeeting Bay Wildlife Management Area in Bowdoinham on Tuesday, as part of an educational day hosted by the Friends of Merrymeeting Bay. Fall Bay Day featured around 13 educational stations focused on a range of activities, including archaeology, conservation canines, fish migration, bugs, bird banding and wildlife rehabilitation. The archaeological site is a historic location adjacent to a cellar remains of an old farm building, where students unearthed remnants of old nails, brick and glass left behind from the few settlements on the site during the 1700s to 1800s. Each station ties back to Merrymeeting Bay.
FRANKLIN JOURNAL • September 30, 2025
Shoreline stabilization, erosion control and clean water projects are set to move forward across Wilson Lake and Varnum Pond, bringing long-term benefits for residents, visitors and wildlife. Ecologist and water resource specialist Jennifer Jespersen told the Select Board on Sept. 16 that approval has been secured for a wide-ranging plan to address pollution that comes from sources such as rain runoff and agriculture in the Wilson Lake watershed — called nonpoint source pollution. Federal money through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was recently awarded for just under $150,000.
ASSOCIATED PRESS • October 1, 2025
National Park Service officials said Tuesday afternoon that contingency plans were still being updated and would be posted to the service’s website. During a 35-day shutdown in Trump’s first term limited staffing led to vandalism, gates being pried open and other problems.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 30, 2025
About 12,000 federal workers across Maine braced for a likely federal government shutdown at midnight Tuesday — a move that could lead to furloughs and firings, and potentially shuttering Acadia National Park and the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument at the height of foliage season. The federal government was last shut down in 2018 over Trump’s demands for funds to build a wall along the southern border. “The damage that occurred took many parks months, some years, to recover from,” the National Parks Conservation Association said of the 2018-19 shutdown. “And in some cases, it was irreparable.” The Trump administration has said it will fire many nonessential workers. Among those who could permanently lose their jobs are many of the 75 workers at Acadia National Park.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 1, 2025
A Northport shop that has rented and delivered kayaks and paddleboards for the past 11 years is closing at the end of the season, owner Terra Warner confirmed. Don Pedro’s Kayak & Water Rentals, in Northport, will be fully liquidated by the end of October. She is stepping down amid obligations to her family, who are based out of Palm Beach, Florida. She wants to see her grandchildren grow up while remaining connected to the entrepreneurial ventures she’s long been part of, since all of her children are entrepreneurs themselves.
ASSOCIATED PRESS • September 30, 2025
Senate Democrats have voted down a Republican bill to keep funding the government, putting it on a near-certain path to a shutdown after midnight Wednesday for the first time in nearly seven years. Threatening retribution to Democrats, Trump said Tuesday that a shutdown could include “cutting programs that they like.” The last shutdown was in Trump’s first term, from December 2018 to January 2019, when he demanded that Congress give him money for his U.S.-Mexico border wall. Trump retreated after 35 days — the longest shutdown ever — amid intensifying airport delays and missed paydays for federal workers. Democrats see a rare opportunity to use their leverage to achieve policy goals and as their base voters are spoiling for a fight with Trump. Sen. Angus King of Maine voted with Republicans to keep the government open.
ASSOCIATED PRESS • September 30, 2025
Plunged into a government shutdown, the U.S. is confronting a fresh cycle of uncertainty. Roughly 750,000 federal workers are expected to be furloughed, some potentially fired by the Trump administration. Many offices will be shuttered, perhaps permanently, as Trump vows to “do things that are irreversible, that are bad” as retribution. His deportation agenda is expected to run full speed ahead, while education, environmental and other services sputter. The economic fallout is expected to ripple nationwide.
