Acadia National Park leaf peepers undeterred by federal government shutdown

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 14, 2025

The government shutdown didn't hamper turnout at Acadia National Park this weekend, as eager crowds took in the fall foliage. Some services operated by outside vendors, such as gift shops, are still open to the public. But Eric Stiles with Friends of Acadia said with much of the park staff furloughed, visitors are missing out. "We want everyone to come here and safely and responsibly enjoy the park, but it is a diminished experience for those that are coming during the shutdown." Stiles said there are no staff to collect entry fees or sell passes, and even the self-serve machines are out of order. Friends of Acadia has set up an online fund for visitors to donate the entrance cost instead. Donation will be given to the park after the shutdown.

How to weigh in on CMP’s 5-year plan to raise rates

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 14, 2025

State utility regulators are holding public hearings this week on Central Maine Power Co.’s proposed 5-year plan to upgrade the state’s aging electrical grid and raise rates to fund the work. The company last month asked the Public Utilities Commission for permission to increase customers’ monthly bills by about $35 between 2026 and 2031, using the new revenue to hire hundreds of workers and install stronger poles, upgraded substations and better protected wires. CMP is the largest electric utility in the state, serving about 660,000 residents and businesses. The plan has prompted some of the strongest backlash in years, with Gov. Janet Mills condemning the proposed rate hike as “unacceptable” and more than 700 public comments already filed by Tuesday morning. The Maine Office of the Public Advocate offers information and advice on how to effectively testify at a public hearing online. To provide virtual testimony at Wednesday’s hearing RSVP by emailing PUCPublicHearing@Maine.gov or calling 207-287-3831 by the end of Tuesday.

Downeast fishing forum to bring families together to address safety, stress, and isolation

MAINE PUBLIC • October 14, 2025

This Thursday, October 16, will mark the first-ever Downeast Fishing Family Forum in Ellsworth, which organizers say will offer the community a place to "discuss the issues that matter most." Co-organizer Amanda Smith, with the Sunrise County Economic Council, is married to a lobster fisherman, and lives in the Jonesport-Beals Island area. She says over the last few years, fishing communities like hers have faced lots of similar challenges, like worrying about the future of the industry, and experiencing the heartache of losing loved ones at sea. "We often don't recognize just how much stress there is on the shoulders of the whole fishing family unit and our communities," said Smith. The forum is being held at Woodlawn in Ellsworth.

90-year-old Maine conservationist honored for life’s work

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 14, 2025

Richard “Dick” Anderson, 90, has dedicated his life to the conservation of Maine’s natural beauty. Scarborough Land Trust awarded him with the Conservationist of the Year, along with the gift of topographical map, as acknowledgement of his lifelong commitment to protecting the environment. Anderson has been recognized many times for his lifelong commitment to Maine’s outdoors. But when asked what he’s proudest of, he said he doesn’t like to think about that kind of thing. He said, “I stirred people into action. I had a lot of good people to work with.”

Opinion: Cuts to EPA are a risk to Maine’s clean air and water

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 14, 2025

Mainers have a special connection to the outdoors. We can’t take this for granted. Maine’s environment is under attack in Washington, D.C., as part of an agenda focused on eliminating the government’s role in protecting our clean air, water and natural resources. The U.S. House Appropriations Committee has approved a FY26 budget, targeting the Environmental Protection Agency for the most extreme rollback of funding in decades. We risk leaving a legacy of environmental harm that would negatively impact Maine’s environment and communities for generations. Maine relies on grants to towns for wastewater treatment upgrades, replacing lead pipes, and cleaning up toxic waste sites. Our health depends on pollution controls for power plants that release mercury, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, and other toxins. This pollution, carried to Maine by prevailing winds, harms the most vulnerable among us, while accumulating in our rivers and fish. In contrast, the Senate Appropriations Committee, under U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, released a draft budget that largely retains the EPA’s role of protecting health and the environment. We encourage Collins to continue protecting the essential role that the EPA plays. ~ Anya Fetcher, federal policy advocate, Natural Resources Council of Maine

Maine trail program flooded with applicants

MAINE PUBLIC • October 13, 2025

Applications have flooded into the inaugural year of a newly established grant program to restore and build new motorized and nonmotorized trails across the state. Doug Beck, outdoor recreation program manager with the Bureau of Parks and Lands said many of Maine's trails have been battered by years of underfunding, crowding during and after the COVID-19 pandemic and increasingly severe storms. "The combination of all of that results in just the decimation of the trail infrastructure," Beck said. "Virtually all trails are experiencing increased use, increased damage." Until now, money to address the problem has been scarce. But last year voters overwhelmingly approved borrowing $30 million to fund improvements.

The Nature Conservancy in Maine to receive 2025 Austin H. Wilkins Forest Stewardship Award.

PENOBSCOT BAY PILOT • October 13, 2025

The Nature Conservancy in Maine (TNC) will be recognized for its dedication and contributions to sustainable forest management on Thursday, October 16, 2025, during Maine TREE’s Forest Awards Night at the Morgan Hill Event Center in Hermon. The organization is set to receive the Austin H. Wilkins Forest Stewardship Award, presented annually by the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF) in partnership with the Maine Timber Research & Environmental Education Foundation (Maine TREE). "This award is the premier recognition for individuals and organizations demonstrating exceptional and sustainable management of Maine's working forests," said Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. TNC has been at the forefront of innovative forest conservation and stewardship for decades, according to DACF. Its work has protected over one million acres of forests, rivers, and coastlines across the state.

Generations of growth in western Maine farms cultivate community

LIVERMORE FALLS ADVERTISER • October 13, 2025

Across Franklin County, two farms — one seven generations old, the other just over a decade in — are cultivating more than crops. Boothby’s Orchard in Livermore and Rustic Roots Farm in Farmington are each investing in the future of local food and community, rooted in a shared belief that farming connects people as much as it feeds them. At Boothby’s Orchard and Farm, Rob and Denise Boothby have turned their hillside orchard into both a family legacy and a community gathering place. That same spirit of long-term investment in local food connects Boothby’s to Rustic Roots Farm in Farmington, where Erica Emery and Dave Allen are expanding operations through a $100,000 crowdfunding campaign to build critical infrastructure on newly purchased farmland. The new property will complement Rustic Roots’ existing Farmington operation and allow them to grow more food for the region.

New audiobook chronicles history that led to depleted fisheries and reduced tribal access in Maine

MAINE PUBLIC • October 13, 2025

The Maine Indian-Tribal State Commission is releasing an audiobook Monday that examines how state policies have contributed to the decline of traditional fisheries and limited tribal peoples' access to them. "Sea Run" was initially published as a report in 2022. Co-author Judd Esty-Kendall says the audio version, which is narrated by Wabanaki citizens, helps brings it to life. And he says it also expands the report's reach. Sea Run describes how dams, overfishing and pollution decimated fish populations including salmon, shad and alewives. It calls for better coordination between state agencies in restoration efforts, examining water quality standards, and supporting traditional Wabanki sustenance practices. "Sea Run" will be available for download on the Maine Indian-Tribal State Commission website.

Wabanaki Alliance celebration honors generational wisdom as foundation for progress

MAINE MORNING STAR • October 13, 2025

The Wabanaki Alliance was formed to advocate for changes to the 1980 Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act. That land agreement has resulted in the Wabanaki Nations — the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Mi’kmaq Nation, Passamaquoddy Tribe and Penobscot Nation — being treated differently than other federally recognized tribes, with a relationship to the state more akin to municipalities than sovereign nations. Since the organization’s creation, progress has been made. Gov. Janet Mills has rejected sweeping reform and instead approached changing the relationship on a case-by-case basis. Though, already fairly widespread gubernatorial candidate support for tribal sovereignty suggests the state’s approach could change when Mills is termed out in 2026. 

Opinion: Time to double down on the transition to renewable energy

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 13, 2025

America’s gradual loss of democracy worries me, as our executive branch is seizing the powers of our legislature and courts and using that power to oppress minorities. Millions of people will be harmed or killed by President Trump’s policies. I am even more worried by Trump’s attack on the renewable energy industry and his giveaways to the fossil fuel industry. Last year, the fossil fuel industry gave $219 million to help elect Trump and the Republican congressional majority. Now this industry is getting its payoff. The president is trying to stop the transition to renewable energy at a time when climate change is becoming more dangerous. And we are passing environmental tipping points now, which will cause our climate to worsen even after we switch completely to renewable energy. ~ Richard Thomas, Waterville

Bangor to reconsider historic preservation rules after slate roof dispute

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 13, 2025

The Bangor Historic Preservation Commission will hold a special meeting on Oct. 29 to review the city’s guidelines for how historic buildings should be preserved and potentially make recommendations to city councilors. The group plans to “fine tune and clarify the language on process, criteria and the allowances for economic hardship,” said Anne Krieg, Bangor’s economic development director. That meeting will come a few weeks after the commission voted on Oct. 9 to give resident Steven Farren retroactive permission to keep the asphalt roof he put on his home, which sits in the city’s Broadway Historic District, after two Bangor boards denied his request.

Maine landscapes with Indigenous names you should know

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 13, 2025

I was recently corrected when referring to Katahdin. Saying “Mount Katahdin” is technically redundant, since the direct translation from the Penobscot language means “the greatest mountain. That small correction — and my curiosity — sent me down a rabbit hole of researching other landscape names in Maine and discovering the funny or interesting translations they carry. In recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ Day on Monday, I’ve put together a chart of some notable landscape features in Maine — mountains, rivers, streams and other well-known places — whose names come from the languages of tribes in Maine.

A new wave of rural Maine towns is thinking about disbanding

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 13, 2025

Residents of the Penobscot County town of Winn used to work for businesses in Lincoln or Millinocket, but mill closures there left jobs scarce. Fewer than 400 people remain in Winn. “There’s no interest in this town anymore,” Winn Selectman Robert Berry said. The town first considered deorganizing — the process in which a municipality dissolves as an independent town and becomes part of Maine’s unorganized territory — in 2023, when no one ran for select board and the town office was unstaffed. Winn is one of several communities that is considering dissolving their town governments and joining Maine’s unorganized territory instead. Deorganizing generally lowers tax rates for residents because the burden is spread across all of the unorganized territory, which accounts for more than half of the state’s land and has about 9,000 year-round residents. However, deorganizing also means the municipality relinquishes any ability to self govern.

At Unity farm, goats star on Open Creamery Day

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 12, 2025

It was a visit to two Maine farms on Open Creamery Day several years ago that inspired Kirby Carleton to start a herd of goats of her own. After visiting the creameries, Carleton said she fell in love with goats. Now, Carleton runs Honey Wilde Farm, making cheese and soap from her goats’ milk. “I tell people to be really careful when they’re here about how excited they get because it like took over my life,” Carleton said Sunday morning, as she opened the farm at 42 Cross Road in Unity to the public for Open Creamery Day. The Maine Cheese Guild, which supports Maine cheesemakers, organizes the statewide event, now in its 17th year. Ten creameries were participating in this year’s Open Creamery Day, spread around mostly the central part of the state.

Maine joins with Connecticut to order new clean energy

MAINE PUBLIC • October 12, 2025

Maine is joining Connecticut in an effort to bring more solar and wind power onto the regional electric grid before federal tax credits for renewable energy expire. The Public Utilities Commission last week directed its staff to consider proposals for new energy resources sought by Connecticut. Any developments will have to be vetted by the commission for their benefits to Maine electric customers. Connecticut put out a request for proposals last month seeking "late stage" projects that could capture federal tax breaks that may make them more cost-competitive for electric ratepayers. President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act curtailed 30% of federal tax credits available to solar and wind developments.

With less vibrant colors, fall foliage still draws tourists to Boothbay

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 12, 2025

At a Fall Foliage Festival in Boothbay this weekend, hundreds of people milled around the Railway Village Museum, enjoying hot apple cider and browsing goods made by local vendors. But all around the festival, the trees were still green. Paula Wood, who is visiting Maine with her husband Anthony, traveled from Missouri to see the famously vibrant colors of the Northeast. Although they’re enjoying their time on the East Coast, Wood said she is missing the bright red and orange leaves she expected to see. The drought that has plagued Maine since early August could be impacting the vibrance of the foliage this year. 

Letter: Mainers should see through Republicans’ wind power smokescreen

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • October 12, 2025

Why would a group of Maine Republicans ask to revoke offshore wind leases from the Gulf of Maine? I thought the GOP was the political party that stood for protecting our national security and lowering our cost of living? Then it dawned on me. These representatives are actually putting up a smokescreen to protect their political funding from the fossil fuel interests. Of course, the fossil fuel industry doesn’t want a competing technology that is better and has a lower cost. They fight against funding any renewable energy project through their surrogates in the Republican Party. Follow the money. I wish our Republican representatives would just be honest and say that they have requested the revocation of the leases because they have their hands in the fossil fuel cookie jar. ~ Larre Nelson, Portland

Woman accidentally shoots bird hunting companion in northern Maine

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 12, 2025

Amber Oaks, 31, was in a party of six people who were in a line in two ATVs and two side-by-sides. She was a passenger in the rear side-by-side vehicle being driven by 31-year-old Danielle Fernald of Freeport. The ATV driver leading the party saw a bird and went into the woods to try to shoot it. Fernald exited the side-by-side and reached in to grab her loaded shotgun. She bumped the butt against the vehicle’s roll cage, leading her hand to hit the trigger. Birdshot struck Oaks in the knee. She was taken by ambulance to Cary Medical Center in Caribou, where wardens said she is getting surgery. Under Maine law, it is a crime to have a loaded firearm in a vehicle.

Republicans try to weaken 50-year-old law protecting whales, seals and polar bears

ASSOCIATED PRESS • October 11, 2025

Republican lawmakers are targeting one of the U.S.’s longest standing pieces of environmental legislation, credited with helping save rare whales from extinction. Leaders feel they now have the political will to remove key pieces of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, enacted in 1972 to protect whales, seals, polar bears and other sea animals. A GOP-led bill in the works has support from fishermen in Maine, lobbyists for big-money species, and marine manufacturers. Conservation groups adamantly oppose the changes and say weakening the law will erase years of hard-won gains for jeopardized species such as the vanishing North Atlantic right whale.