Opinion: Maine dog owners need to curb the unwanted baggage

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 28, 2025

Along with lighthouses, lobsters and lakes, it seems like Mainers increasingly want to be known for a more unsightly totem of outdoor life: dog poop bags. I see them almost everywhere I go in our beautiful state, proudly on display as if they’re part of the natural environment. They’re littering hiking trails, strewn about on the side of the road or left on an old stone wall. I know there are some environmental concerns about leaving dog poop in the woods, but leaving it in a plastic bag and forgetting about it is much worse.  Mainers’ commitment to protecting and preserving the environment is admirable, and we cherish the beautiful landscapes and public spaces we have. But there’s no special exemption for dog poop bags. ~ Jeremy Bowman, Cape Elizabeth

Seven Mainers Honored for Commitment to Maine’s Environment

NATURAL RESOURCES COUNCIL OF MAINE • October 27, 2025

Each year, NRCM honors a small group of Maine’s volunteer environmental leaders with a Conservation Leadership Award and presents a People’s Choice Award to a person or group nominated and voted on by NRCM members and the public. The 2025 winners were recognized at NRCM’s annual Protecting What We Love event:

• Maya Kellett, for her leadership role in climate organizing and her persistent efforts to engage youth in climate activism throughout politically tumultuous times.

• Pat Ianni, for her efforts to address the problem of single-use plastics within her community and her dedication to the successful implementation of Maine’s Product Stewardship Program for Packaging.

• John Hagan, for his work to identify and protect Maine’s last remaining late-successional and old-growth forests, which are critical for wildlife habitat, biological diversity, carbon sequestration, and Maine’s natural heritage.

• Habib Dagher and Anthony Viselli, for their outstanding research and dedication to floating offshore wind technology, a cornerstone of our state’s efforts to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, stabilize energy prices, and fight climate change.

• Nick Bennett, Lifetime Achievement Award for nearly three decades as one of Maine’s top environmental advocates, providing leadership that has made an enormous difference in protecting Maine’s woods, waters, fisheries, and wildlife.

• Marcel Polak, NRCM People’s Choice Award, selected by popular vote, for his lifetime of visionary land conservation work in western Maine, including co-founding the Mahoosuc Land Trust. 

Westbrook’s riverside renaissance gets boost from $1M EPA cleanup at future site of apartments

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 27, 2025

For decades, the area around Dana Street, a short lane linking Main Street to the edge of the Presumpscot River, has been rundown, overgrown and inaccessible. The Dana Street Redevelopment Project is one of five projects in Greater Portland that GPCOG recently awarded a total of $3.9 million in brownfield grants or low-interest loans from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Over 20 'ill-prepared' hikers, some with hypothermia, rescued from snowy Mount Washington

ABC NEWS • October 27, 2025

Over 20 "ill-prepared" hikers were rescued from New Hampshire's Mount Washington after they were trapped in "full winter conditions" without the proper gear, with some developing hypothermia, according to the Mount Washington Cog Railway. The hikers, who were rescued on Saturday by railway officials, had reached the mountain's 6,288-foot summit, but "most had no idea that summit services would be unavailable and that the state park was closed for the season," Andy Vilaine, the assistant general manager for the Mount Washington Cog Railway, said in a statement on Saturday.

West Nile virus found in crow in Bangor

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 27, 2025

The city of Bangor said Sunday that the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed that a crow found dead in the city recently was infected with the virus. It’s the 25th case of West Nile virus found in a bird this year. That includes two other cases among crows across the Penobscot River in Brewer.

Opinion: Moving fish around Maine’s waters may be legal. It’s also harmful.

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 27, 2025

While bucket biology is a huge problem, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
(MDIFW) moves non-native fish around regularly and has for generations. Although no one talks about it, these legal acts have negatively affected wild native fish in the same ways that illegal bucket biology has. Consider the state-sponsored introduction of non-native landlocked salmon and smelt into the
Rangeley Lakes, which contributed to the demise of the largest native Arctic charr population in
the contiguous United States. And it was the state that introduced non-native lake trout into Sebago Lake, one of only four native landlocked salmon waters in the state. Nobody wins when we move fish around. By doing what it is telling the public not to do, MDIFW is sending mixed messages. ~ Bob Mallard, Registered Maine Fishing Guide, author and executive director of the Native Fish Coalition

Sudbury MA conservation group issues Lifetime Achievement Award

METROWEST DAILY NEWS • October 27, 2025

A Wayland couple was recently presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Sudbury Valley Trustees, a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving natural areas and restoring wildlife habitats. The award was presented to John and Molly Beard by Steve Correia, president of the SVT's board of directors, during the organization's annual meeting on Oct. 7, according to a community announcement. “Through their donations, purchases and volunteered time, the Beards have helped protect hundreds of acres of land in the region and are known for their conservation generosity from Maine to the coast of Dartmouth,” Correia said in a statement.

Column: Seeing more dead squirrels in Maine? It’s no 2018, but there is a spike

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 27, 2025

Doug Hitchcox, staff naturalist at Maine Audubon, said there’s no good data set that tracks the size of the squirrel population, but after the previous couple years produced bumper crops of acorns for them to eat (much like in 2018), it makes sense that more would have survived the past winter and gone on to produce more babies. University of New England professor Noah Perlut, who in 2010 started a project studying gray squirrel behavior around the Biddeford campus, said he’s noticed more of them this fall than any other year since 2018 — what he and Hitchcox both refer to as Squirrelmageddon. This year, their presence may be more pronounced because the lack of acorns is forcing them to travel farther in search of food, Perlut said, creating more opportunities for interactions with cars. If new generations are coming online every year, shouldn’t evolution have taken care of their ability to cross the street without running right back into it at the moment they’re most likely to be run over? ~ Leslie Bridgers

Greenville will vote on $1 million bond for community recreation center with a private day care

MAINE PUBLIC • October 26, 2025

Greenville voters will consider whether to allow the town to seek a $1 million bond for a community recreation center that will include public preschool classrooms and a private day care. The center would be built where the former town elementary school once stood and cost roughly $4 million. The YES Project, the group proposing the building, has already raised over $3 million in grants but said there are few funding sources left besides the town.

Unidentified floating objects?

CENTRAL MAINE • October 26, 2025

In recent weeks, those who live and spend time on the lake, which straddles Rome and Belgrade, have been intrigued by the unusual appearance of seemingly unmanned watercraft. The vessels, also spotted on China Lake, likely are not doing anything nefarious or illicit: They seem to be underwater lake mapping technology deployed by a private company. 

Opinion: Our Maine farm has weathered disaster before, but nothing like this

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • October 26, 2025

When the Affordable Care Act passed, I was just starting out as a farm apprentice. I was wavering on whether I could continue farming. Affordable health insurance allowed me as a 25-year-old to continue managing Maine farms and learning more about how to run an operation for myself. Five years later, it allowed my partner and I to start our own farm business. But now, with the shutdown in Washington, the future of the enhanced premium tax credits is uncertain. Feeding our community from land that we care for is nearly our whole life. But make no mistake, our farm family needs what all working families need: secure access to affordable health care — and the enhanced premium tax credits are what make that possible. We’ve weathered floods, frost and pandemics. But the threat of losing our health insurance is the one thing we can’t afford. ~ Bethany Allen, Harvest Tide Organics, Bowdoinham

Column: Unusual geese are showing up in Maine

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 26, 2025

It’s a great time for a wild goose chase. Many less common geese seem to be turning up this autumn, hiding in plain sight. Snow geese appear regularly in Maine in autumn. Ross’s goose summers and winters in the central regions of North America. Vagrants in Maine are rare, but one popped up in Ellsworth a couple weeks ago. Pink-footed geese are a surprise. They breed on the far side of Greenland and winter in Northern Europe. In recent years, more have been visiting the eastern coast of North America. Lucky Aroostook County birders turned one up at Lake Josephine. Perhaps the Holy Grail of goose-chasing is the barnacle goose. Its nesting range extends from Eastern Greenland to Siberia, but barnacle geese occasionally show up here. ~ Bob Duchesne

Despite recycling program, lithium batteries still sparking fires at Aroostook landfill

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 26, 2025

When Fort Fairfield launched a lithium battery recycling program last year, the aim was to cut the number of battery-sparked fires at the Tri-Community Landfill. A year later, the battery fires are still lighting trash ablaze, and the first recycling barrel isn’t even full. Since the program started, the landfill has had eight battery-related fires. During two of those, fire crews spent days at the site. Lithium, a lightweight, soft metal found in rocks and certain groundwater, can store a lot of energy in a small space. Lithium batteries power everything from electric toothbrushes and cellphones to laptops and scooters. Disposable e-cigarettes powered by lithium cells caused a slew of fires at Portland-based waste management company ecomaine a year ago. The batteries were also suspected in a trash fire that burned in Orrington for 10 days in 2024 and in a January blaze that destroyed a Fort Kent garage.

Letter: South Portland should not build homes near tank farms

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 25, 2025

The South Portland Comprehensive Planning Committee and Planning Board seem set on development, residential and commercial, in the Shipyard district near oil tank fields. Such development means chronic exposure to a number of tank fume toxins. I hope South Portland will value the health of its citizens enough to deny residential development near tank farms. ~ James Melloh, South Portland

5 Maine hikes to tackle before fall foliage disappears

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 25, 2025

Before the wind blows the stunning fall foliage off the trees of Maine, consider taking a walk outside and enjoying this colorful time of year. The following are a few hiking trails that I’ve found to be especially beautiful during the fall.
• Dodge Point Public Reserved Land in Newcastle
• Blue Hill Mountain in Blue Hill
• Eagle Bluff in Clifton
• Mount Blue in Weld
• Precipice Trail in Acadia National Park

UMaine Climate Change Institute leader steps down as the field faces challenges

MAINE MONITOR • October 26, 2025

Amid a tumultuous time for climate change research, Paul Mayewski has resigned as director of the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine in Orono after 24 years in the role. Mayewski, a prominent climate scientist and glaciologist, officially resigned from the role at the end of September, saying he would be more effective dedicating additional time to research rather than leading the globally renowned institute for another few years. Dan Sandweiss, a climate archeologist and honoree of the National Academy of Sciences, will run the institute as the interim director until June 2027. The leadership change comes as the field faces significant hurdles, such as a federal government hostile to the idea of climate change.

From Jay to Livermore Falls to Farmington, trails boost well-being

ADVERTISER DEMOCRAT • October 24, 2025

Residents of Jay, Livermore, Livermore Fall and Farmington have no shortage of local trails. Each path offers a way to explore Maine’s outdoors without leaving town limits. For me, it began on the Whistle Stop Trail, a long stretch of packed gravel where trains once ran between Farmington and Jay, now paralleling the rail line that still rumbles with freight trains. Families, cyclists and runners share the trail year-round, with broad views of the Androscoggin River and shaded sections through forest and field. It’s not unusual to see deer crossing the path or to hear songbirds in the trees along the way, reminders of how much wildlife thrives close to town. These local trails are maintained through partnerships among town recreation committees, the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands, and conservation groups such as the Kennebec Land Trust. ~ Rebecca Richard

Obituary: Richard Edward Barringer

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 24, 2025

Richard Edward Barringer, cabinet member for three Maine governors and public policy educator, died on October 20, 2025. He was a passionate champion for Maine's environment and the well-being of its citizens over a 60+ year career of public service. Richard received a master's degree from UMass and a doctorate from MIT. He taught at the Kennedy School of Government, directed the Massachusetts Bicentennial Commission, and authored A Maine Manifest (1972), an analysis of Maine's changing natural resource-based economy. He moved to Maine in 1973 to become the first director of the Bureau of Public Lands, where he and colleagues reclaimed 600,000 acres. He was commissioner of the Department of Conservation 1975-1981, then state planning director 1981-1986. Richard then joined USM as a research professor and graduate teacher in public policy. Dick published Toward a Sustainable Maine (1993) and Changing Maine (2004). He competed in the Democratic primary for governor in 1994. He joined with other stewards of the outdoors to establish the Allagash Wilderness Waterway Foundation in 2011. A memorial service for Richard will occur at 14 Ocean Gateway Pier, Portland, on November 18, 2025, from 4 to 5 p.m. followed by an informal catered celebration.

For Maine’s youth hunters, longtime tradition closes the generation gap

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 24, 2025

Youth hunters across the state headed out early Friday morning for the first in a two-day firearm deer hunting season dedicated to youth under the age of 16. The young sportsmen and sportswomen are mentored by more experienced hunters who are happy to share their experience in an effort to preserve the heritage and pass it on to the next generation.

Opinion: Mainers will not benefit from coastal rocket launch sites

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 24, 2025

A recent op-ed argues for Maine to become a place where rocket launches occur regularly. Claims of benefit to Maine must be weighed against the harms to our traditional economy. Maine’s economy is highly dependent on commercial fishing on the one hand and tourism on the other. Tourists flock to Acadia National Park from all over the world. It’s a uniquely beautiful spot where one can witness the first rays of dawn light in the continental U.S. Residents of nearby Steuben earlier this year rejected a bid to build a rocket launch site offshore of their village, citing the threat to environmental health of waters where food is harvested and also significant noise pollution. And who wants to see a rocket launch facility within sight of Acadia? Not locals. Previously, Jonesport rejected a launch site after passing a moratorium to halt development while local residents had time to study the proposal. Which town will be next to say it does not want to hear or see rockets launching from its coast? ~ Mark Roman, Solon