The most comprehensive online source of conservation news and events in Maine and beyond, edited by Jym St. Pierre
WMTW-TV8 • November 4, 2025
Strong, gusty winds were blowing across much of Maine Tuesday, bringing down branches and power lines and even causing fires. As of noon, Central Maine Power was reporting 5,681 customers without power. At 3:25 p.m., that was up to 27,271 customers without power. More than 9,000 of those outages were in York County and more than 8,000 were in Cumberland County. More than 3,500 customers in Oxford County were without power.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 3, 2025
After nearly two decades reporting the weather on television, News Center Maine meteorologist Keith Carson announced he’s leaving the station to work with the Maine Conservation Voters on science and climate communications. Carson announced on Monday that his last newscast for WCSH will be on Friday. Carson expressed excitement for his new role at Maine Conservation Voters, where he will be aiding in science and climate communications. His passion for weather is only rivaled by that of climate, and he said he has at times taken issue with climate advocates and conservationists’ messaging on the issue of climate change. Carson said, “It’s not the same answer for everyone as to what makes them care about conservation.”
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 3, 2025
On Monday morning, the waters of Saco Bay were so calm it was difficult to imagine why a group of University of New England students were about to launch a souped-up oceanographic buoy dedicated to documenting storm waves. Within minutes of splashdown, however, the buoy had already begun answering that question as it began transmitting wave, wind, temperature, ocean current and dissolved oxygen levels back to the university laboratory for analysis and sharing with the public. The goal? To help increase coastal resilience in one of the most vulnerable parts of Maine’s coast.
MAINE PUBLIC • October 3, 2025
The Vermont-based Northeast Wilderness Trust, in partnership with the Maine Coast Heritage Trust, Monday announced the creation of the 2036-acre Bold Coast Wilderness Preserve in Downeast Maine. The parcel, which includes parts of Trescott, Whiting and Cutler, is adjacent to the state-owned Cutler Coast Public Reserved Land. It was heavily logged for decades and Northeast Wilderness Trust President and CEO Jon Leibowitz says the goal is "rewilding" of the preserve. That's a "hands off" management strategy associated with ecological complexity and carbon retention. Over time, Leibowitz says it will become a refuge to support wildlife such as brook trout, bear and moose.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November x3, 2025
After we installed a heat pump heating and cooling system in the three-story home, there was a pleasant surprise: We’d made a clean, quiet choice that kept us warm in the winter and cool in the summer — and saved us money. I’m proud of the fact that Maine has emerged as a national leader in the switch from oil and gas to electric heat pumps. Unfortunately, just as oil and gas prices could potentially soar, the federal tax incentive for heat pumps will come to an end. The Trump administration is killing the $2,000 federal tax credit on Dec. 31. ~ Johanna Thomas, a long career in environmental conservation, Kittery and Meddybemps
MAINE PUBLIC • October 2, 2025
Maine's utility regulators have restarted the process of selecting contractors to build a massive wind power development and extensive electric transmission line in Aroostook County. The Public Utilities Commission is considering comments it received on a draft request for proposals it filed for the project last month. The state wants to develop 1,200 megawatts of renewable power and connect it to the New England electric grid with a power line that could stretch more than 100 miles. The commission intends to put the project out to bid for contractors by the end of 2025.
MAINE PUBLIC • October 2, 2025
Maine's beach dunes are slowly recovering from devastation during back-to-back coastal storms almost two years ago. But according to the latest state beach mapping data, Popham Beach is eroding faster than any other stretch of sand in Maine. "It kind of eats away and erodes all of the dunes that have accreted say in the last 5-10 years, and this process happens about every 10-15 years," Slovinsky said. Erosion is likely to continue until the river resumes its normal course, he added.
MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • November 2, 2025
Prices for meat, poultry, fish and eggs have increased by about 34% since January 2018 — an increase many Mainers simply can’t afford. A family of four in Maine on a “survival budget” needs to spend a minimum of $933 per month on food, a 2023 study from United Way found. Costs to have deer meat processed range closer to $100–$150. Now, with food-related benefits potentially lapsing for about 13% of Mainers and deer season opening this month, hunting could become an even more important source for rural Maine families.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 1, 2025
For seven months, massive cruise ships have dominated our port. These ships pollute our air. We can see and smell the billowing exhaust. They are also polluting our water, the result of “scrubbing” sulfur from the ships’ exhaust. This scrubbing causes a witches’ brew of chemical discharge directly into Casco Bay. Why is air pollution being traded for water pollution? A flow of sulfuric acid and contaminants is dumped into our pristine water. A cruise ship can discharge up to 8 million gallons worth of acidic scrubber wash every day. Cruise ships are floating cities, burning fuel 24/7 to generate their own power. Scientific studies have proven the extensive environmental damage of scrubber wash discharge. More than 50 countries have banned or restricted scrubber wash discharge in their ports and territorial waters, Portland needs to ban scrubber wash discharge. ~ JoAnn Locktov, co-founder, Portland Cruise Control
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 1, 2025
Maine stands at the front line of a new frontier. Its ports are the closest U.S. gateway to Europe and the Arctic. Its economy depends on Canadian trade. And its universities are pioneering research that could define blue-economy innovation. Maine isn’t just a coastal state anymore, it’s a strategic state. Canada accounts for nearly 40% of Maine’s exports and supports over 5,000 jobs through Canadian-owned businesses. Maine’s geography provides an unmatched advantage: the Port of Portland is the closest deep-water U.S. port to Greenland and Iceland. Maine has an opportunity to become a hub of discovery and innovation. ~ Tyler Lissy, graduate student, UMaine School of Policy and International Affairs
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 1, 2025
Only 6.5% of Maine is classified as public land, and the state ranks last among the six New England states. For decades, land trusts have stepped up to provide outdoor access, including support for traditional land uses such as hunting, fishing and trapping. Maine land trusts have built and maintained over 3,450 miles of trails. This improves access to long-cherished properties that might have otherwise been lost to development or posted signs. There is a misconception that land trust lands are only for non-consumptive recreation. Not true. Maine land trusts allow hunting on more than 2.7 million acres. In addition, they manage more than 200 boat launches, which provide critical access for anglers and allow hunters and trappers to reach remote areas. We wish everyone good luck for the hunting season and encourage all users of publicly accessible lands, hunters and non-hunters alike, to stay safe. ~ Colin Brown, Downeast Coastal Conservancy
MAINE PUBLIC • October 31, 2025
Decades after the U.S. got rid of toxic lead in gasoline, paint and water pipes, lead core bullets are still the most common form of ammo on the market. The debris a bullet leaves behind when it's shot can taint wild game meat and poison wildlife such as bald eagles. Wildlife officials and volunteers in Maine are ramping up efforts to convince hunters to switch to nontoxic bullets. When an animal is shot with a lead bullet, the projectile shatters. Toxic slivers can sicken or kill wild scavengers looking for a meal at one of the piles of entrails hunters sometimes leave after field dressing a deer or other large game. There also has been some research that there can be health concerns for people. In recent years, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has increased outreach efforts to convince hunters to try out copper ammunition instead.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 31, 2025
This week, North Yarmouth downed approximately 80 ash trees in Baston Park that were infected with the emerald ash borer, a highly invasive wood-boring beetle that was killing the trees. The park was created in 2002 when Clark Baston’s parents Richard and Rosalyn Baston donated the land to the town. A small parcel located between the town’s larger Old Town House Park and Chandler Brook Preserve, it has been used by the public for fishing on the Royal River and picnicking in the shade of the ash trees. Now, stumps cover what is mostly an empty patch of grass. The town decided to act quickly both for the safety of the public and surrounding ash trees. “They’re dying, and the quicker you can get rid of it in one spot, the more chance you might have of the trees across the river still being okay.”
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 31, 2025
Maine is home to nearly 32,000 miles of rivers. Spend some time wandering along one of Maine’s rivers and you’ll no doubt be amazed and awed by their power and beauty, and thankful for their preservation as an important ecological and recreational resource. Here’s a look at six gems to consider for a fun riverside ramble: Middle River, Bagaduce River, Seboeis River, Medomak River, Presumpscot River, Salmon Falls River. ~ Carey Kish
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 31, 2025
The spirit of Halloween is alive in the Maine wilderness. So, in that spirit, I’m sharing some of the spookiest things I’ve stumbled upon in the woods lately. It’s been a particularly strange autumn. First, we have a dead woodpecker with its head stuck in a tree. My dog, Juno, discovered the next spooky thing: an old deer skull atop a 2,600-foot mountain in western Maine. My final spooky sighting was made worse by the stench. I was walking along a trail near my house when I came across the carcass of a huge snapping turtle. The Maine wilderness is one of the safest places you can be — despite the fat but harmless spiders, congregating crows, clacking branches and rattling leaves. Enjoy its spookiness like you would a classic horror movie or local ghost story.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 31, 2025
Every Halloween, I ponder which Maine birds might be considered eerie. Crows and ravens are associated with death and mayhem. Double-crested cormorants adopt the “Dracula pose” when standing on seaside cliffs to dry their wings. Vultures are, well, vultures. Inevitably, owls emerge as number one. Screech owls screech. Great horned owls will attack humans who get too near their nest. Often I’ve felt like I was being watched by barred owls, and it turned out to be true. Northern saw-whet owls are tiny and their toot-toot-toot mating calls aren’t particularly alarming. Barn owls are ghostly white in the darkness. Owls face many environmental threats. The old-growth habitat that spotted owls need has been reduced by timber harvesting. Barred owls are being culled to rescue spotted owls from extinction. The widespread use of second-generation rodenticides are working their way into the food chain. ~ Bob Duchesne
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 31, 2025
Orland-area residents figured that, someday, the scrap metal company that owns dams on Toddy Pond and Alamoosook would want to get rid of them. Then, last summer, the company abruptly petitioned the state for permission to abandon those two dams and a third in Bucksport under an untested state law that some feel unfairly favors mill property owners. If it succeeds, the water will be released and the lake levels will drop, taking millions in tax value and business revenue with it while leaving the dams to crumble. Next came more than a year of work and emergency legislation that allows the towns bordering these two bodies of water to form two quasi-municipal watershed management districts that could take over the dams. Studies have shown ownership will save the towns money compared to abandonment.
ASSOCIATED PRESS • October 30, 2025
A new report says America’s lobsters, which have been in decline since 2018, are now being overfished off New England. The stock has declined by 34% since that year in its most important fishing grounds, the regulatory Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission said Thursday. The commission said it now considers overfishing of the species to be occurring, and that could bring new management measures that restrict fishermen from catching them in the future. The assessment said the decline and overfishing were taking place in fishing areas off Maine and Massachusetts where most lobster fishing takes place.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 30, 2025
With Katahdin Woods & Waters National Monument staff furloughed because of the federal shutdown, supporters of the national space are concerned about adequate staffing and protection of the monument’s resources. Without the superintendent and other permanent staff, there is only one law enforcement ranger working fulltime to patrol nearly 90,000 acres, said Brian Hinrichs, executive director of Friends of Katahdin Woods & Waters. Additionally, important research and other building projects are at a standstill, he said Thursday. Similar to Acadia National Park and other national parks and monuments, Katahdin Woods & Waters buildings are closed, furloughed staff are not getting paychecks, and visitors are on their own, with the exception of a skeletal maintenance crew checking on bathrooms. Friends of Katahdin Woods & Waters financially supported the opening of the Tekαkαpimək Contact Station. But they want to emphasize how critical it is that the federal government take responsibility for its federal employees and private support is not a long term solution.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 30, 2025
The Gulf of Maine is changing faster than almost any ocean on Earth. Cod are gone. Lobsters are moving deeper and farther offshore. But while some fish leave, others arrive: black sea bass, longfin squid, Jonah crabs, scup, butterfish — valuable fish that could support Maine’s fishing future. The ocean is offering a new menu. The question is whether we’ll help fishermen take the order. We need to act fast to help fishermen experiment and find what works. First, fix the regulations. Speed up permits for new species. Adjust quotas quickly as fish populations move. Second, build markets. Third, celebrate fishing different species as smart business. ~ Chris Payne, Cumberland Foreside, graduate student at UNE, software architect, and active sailor
