Inside Maine’s surprisingly cutthroat shed-hunting world

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 4 2026

In recent years, shed hunting in Maine has exploded in popularity. Social media, online markets and rising demand for moose and deer antlers have turned what was once a personal passion into something far more competitive — and at times, cutthroat. Stories circulate of stolen spots, sabotaged areas, false online accusations and even threats exchanged between people who all claim to love the same woods. I turned shed hunting — particularly for moose antlers — into a business. Not out of greed, but necessity. The antlers I find help pay for gas, food, gear and the ability to continue traveling and searching in the North Maine Woods. I’ve received threats simply for monetizing something others believe should remain untouched, or reserved for a select few. Shed hunting doesn’t have to become a battleground. There is room for passion without hostility, competition without cruelty and success without sabotage. ~ Drew Maciel

Deer Isle group conserves land to help avoid downstream shellfish closures

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 4, 2026

Water quality in Long Cove, an inlet of Deer Isle that hosts clamming, elver harvesting and an oyster farm, is set to be protected by a new conservation project upstream. Island Heritage Trust, a land trust that preserves properties in Deer Isle and Stonington, is on track to acquire 77 acres at the headwaters of Meadow Brook for that purpose. Water there flows into the cove. The trust will get $250,000 to help it do so in the first round of funding through the state’s Climate Resilience Conservation Fund. The funding is part of a $69 million grant Maine received from NOAA in July of 2024. The program plans to distribute $4.1 million over three funding rounds for conservation projects that can provide protection against storms, flooding and erosion.

Maine hotelier faces glampground foreclosure and more liens

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 3, 2026

A foreclosure auction has been scheduled for a Kennebunkport camping resort owned by a Maine hotelier who also owns resort properties on Mount Desert Island. Sandy Pines Campground, a 47-acre, 268-site “glamping” resort located at 277 Mills Road in Kennebunkport, will be auctioned off March 5, according to a description of the property on Keenan Auction Company’s website. Tim Harrington, the campground owner, also is facing more liens and legal complaints over unpaid contractor services for work done at the Asticou Hotel on Mount Desert Island, which re-opened last year after a $28 million renovation.

How the Wabanaki coalition is fighting for tribal sovereignty

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 3, 2026

The Wabanaki Alliance is ramping up its push for Maine to fully recognize tribal sovereignty — and it’s looking beyond the end of Gov. Janet Mills’ administration. The alliance, composed of representatives from the four Indigenous nations in Maine as well as non-native allies, is pushing a slate of bills this session that would reshape the legal framework under which tribes in Maine operate into something that more closely resembles the other 571 federally recognized tribes nationwide. It’s also pushing initiatives to support Wabanaki studies curriculum development for public schools and lay the groundwork for certain kinds of land return.

Raymond farm in dispute with the town over hosting events

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 3, 2026

Jessica Dobson and Todd Roma have owned Roma Farm in Raymond since 2001, which includes a historic farmhouse and barn, and have spent decades working to prevent the land from being overdeveloped. The farm has been rented as an events venue since 2008. In a Facebook post, Dobson and Roma said they had previously gone to the town to make sure that everything they were doing was lawful and were explicitly told that there was no ordinance prohibiting residents from hosting private events on their property or renting their property. However, in October 2024, Roma Farm received a land use notice of violation for having a tent, portable restroom and parking signs on the property. Roma Farm said no ordinance exists in Raymond prohibiting such things.

Embracing Maine’s cold and dark season with a full moon hike

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 3, 2026

Despite its inevitable arrival, the moon still took everyone by surprise Sunday night. Snowshoeing through the middle of a pasture at Hurricane Valley Farm in the last hour of daylight, participants in the Falmouth Land Trust’s full moon hike faced the fiery sunset to the west, listening to Maine naturalist Jack Kennell explain how deer and wood frogs are evolutionary adapted to survive the harshest season. During a time of year when the early darkness and never-ending cold prompt many Mainers to retire inside after 4 p.m., Maine land trusts and outdoor organizations encourage appreciation of winter nights with hikes beneath the rising full moon. This is the second year the Falmouth Land Trust has hosted this February event.

Maine’s 1st turtle tunnel is working

MAINE MONITOR • February 2, 2026

In 2021, the Maine Department of Transportation partnered with federal and state wildlife agencies to install a wide culvert designed to help turtles, including the endangered Blanding’s turtle, safely cross a notoriously deadly section of Route 236 in Eliot. In the years since, tens of thousands of people have driven over this wildlife crossing, most of them unaware it is even there. And dozens of species, both shelled and nonshelled, have taken advantage of the underpass. During a presentation last Tuesday, biologists at the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife reported that the turtle tunnel — the first of its kind in Maine — is working.

Maine logger with a big heart gives us all an example to follow

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 2, 2026

A rugged, nearly 6-foot, 230-pound professional logger, Greg Drummond doesn’t tolerate bullies or those who take advantage of the vulnerable. For two decades, I guided birdwatchers at Claybrook Mountain Lodge, an outdoor recreation resort owned by Greg and Pat Drummond from the late 1970s until their retirement in 2019. Greg, now 73, works multiple jobs to help make ends meet in retirement. He cuts and sells sawlogs and dimension lumber from his portable sawmill. As a registered Maine Guide, he leads hunters in autumn and fishermen in spring. For a decade, Drummond earned extra income overseeing a few thousand acres as Pierce Pond Watershed Trust’s easement manager. Somehow he also found time to serve as chief of the Highland Plantation Volunteer Fire Department while building and selling 33 Grand Laker canoes from cedars he harvested primarily from his woodlot. He’s the most humble, generous and compassionate person I’ve ever known. ~ Ron Joseph

Conservation groups near $62M goal for 78,000 acres in western Maine

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 2, 2026

After nearly a year of fundraising, the Magalloway Collaborative is closing in on the $62 million purchase of some 78,000 acres of western Maine lands that will be permanently conserved for a variety of public uses. The parcel, about a 30-minute drive west of Rangeley, contains 170 miles of rivers and streams and 2,400 acres of wetlands and lakes. It will connect about 500,000 acres of conserved land stretching from New Hampshire into Maine’s Franklin County, including along portions of the Canadian border. The collaborative, which launched fundraising for the conservation project in March 2025, has a remaining goal of $12.4 million toward the purchase before its May deadline to close on the property. The Magalloway Collaborative consists of Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust , The Nature Conservancy in Maine, Forest Society of Maine and the Northeast Wilderness Trust.

5 fun things to do while you’re in Harpswell

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 2, 2026

Matt Newberg grew up in Harpswell and returned four years ago. He’s now the executive director of the Harpswell Heritage Land Trust, which has conserved more than 1,800 acres in the town. “I feel very fortunate to be back here,” Newberg said. “I’m also very proud to be with the land trust because I think one of the things that has made Harpswell, since my time here in the mid-’70s, so special is the amount of open space that there is for people to enjoy, whether that’s town trails or our preserves or just private properties that allow folks to visit.” “There just isn’t, in my opinion, a more quintessential Maine harbor than Mackerel Cove,” Newberg said. “It’s really idyllic.” The town and the Harpswell Heritage Land Trust both own land in this area, increasing access for the public.

Mother, brother of UMaine student who died after gas leak at plant say they are heartbroken

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 2, 2026

The family of a University of Maine student who died last week after a gas leak at the Down East mill where he worked said Monday that they are heartbroken over his death but grateful for the outpouring of support that has followed. Kasie Malcolm, 20, died Wednesday, hours after a gas leak at his off-campus job at Woodland Pulp in Baileyville.

Purchase of roadside spring in Woodstock saves water source from development

SUN JOURNAL • February 2, 2026

The land surrounding a popular Woodstock roadside springwas purchased by a local man Dec. 15, saving it from an uncertain future. Braydon Rice, of Woodstock, paid $70,000 to ensure the spring remains undeveloped. He said the community cares deeply about the spring beside Route 26 and he wanted to protect the land from any drilling that could have compromised it. He plans to put building restrictions on the deed as well as ground penetration limits to further protect the parcel should it ever change hands.

Opinion: Maine’s energy grid needs help. Crypto mining might offer it.

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 2, 2026

Maine’s power system is facing the stress of aged infrastructure while our leaders, namely the Maine Public Utilities Commission and Gov. Janet Mills (who applauded the PUC for rejecting the plan, calling it “outrageous” and “excessive”) are disconnected and behind the curve in meeting our state’s future energy needs. I’ve just returned from Abu Dhabi and found an unlikely ally: cryptocurrency mining. And before you assume that the often maligned “crypto” operation is a greedy hog of energy, know that digital mining operations are being explored around the world to stabilize grids, reduce energy waste, help heat greenhouses and fund infrastructure needs. It’s time for Maine to analyze other states’ innovations, to encourage new business and fund our programs before we get left in the dark — literally. ~ Jacob Aronoff, Portland

It’s fun to watch how birds behave in the deep snow

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 31, 2026

Surviving Maine’s winter seems truly a remarkable feat for many of our feathered friends. Most birds are perfectly adapted for the cold, and finding food is their primary concern in the winter. Turkeys are primarily ground feeders, and in the winter will often seek out wooded areas with dense cover where snow won’t be as deep. Barred owls are unfortunately common as roadkill because they get hit by cars while they are going for the easy meal of a mouse running across the road. In just a few weeks, we can start to expect some of the earliest winged migrants coming back. ~ Maine Audubon Staff Naturalist Doug Hitchcox

A Once in a Lifetime Battle to Save a Maine River

ON THE WATER • January 29, 2026

One of the largest successful dam removal efforts in recent years was on Maine’s Penobscot River, where the Veazie and Great Works dams came down, allowing salmon and shad to reach historical spawning grounds. A 2023 report indicated that in the decade since the dams were removed, shad populations had increased by more than 400%, while salmon returns increased by 125%. Now, there’s a chance to open up another iconic Maine River, the Androscoggin as the Brunswick–Topsham dam comes up for relicensing in 2029. In early 2025, a group called Free the Andro formed to raise awareness for this opportunity to “fix” the Androscoggin.

Opinion: Reusable packaging can save Maine businesses money

SUN JOURNAL • January 28, 2026

Disposable food packaging imposes a significant cost burden on Bath food service providers. Our research team surveyed 12 Bath restaurants and found that they reported using, on average, 5,798 disposables per month and spending over $736 per month on disposable food packaging. Bath restaurants also spent an average of 101 labor hours and $245 per month on waste management. Small businesses can save an average of $3,000 to $22,000 annually by transitioning some disposables to reusables. Reusable items can also reduce municipal costs and directly address local waste issues. Communities across the U.S. and the globe have already successfully implemented reusable food packaging systems, showing that collective effort can lead to meaningful change. ~ Catherine Segada, graduate research assistant and Bath community liaison with the NOAA/Sea Grant Marine Debris Challenge Project

Protesters at State House want big oil to pay for Maine climate damages

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 27, 2026

Climate change has already cost Bath taxpayers millions of dollars. Enough is enough, said Bath City Councilor Jean Guzzetti. She was the lead speaker at a rally Tuesday at the Maine State Capitol on behalf of a proposed bill that would make big polluters, like Mobil or Shell, help fund Maine’s climate-related infrastructure projects. “It’s time for polluters to pay because we have already paid,” said Guzzetti. About 100 people attended the Make Polluters Pay Day of Action. The state has spent $60 million in the 2024-25 supplemental budget for storm relief and spent $39 million last year to fund a storm preparedness bill passed in the wake of back-to-back-to-back winter storms that caused an estimated $90 million in infrastructure damage. The bill has lingered in legislative committee since last spring while lawmakers waited to see how other states defended their climate superfund bills.

Rail transportation giant to relocate nearly two dozen jobs out of Maine

MAINE PUBLIC • January 26, 2026

Union leadership says rail company CSX Transportation is laying off 21 workers across several crafts at its mechanical repair facility in Waterville. CSX is one of the largest rail-transport companies in the country and brought in $14.09 billion in revenue during FY2025. It operates approximately 20,000 miles of track in states east of the Mississippi River. The move comes three years after CSX purchased Pan Am Railways, extending its reach into Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. “This is about pure greed,” said Josh Hartford, of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers President, Rail Division. "Workers will have to either uproot their families to New York or Maryland to finish out their last few months of employment or take the severance package and take a 30% pension penalty,"

Biggest fish tops 16 pounds at Long Lake derby

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 26, 2026

The 21st annual Long Lake Ice Fishing Derby has officially wrapped and, in spite of subzero temperatures, anglers caught plenty of fish over the weekend. The derby is the largest of its kind in the state, and this weekend saw more than 1,800 registered anglers attend. Winners in the adult category are David Lizotte for the biggest salmon, weighing in at 4 pounds, 11.3 ounces, and measuring 22.75 inches long. Jonathan Keller caught the biggest togue, weighing in at 9 pounds, .07 ounces, and was 31.25 inches long.