Audubon Photography Awards: 3 Weeks Left

NATIONAL AUDUBON • February 10, 2026

The entry period for the 2026 Audubon Photography Awards ends in three weeks on Wednesday, March 4, at 12 p.m. (noon) U.S. Eastern Time. There’s still time for you to submit your best bird photos and videos for a chance to win. This year, in addition to $5,000, the Grand Prize winners will each receive a voyage to Antarctica to combine birding, conservation, and exploration on a one-of-a-kind trip. Winning photos and videos will be published in the Fall 2026 issue of Audubon magazine and on audubon.org. Youth entrants can also win a special prize: A trip to Hog Island Audubon Camp in Maine.

Hog Island 90th Anniversary Celebration

Hog Island Audubon Camp in Maine opened in 1936 with a singular vision – to teach people about nature conservation and inspire them to become leaders in the environmental movement in their own communities. Thousands of people have been touched by the magic of Hog Island over the years creating ripple effects that have been felt across the country. We are proud to be here today continuing the legacy of exceptional environmental education. Join us as we say "Thank You" at a Friends of Hog Island Appreciation Dinner & Keynote Speaker, August 21, 2026, 5-9 pm.

Where should hunters draw the line on high-tech tools?

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 10, 2026

The fast-paced march of technology is blurring the lines of ethical hunting as never before. The increasing use of highly sophisticated electronic devices such as wireless cell phone trail cameras and the recent advent of aerial drones fitted with thermal imaging devices present difficult new ethical questions. These technologies test both the limits of fair chase and the ability of law enforcement to keep pace. In Maine, it is not legal to hunt with drones or drones equipped with thermal imaging devices. It is, however, legal to use wireless cellular trail cameras to locate and pattern game behavior, even during the legal hunting season. What about using a drone with thermal imaging to locate and recover a wounded animal in Maine? There is already too much ambiguity when it comes to enforcing fish and game laws related to these technologies. When modern technology gives me an unfair advantage over my prey, the hunt simply stops being fun. ~ V. Paul Reynolds

Belgrade Chains ice fishing derby attracts record of nearly 1,000 anglers

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 10, 2026

Saturday marked the fourth annual ice fishing derby at Belgrade Chains, raising funds for St. Michael School in Augusta. This year, 918 anglers registered, with 1,006 tickets sold, a dramatic increase from the 25 participants in the first derby. The event covered Great, Long, North, East and McGrath ponds, Salmon Lake and Messalonskee Lake. Derby sponsor Alyssa Quintal said she loved seeing anglers of all ages enjoying the event.

The EPA is dismantling community power over water

DEMOCRACY FOR AMERICA ADVOCACY FUND • February 9, 2026

For fifty years, Section 401 of the Clean Water Act has empowered states and Tribes to protect their waterways by reviewing federal projects before they move forward. This authority allows communities to defend drinking water, fisheries, wetlands, and ecosystems from pollution and long-term harm. It has served as one of the most effective tools for local oversight of powerful industries. The EPA is now proposing a rule that would sharply narrow this authority. The proposal restricts reviews to only narrow definitions of “direct discharges” into federally protected waters. This change blocks states and Tribes from considering broader environmental impacts such as altered water flows, habitat destruction, groundwater contamination, erosion, and climate-driven harms tied to major infrastructure projects. The EPA is accepting public comments on this proposal through February 17.

Rangeley Wild’s Wild Auction & Raffle – February 28 2026

TURNER PUBLISHING • February 9, 2026

Rangeley Wild is having an auction/raffle event at the Rangeley Inn on 2/28 at 5:30pm. Our hope is to turn this into an annual WILD Weekend for all to participate in celebrating the local/native wild animals. We’re fundraising to build a rehabilitation center for injured and orphaned wild animals, but would love for you to get involved too.

Maine again looks north for onshore wind, but full grid integration will have to wait

MAINE MORNING STAR • February 9, 2026

New wind projects could be coming to Northern Maine — just not new power. The Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has released a final Request for Proposals (RFP) for up to 1,200 MW of new onshore wind or other renewable generation — enough to power nearly 450,000 homes — plus a new transmission line to carry that power to southern Maine and New England. Maine has been trying for years to build new renewable generation in its most remote northern counties, Aroostook and Washington, an area with enormous potential wind and biomass resources but one that, due to a historic quirk of grid architecture, is electrically disconnected from the rest of New England. With the effort facing headwinds ranging from a hostile presidential administration to local opposition to transmission, the destination for the power could become the thorniest issue of all.

Boom or dust? How tariffs are helping this Maine sawmill but creating more uncertainty for others

MAINE MONITOR • February 8, 2026

Business is humming at Pleasant River Lumber’s sawmill in Enfield and has been for a while even as other forest products manufacturers, such as paper and pulp mills, have experienced financial upheaval. Pleasant River Lumber has invested more than $100 million to build and upgrade the Enfield mill since 2020. While Maine’s timber harvests have steadily declined in recent decades, sawlog production, particularly of softwood species such as spruce, pine and fir, increased between 2010 and 2020. Demand has since slowed, but the co-owners said the tariffs on Canadian lumber imports that the Trump administration increased last year have given them the confidence to expand business in Maine. Not all members of the Maine lumber industry are as bullish on the tariffs. An industry analyst and two other mill leaders said that inflation and a sputtering housing market make it unclear whether the tariffs will have a positive effect on business in the long run.

Letter: Don’t believe disinformation about climate change

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • February 8, 2026

May we all pay attention to science and realize that wild weather of this kind is actually caused by a warming Arctic, just one more way that our prolific use of heat trapping fossil fuels is coming back to bite us, this time not with heat but with cold. When will all Americans learn that burning coal, oil and propane to heat our homes and businesses is only making matters worse, and that sensible energy policies, based on the use of renewable sources like solar and wind, are an achievable option today. The disinformation being spread by our current president and his administration must not be bought hook, line and sinker. ~ Sam Saltonstall, Brunswick

Discover Maine’s newest trails: Mount Tuck and 2 others

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 8, 2026

Mount Tuck is located just west of the Penobscot River, perhaps a mile or so south of the magnificent Penobscot Narrows Bridge. The wooded 565-foot hill straddles the town line between Prospect to the north and Stockton Springs to the south, which claims most of the mountain. The land is owned by Coastal Mountains Land Trust, which purchased the summit area in 2019 and has since acquired most of Mount Tuck. The view eastward over the Penobscot River is a real beauty, taking in Blue Hill Mountain and Wallamatogus Mountain and extending beyond to the familiar rounded profiles of my home mountains on Mount Desert Island, from Cadillac and Sargent to Norumbega and Bernard.

Deputy commissioner says MDOT still open to options for Machias Dike project

MAINE MONITOR • February 7, 2026

Deputy Commissioner Joyce Taylor of the Maine Department of Transportation said Thursday the agency is still open to other options for repairing the failing Machias Dike rather than simply rebuilding it as it is now. This contrasts with what many members of the Upper Machias Bay Master Plan Leadership Committee understood after a Jan. 27 meeting, where they said MDOT shifted its position from a year earlier and indicated it would support only an “in-kind” replacement that matches the current dike.

Kennebec Water District launching $8.6M project to filter PFAS

CENTRAL MAINE • February 7, 2026

The Kennebec Water District is working on an $8.6 million project to upgrade its treatment plant system with the goal of eliminating PFAS in the water. The improved system is expected to go online in 2028. PFAS, or per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, is a group of man-made chemicals that have been linked to a number of negative health impacts in people. They are often called “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down easily in the environment or in the body. Yhe Maine Department of Health and Human Services’s CDC Drinking Water Program is working to ensure all of Maine’s public water systems meet stringent new federal and state guidelines for PFAS in drinking water by the April 2029 regulatory deadline.

Windham accepting applications for watershed protection grants

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 6, 2026

The town of Windham has opened the application window for its watershed protection program. Mary Wicklund, environmental and sustainability coordinator for Windham, said the grant program has existed since 2018 and was created using the excise tax from watercraft registration. the projects applying for the grant must “promote community-based efforts to protect and restore diverse natural resources,” and can include environmental education programs, removal and replacements of noxious vegetation, inventories and monitoring of natural areas, as well as infrastructure improvements that fit with stormwater best management practices.

South Portland sets goals for pipeline

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 6, 2026

The South Portland City Council set its goals for 2026, with a focus on environmental issues, land use and infrastructure needs. One of the council’s goals is to work with the Portland Pipe Line Corp. on the redevelopment and reuse of the 200 acres it owns in the city. The land owned by Portland Pipe Line, a subsidiary of the Canadian oil company Suncor that is among the city’s largest landowners, is scattered across several parcels. The company’s assets include a 100-acre tank farm near the high school and four tanks and two piers by Bug Light Park viewed as eyesores and environmental hazards. It has been rumored for months that Portland Pipe Line intends to sell its holdings. The council also set a goal to protect the city’s air quality through monitoring and reporting.

Trump ends Obama-era restrictions on commercial fishing in protected area off New England

ASSOCIATED PRESS • February 6, 2026

President Donald Trump issued a proclamation on Friday reopening a huge swath of protected sea in the Atlantic Ocean to commercial fishing. Trump said the move would reestablish fishing in Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument off the New England coast, a nearly 5,000-square-mile preserve east of Cape Cod that was created by former President Barack Obama. Trump rolled back protections in the area in 2020 and President Joe Biden later restored them. Trump’s proclamation is his latest move to roll back existing conservation measures.

What can we learn from zooplankton?

MAINE MONITOR • February 6, 2026

Zooplankton, tiny drifting sea creatures, are found across the planet, where they play a key role in marine food webs and carbon sequestration. In the Gulf of Maine, studying zooplankton offers clues on the whereabouts of the endangered North Atlantic right whale, helping to improve conservation efforts and reduce collisions with boat traffic, and informs scientists’ understanding of climate change as the waters warm.

Letter: Maine moves to kill the economic engine of the North Woods

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 6, 2026

Moose are the center of our world in the North Woods. They are elegant, awkward, majestic creatures and they are the No. 1 reason tourists go out of their way to explore the Moosehead Lake region. And, they are at risk. Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife is the organization that is charged with caring for and protecting our moose herd and they are the very people who are prioritizing killing versus caring for them. Why? Predictably, it’s money. Now, MDIF&W has proposed to add an additional week of moose hunting, and move up the current week, in the three zones surrounding Moosehead Lake during peak fall tourism. The fall foliage season, the second most popular reason tourists come to Moosehead Lake, only lasts for three weeks. This move would be devastating to small businesses in the area, resulting in lost revenue and lost jobs in a region of the state that can’t afford it. ~Jennifer Whitlow, Greenville

Maryland man who died at Acadia was a ‘source of laughter’

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 5, 2026

Christian Leveron, 24, died last week after being trapped by the incoming tide on Bar Island, an island close to shore in Bar Harbor that is part of Acadia National Park. Leveron's body was found in the water off the island on the morning of Jan. 29.

Maine fisherman lost at sea remembered for his love of country and Aroostook County

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 5, 2026

Freeman Short was a fourth-generation fisherman. Short, 31, was one of seven people aboard the Lily Jean when it sank off the coast of Massachusetts on Jan. 30. The U.S. Coast Guard launched a search but suspended it the following day, having covered about 1,000 square miles using aircraft, cutters and small boats over a 24-hour period. The 72-foot vessel was returning to port early to repair fishing gear when it sank in frigid Atlantic waters. There wasn’t a mayday call from Lily Jean as it navigated its way home to Gloucester, Massachusetts. The Coast Guard was notified by the boat’s beacon, which sends out an alert when it hits the water.

Unity Environmental University launches school of business

MAINEBIZ • February 5, 2026

Unity Environmental University, a private liberal arts institution in Maine, has launched the Couri Graduate School of Business. The new graduate school will offer a business education focused on sustainability and climate risk. The launch is supported by a $750,000 endowment, $500,000 of which came from philanthropist Elaine and John Couri, along with contributions from their family and friends. The endowment will fund students from around the country who will travel to Maine to attend a week-long, in-person immersion session at Unity’s 150-acre Moose River campus in Somerset County. Enrollment will begin in March, offering an MBA in climate-ready business and a master’s in sustainable finance.