Worried about PFAS in your drinking water? Legislators advance plan to test and treat wells

MAINE MORNING STAR • February 13, 2026

With growing concern about the prevalence of forever chemicals in Mainers’ drinking water, a proposal to fund the testing and clean-up of affected private wells is headed to a vote in the Maine Legislature. Last week, lawmakers on the Environment and Natural Resources Committee voted 9-4 to advance LD 2115, which would establish the Well Contamination Response Fund for private drinking water wells impacted by hazardous materials, including perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS. With an initial investment of $1 million from the state’s general fund, the fund would be used for testing, remediation, and the installation and maintenance of filter treatment systems.

Opinion: Global water bankruptcy means a complicated future for Maine

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 12, 2026

According to the United Nations, the supply of water available for human use has been so depleted and polluted that we have crossed into “water bankruptcy.” Maine is a comparatively “wet” place. But that does not confer immunity to the climatic and other stresses underlying global water bankruptcy. Worsening water deficits will reinforce the climate advantages that are already attracting in-migrants to the Pine Tree State. An influx of “water refugees” could enhance the vitality of Maine’s economy and host communities. Agriculture and outdoor recreation, legacy sectors crucial for Maine’s rural vitality, and Maine’s four-season lake and mountain tourist destinations should also benefit. It is paradoxical that Maine might benefit from others’ suffering. This dilemma underscores our moral obligation to steward Maine’s water resources sustainably and equitably. ~ David Vail, professor of economics emeritus at Bowdoin College and a member of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby’s Economics Research Network

Woodland Pulp’s bleach plant remains closed 2 weeks after UMaine student’s death

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 12, 2026

The bleach plant at Woodland Pulp mill, where a University of Maine student died from a chemical release last month, has been closed since the incident, according to a mill official. UMaine junior Kasie Malcolm, a 20-year-old chemical engineering student and intern at the Woodland Pulp mill, died after being exposed to hydrogen sulfide at the facility’s bleach plant. The gas leak also left nine workers injured. An investigation by OSHA is underway at Woodland Pulp.

Snowy and freezing? It’s the perfect time to play outside in Maine

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 12, 2026

So far, this winter has been frigid and snowy. Outdoor enthusiasts have seen enough bare trails and thin ice in recent years to know they should take advantage of the season while it lasts. And more powder means more business for many: Maine GearShare in Brunswick filled more reservations in January than in all of 2024; ski resorts have seen more visitors hitting the slopes; and snowmobilers have more trail options. “You can’t go wrong right now,” said Jefferson Tucker, director of the Quarry Road Trails in Waterville. “It’s the best of everything at the moment.” Saddleback Mountain in Rangeley saw 20% more visitors during the long weekend for Martin Luther King Jr. Day than the same weekend the previous year, and it was the biggest three-day stretch the resort has ever seen. At Mt. Abram in Greenwood, weekend ticket sales are up 30% from last winter.

Wolfe’s Neck Center in Freeport partners with Penobscot Nation for research

TIMES RECORD • February 12, 2026

Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture and the Environment received a $10,000 grant to partner with the Penobscot Nation on a research project to survey the property at Wolfe’s Neck Farm, once home to the Wabanaki and Abenaki peoples. One question Wolfe’s Neck Center will explore is what the land looked like 13,000 years ago, as well as what changed. “We decided to put one [application] in that would look at this place from the perspective of the Penobscot people,” said Tilly Laskey, public historian for Wolfe’s Neck Center. Wolfe’s Neck Center will apply its 626 acres and around 250 acres of Wolfe’s Neck Woods State Park to determine Wabanaki cultural uses on the land.

Sebago celebrates 200 years and plans its future

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 12, 2026

Sebago held an event on Tuesday to commemorate the town’s 200th anniversary, as well as kick off the expected year-and-a-half-long effort to develop the town’s new comprehensive plan. The comprehensive plan wil balance the need for development with the preservation of Sebago’s rural character,

More than mitigation: The role of forests in climate adaptation

SCIENCE • February 12, 2026

Planting, maintaining, and restoring forests are among the suite of strategies used to mitigate climate change through carbon storage. However, forests can also contribute to climate adaptation by cooling the local environment, altering hydrology, and improving human health and well-being. Reek et al. synthesized data and findings on forests’ effects on temperature and hydrology and discuss how these effects vary depending on the environmental context, with implications for forest management and climate adaptation planning. 

UMF offers new River Studies Certificate in partnership with the River Management Society

DAILY BULLDOG • February 11, 2026

The University of Maine at Farmington (UMF) has partnered with the River Management Society (RMS) to offer the River Studies and Leadership Certificate (RSLC), creating opportunities for students to explore the multi-disciplinary foundations of careers studying, managing and protecting rivers. Students enrolled in the RSLC program study river systems in ways that integrate the life and earth sciences, policy and conservation, socio-cultural and economic factors, as well as education and recreation.

Patten, Maine, gets $260,000 grant for new MTB trails at Peavey Brook

SINGLETRACKS • February 11, 2026

A $260,000 grant is bringing 3.5 miles of new mountain bike trails to northern Maine’s Peavey Brook Outdoor Center, expanding the remote town of Patten’s trail network to as much as 10 miles and positioning this timber town-turned-outdoor-recreation hub as the next destination in the state’s growing mountain bike scene. The expansion at Peavey Brook Outdoor Center will add to the existing five miles of trail on the property. PBOC was created by the Elliotsville Foundation, Inc. and is co-managed by the Outdoor Sport Institute and Mt. Chase Lodge. Patten sits 40 miles northeast of Millinocket at the northern entrance to Baxter State Park. While Millinocket has seen increasing popularity as a regional riding destination in the Katahdin Area Trails network—popularity that will only grow with new trails coming to Hammond Ridge—Patten is carving out its own identity in Maine’s trail landscape.

Rep. Jared Golden's remarks in support of the Katahdin Woods and Waters Access Act

This bill authorizes the National Park Service to secure a legal interest over an existing road and public access into Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument . The bill does not mandate the federal government to buy any land. It simply allows NPS a seat at the table with local landowners to help secure public access to the monument. The underlying land is already for sale and we expect the Penobscot Nation, a federally recognized tribe in my district, to purchase it. The Penobscot support this bill, along with local businesses and community groups, nearby town governments, and many others. The goal is a system of shared management and partnership that keeps the land in private hands, while creating certainty for a broad range of stakeholders. That includes people looking to pass through into the monument. It also includes hunters, fishermen, foragers, and other sportsmen, as well as loggers and others in the timber economy. ~ U.S. Rep. Jared Golden

Business group argues that Bar Harbor’s new limits unfairly target cruise ships

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 11, 2026

A Bar Harbor business group argued before a federal judge Wednesday that cruise ship passengers are being unfairly targeted by the town’s cruise ship restrictions. Wednesday’s hearing was the latest development in a yearslong debate over limiting cruise ship visits to Bar Harbor that has produced two voter-referendums that impose a 1,000-passenger daily cap. Attorneys for a group of Bar Harbor businesses that are challenging the restrictions, argued that cruise ship passengers are a small portion of the total pedestrians causing congestion in downtown Bar Harbor. They make up just 5 to 7% of visitors to the town. They said the ordinance doesn’t “meaningfully” reduce downtown congestion.

Massive battery storage facility opens in Gorham, furthering Mills’ energy agenda

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 11, 2026

New England’s largest standalone battery facility is now operating in Maine, bringing the state a key step closer to the Mills administration’s electrification and clean energy goals. The Cross Town Energy Storage facility boasts a capacity of 175 megawatts, bringing the state’s total energy storage capacity to about 240 megawatts — more than halfway to its capacity goal for the end of 2030. At a Wednesday ribbon-cutting, Gov. Janet Mills touted the roughly 5-acre facility as a key part of the state’s transition to 100% clean energy by 2040, a goal the Maine Legislature formalized last year.

Maine blueberry group offers members $1.3M to help offset 2025 drought losses

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 10, 2026

Maine’s Wild Blueberry Commission has created a new program offering $1.3 million in emergency funding to keep growers in business after serious crop losses in 2025. The commission looked for options to offer emergency funding last fall after a season that began with a wet spring reducing pollination and then moved into a summer of high heat and fast-onset drought, leading to an estimated $28.1 million in lost revenue. The season was one of the industry’s most challenging in decades.

A Brownville family’s deer pantry is a YouTube hit, but wildlife experts aren’t fans

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 11, 2026

Every winter for 17 years, the McMahon family has fed deer on their property in Brownville to help sustain them through northern Maine’s coldest months. What started with a few bags of oats each morning has grown into an industrial-level feeding operation, attracting thousands of live viewers to the McMahons’ YouTube channel, But not everyone is a fan of the food pantry. State officials, for one, say it’s more natural to let deer fend for themselves. Maine residents are allowed to feed deer between Dec. 16 and April 30, but the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife does not condone it. They say feeding deer can disrupt migration, impact long-term behavior and cause deer to starve because they can’t digest certain foods, like hay.

Proposed law would direct funds from unredeemed bottles and cans to Maine lakes, farms

MAINE PUBLIC • February 11, 2026

With every recyclable bottle of beverage purchased in Maine, consumers pay a bottle deposit of 5 or 15 cents. But not all of those deposits are being claimed. According to industry experts, the current rate of redemption is about 75%, which leaves $10 million-$16 million of unclaimed deposits annually. Now, the Maine Legislature is considering a bill that would dedicate $4 million annually from unclaimed bottle deposits to protecting Maine lakes and farmland: $2 million in unredeemed deposits to the Lake Water Quality Restoration and Protection Fund, and another $2 million to the Maine Working Farmland Access and Protection Program. Proponents of the bill argue that current funding to protect farmland and fight against algal blooms in Maine lakes is not enough. But opponents, including beverage distributors, say the bottle deposit money is needed to help meet the recycling requirements of the state's existing bottle bill.

Column: There’s a long history of fishing on the Androscoggin River,

TIMES RECORD • February 11, 2026

There certainly has been enough cold weather this year to support the little village of ice shacks that has now popped up along the shores of the Androscoggin. These little shacks come and go each year, assuming the ice is thick enough, and their owners use their shelter to drill a hole in the ice and try their luck at catching the sometimes elusive smelt that swim underneath. It’s a pretty neat tradition in wintry climes like Maine. What I didn’t know until recently is that, in addition to this seasonal fishery, there were once commercial fisheries on the river as well. Populations of fish including salmon, sturgeon, shad and river herring once were abundant enough to be harvested by local fishermen and sold to nearby residents. And long before that — as long as 13,000 years ago — the Wabanaki people used to smoke fish right along the shore. Now that the new Brunswick-Topsham bridge is open, there is a whole new perspective to be had looking out over the river. There is an opportunity to rethink what the river means to the town and just how much it has to offer including a potentially abundant source of local seafood as it has in the past. ~
Susan Olcott, Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association

Opinion: Sovereignty, conservation and education top priorities for Wabanaki Alliance

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 11, 2026

The Wabanaki Alliance was formed in 2020 by leadership of all of the Wabanaki Nations in our homelands now called Maine. Last week we held a press conference at the State House to outline our legislative priorities for the second session of the 132nd Legislature which includes sovereignty, conservation easements and Wabanaki Studies. We are working with Rep. Jim Dill on a bill to expand the definition of conservation easements to include cultural practices. The bill also updates the statute to include tribes as entities able to hold these easements. ~ Maulian Bryant, Wabanaki Alliance

High Peaks Naturalist Series continues with Mammals of Maine, Feb 11th

DAILY BULLDOG • February 10, 2026

“Mammals of Maine: Tracking” at Bigelow Preserve in Stratton is the next in the High Peaks Alliance (HPA) 2026 Naturalist Series events. Expect hands-on snow tracking to spot prints, scat, and wildlife signs. These free monthly events happen every second Wednesday from 10am to 11am. You are encouraged by HPA to register early as space is limited.

Former state senate candidate charged with alleged vandalism at MDI preserve

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 10, 2026

A Mount Desert man who has run several times for elected office is facing a felony charge for allegedly vandalizing signs at a Mount Desert Island land preserve. Ian J. Schwartz is accused of damaging multiple signs and trailmarkers at a Mount Desert Land and Garden Preserve on March 28, 2025. The damage amounted to $1,000. The preserve manages 1,400 acres of public land on Mount Desert Island, including Asticou Azalea Garden, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden, Thuya Garden and land surrounding Little Long Pond.

A second federal agency is investigating fatal gas leak at Baileyville paper mill

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 10, 2026

Federal officials have launched a second investigation into a January gas leak at a Baileyville paper mill that killed a University of Maine student and injured nine other workers. Kasie Malcolm, 20, a chemical engineering student at UMaine who was born in Japan and grew up in Sanford, died hours after the incident occurred at Woodland Pulp. The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, an independent federal agency, announced its investigation into the incident in a news release Monday. The Occupational Health and Safety Administration has also initiated its own investigation.