Sharing the Secrets of Seabird Restoration

AUDUBON • March x, 2026

Over the last 52 years, Audubon’s Seabird Institute, based in Maine, has pioneered ways to encourage seabirds like puffins, terns, storm-petrels, and more, to recolonize historic nesting islands. Many of their techniques revolve around the idea of social attraction, which often involves using decoys, mirrors, and playback of seabird recordings to trick birds into thinking that an abandoned colony is a popular place. Deceptive? Maybe, but also very effective. With the techniques they developed, the Seabird Institute has restored nesting seabird species that occurred in Maine prior to European colonization, reversing island- and state-wide extirpations that occurred decades and centuries earlier. To disseminate this information to seabird managers around the world, the institute established the Herz Fellowship.

Search for missing Brunswick woman resumes after nearly 2 months, closing local trails

TIMES RECORD • March 20, 2026

Searchers will be out on Brunswick trails this weekend looking for Rebecca Dorr, who has been missing since late January. The town’s Parks and Recreation Department announced Friday that trails at the Town Commons will be closed Saturday and Sunday as the Maine Warden Service and other search-and-rescue crews relaunch their search. The search for Dorr had previously been suspended due to snow and cold temperatures. Dorr is impacted by mental health issues.

Study: Portland a top 10 small U.S. city for careers, thanks to quality of life, job market

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 20, 2026

Buoyed by high quality of life and job market strength, Portland cracked the top 10 in a recent national study that ranked small cities for career opportunities. The market study from CoworkingCafe, which looked at nearly 300 cities with populations under 250,000, cited Portland as one of the northeast’s most livable and well-rounded cities.

Opinion: Investing in Maine’s land is an investment in our communities

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 20, 2026

In the coming weeks, the Maine Legislature will consider whether to renew its investment in Land for Maine’s Future (LMF), a statewide initiative that has helped communities protect the landscapes that define Maine. This decision offers an opportunity to reflect on a simple truth: Investing in land is also an investment in the health, resilience and prosperity of our communities. The program has helped safeguard drinking water sources, protect the natural resources and working landscapes that fuel our economy and ensure that Mainers of all ages, abilities, interests and backgrounds enjoy access to the outdoors. Today, however, LMF has largely exhausted its available funding. Without renewed support from the Legislature, opportunities to protect the lands that matter most to Maine communities will be lost. ~ Aaron Dority, Frenchman Bay Conservancy, and Amelia Nadio, York Land Trust

Midcoast RV resort proposal at odds with a piece of Maine’s blueberry landscape

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 20, 2026

The blueberry barren on Northport’s Bird Hill is a favorite local spot to hike, stargaze, hunt, paint, watch birds and take senior photos. In the fall and winter, the blueberry plants turn shades of crimson and maroon, and the ledgy hilltop offers arresting views of the Camden hills. But by July, this spot could be home to an RV resort. A Massachusetts couple is under contract to buy the property from Jasper Wyman & Son, the state’s largest blueberry producer. They plan to eventually build up to 80 RV sites, clusters of geodesic domes for glamping, and spaces for wellness retreats. A group of Northport residents are trying to stop the development. On Monday, they will present a petition, signed by more than 200 people so far, to the Select Board expressing opposition to the resort. They are also asking the board to put before voters a 180-day moratorium on commercial and large-scale housing development.

Western Maine farmers on CSAs: ‘It just shows what a community truly is’

SUN JOURNAL • March 19, 2026

Farms across Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford counties offer Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, shares. CSA shares allow residents to pay up front to receive through the season regular allotments of a farm’s products, whether that’s fruit and vegetables, meat, fiber goods, or anything else they might grow or produce. We talked to some local farmers who offer CSAs about why they do it, and why the programs help consumers and the farms.

Experts to discuss how federal funding cuts affect Maine farmers

TIMES RECORD • March 19, 2026

A community forum will connect farmers, people who work in food security and Midcoast residents to discuss how federal funding cuts are affecting Maine farms next week in Topsham. Community Conversation: Food, Farms, and Families will be held at the Topsham Public Library from 6-7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 26, featuring panelists from Maine Farmland Trust, Maine Center for Economic Policy, Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program and Full Plates Full Potential.

Common Currents: Art Centered Around the Health of Casco Bay

FRIENDS OF CASCO BAY • March 19, 2026

Friends of Casco Bay is proud to partner once again with the Ocean Currents class at Maine College of Art & Design (MECA&D) for an exhibit of student work inspired by Casco Bay. This exhibit, on display in the Congress Street windows at MECA&D in Portland from April 7 to April 18, showcases how those experiences took shape in their creative work — offering fresh perspectives on the waters that define our region and inviting viewers to see Casco Bay through a new lens. A reception to celebrate the artists, artworks, and Casco Bay will be held on April 8, 2026, at 5:30 pm in the lobby at MECA&D.

Auburn takes steps to protect prime farmland from solar development

SUN JOURNAL • March 19, 2026

The Auburn City Council on Monday took steps toward protecting the city’s best farmland from development. On first reading, councilors adopted ordinance amendments preventing solar arrays and other types of construction projects on farmlands in the agriculture and resource protection zoning district. Current ordinance language allows solar arrays and single-family houses to be constructed on prime farmland or farmland of statewide significance in the agriculture zone. It was an issue previously raised by councilors and then kicked over to the planning board.

International Day of Forests, March 21

UNITED NATIONS • March 19, 2026

Forests and economies is the theme of the 2026 International Day of Forests, March 21, celebrating the essential roles of forests in driving economic prosperity. These roles go well beyond income and jobs from forest production and the trade of renewable raw materials and foods: forests also sustain family and community agriculture, enhance agricultural productivity, and safeguard healthy watersheds.

World Rewilding Day, March 20

REWILDING • March 19, 2026

World Rewilding Day is a key moment to demonstrate the global presence, relevance, and momentum of the rewilding movement, showing the world what rewilding looks like in action.By taking part, as an organisation or a citizen, you contribute to a powerful, unified narrative: one where hope is grounded in evidence, and a thriving future is already being built. When we show up together, our impact is amplified,
and our movement becomes impossible to ignore.

Marginal Way marks 100 years with $1M in storm repairs to iconic path: ‘Stronger than ever’

SEACOAST ONLINE • March 19, 2026

As the Marginal Way in Ogunquit marks its 100th anniversary, the Marginal Way Preservation Fund is celebrating the milestone with major investments aimed at protecting the beloved coastal path for generations to come. The fund has contributed more than $1 million toward storm‑related repairs and long‑term preservation efforts, and its endowment has reached $4.5 million for the first time — a milestone leaders say strengthens its ability to safeguard the National Register of Historic Places site well into the next century.

Maine DOT’s plans for Arrowsic and Georgetown access road fall short of climate resilience standards

MAINE MORNING STAR • March 19, 2026

The Maine Department of Transportation’s project to address flooding on Route 127 could provide a model for encouraging climate readiness, public safety, and the health of marshes damaged by roads, but Arrowsic and Georgetown officials are concerned that the department’s plans fall short of those goals. The $5 million project plans to increase the height of about a half-mile of road and replace two culverts before its scheduled completion in December 2029. Maine DOT asserts that its methods for calculating changes to the road’s height and culvert sizes are based on sound consideration of multiple factors. But the department’s proposal omits specific provisions for marsh resilience and less flood-prone road heights that Arrowsic officials have asked for since May 2024.

Request to modify pier hints at plans for long-dormant Bucksport riverfront site

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 19, 2026

A long-vacant riverfront industrial property just upriver from Bucksport’s former paper mill site is getting some official attention that may be a sign someone wants to put it back to use. Sprague International Properties recently applied to the state to transfer and modify a lease on submerged lands where a pier extends from the parcel into the Penobscot River, the first major sign of life there in years, according to a town official. It would reduce the lease footprint of the existing 50-by-50-foot pier. The former oil terminal north of the town center off River Road, known as Sprague North and called the “coal pocket” locally, was once a delivery port for coal and sulfur, then stored home heating fuels in large tanks until 1995. It has been vacant for decades and long eyed for various economic development projects.

Islesboro residents underwhelmed by state’s hybrid ferry plan

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 19, 2026

The Maine Department of Transportation is moving ahead with plans for a ferry that is less climate-friendly than some Islesboro residents had hoped. The agency is now recommending a hybrid vessel that primarily relies on diesel and will only use 20% less fuel than the current ferry on the route, the 40-year old M/V Margaret Chase Smith. Some Islesboro residents are disappointed that the agency has missed an opportunity to make deeper emissions cuts even as the need to address climate change is more urgent than ever. The island’s fishermen and aquaculture growers are already being affected by warming oceans and acidification, both of which are linked to climate change, making it urgent to address emissions.

What we know about Donald Trump Jr.’s plans for his Maine hunting land

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 19, 2026

More than a year after a company led by Donald Trump Jr. bought a prime northern Maine hunting plot, it is preparing a private nature preserve and a hunting camp. The president’s son and his company, Trump Timberland and Wildlife Management, bought 3,900 acres in Crystal and Island Falls in November 2024. Trump Jr. is an avid hunter who shot a moose in the area on a guided hunt two years earlier. There has been relatively little activity on the property. But roads have been cleaned up and fences erected to lay the groundwork for what Trump Jr. hopes to turn into a wildlife preserve and hunting ground over the next two to five years. The company is in early talks with a nonprofit about a possible conservation easement. Eventually, it’ll be open by invitation for hunting. “No shiny gold Trump tower is going up anytime soon,” said Anthony Fratianne, the co-president of Trump Timberland.

Acadia building new path to protect pedestrians at Cadillac Mountain summit

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 18, 2026

Acadia officials are starting construction on a new trail that will prevent pedestrians from needing to walk on a busy roadway at the park’s highest peak. The trail will give visitors a dedicated walkway between the east and west parking lots along Cadillac Summit Road, one of the Acadia National Park’s busiest roads. The project is part of a broader push to invest more in pedestrian accessibility at Acadia.

Letter: Susan Collins shows commitment to Maine fishermen

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 18, 2026

I know firsthand the pressure our groundfish fleet faces. Recently, we were on the brink of a premature and unnecessary shutdown. Regulations to increase the haddock allowable catch by 50% were supposed to be implemented last May, but due to bureaucratic delays, those crucial fish remained off-limits. Despite months of assurances from NOAA Fisheries, the rule stalled. We reached out to her staff on a Tuesday morning; by Wednesday afternoon, the rule was published and our season was saved. ~ John Mitchell, Bass Harbor

Midcoast couple wants to give away 1,200 acres of conserved woodland to new owner

LINCOLN COUNTY NEWS • August 18, 2025

After almost 50 years of farming and forestry, the owners of Hidden Valley Farm in Whitefield are looking for someone new to take over. Bambi Jones and David “Tracy” Moskovitz, owners of the 1,200 acres, said they are looking to either gift the property to an appropriate nonprofit or sell it and donate the proceeds to benefit conservation efforts. The couple has received around about half a dozen proposals, but are still accepting more. They plan to make a decision by this summer. “We’re just really interested in how, especially conservation organizations, can do a more effective job of fulfilling their missions,” Moskovitz said. “We want to help spur that along.”

Ice jam raises flood risk on Penobscot County river

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 18, 2026

An ice jam is raising flood risk on the Piscataquis River. The ice jam happened on the river in Maxfield on Wednesday morning, according to the National Weather Service.It’s already caused flooding on North Howland Road, and further flooding is possible.