Areas near Sebago Lake, Turner seen as browntail moth hot spots in otherwise quiet year

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 7, 2026

Mainers should expect to see another dry summer — and along with it another year with low numbers of browntail moths, which as caterpillars shed tiny hairs that can cause itchy rashes and respiratory problems. Thomas Schmeelk, an entomologist for the Maine Forest Service, said Mainers statewide who have been experiencing high levels of browntail moths will not have to worry about seeing these as often this year. Although he expects there to be a population drop, the state has identified two hot spots that could see some browntail moth activity: west of Sebago Lake and the Turner/Livermore Falls area.

Cape Elizabeth Land Trust adds new trails to Davis Forest

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 6, 2026

The Cape Elizabeth Land Trust is hosting a trail opening on Saturday, the first opportunity for the public to explore the 0.7 mile new trail on the 32.5-acre addition to the Davis Forest on Spurwink Avenue, which brought the wooded parcel up to 47.88 acres and 1.3 miles of trails. The land trust also added two trails to connect the new section with abutting conserved lands.

Maine fly-fishing writer recalls Ted Turner’s trout conservation efforts

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 6, 2026

Ted Turner, the media mogul, philanthropist and conservationist who built CNN and was once the nation’s largest private landowner, is being remembered by a Maine outdoors writer for his work protecting trout habitat in the western United States. Turner died Wednesday at 87. Paul Guernsey, a Maine author and former editor of Fly Rod & Reel magazine, said Turner’s environmental efforts were significant enough that the publication once honored him with its Angler of the Year award. The magazine, published in Rockport by Down East, ceased publication in 2017. The magazine recognized Turner for efforts to restore Westslope cutthroat trout habitat. Some anglers opposed the move because they enjoyed fishing for the non-native trout. Fly Rod & Reel later received a flood of letters criticizing the award decision.

Contentious Belfast family lobster pound lawsuit makes it to Maine high court

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 6, 2026

On the day before he died, Robert R. Young appeared to have made a dramatic change to his will to to auction off his family’s seafood restaurant in Belfast. The new will would have meant disinheriting Young’s son, Raymond, who sued his siblings. Maine’s highest court will weigh in on the future of Robert Young’s estate and restaurant. One lawyer says the appeal highlights tension between the roles of the superior and probate courts, after 2 judges reached different rulings in the lawsuit.

Biddeford denies UNE’s request to clear trees near Saco River

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 5, 2026

The Biddeford Zoning Board of Appeals has rejected an appeal by the University of New England to allow the school to cut down dozens of trees as part of its proposed Saco River pier project. UNE wanted to remove the 49 trees from its property to clear the path of the access road to the planned pier, university staff said. The university applied for a permit to clear the trees in March, which was initially denied by the city in April. Zoning board members said Monday that because of a moratorium adopted in January that pauses UNE developments for 180 days, the tree-cutting project could not move forward. 

Belfast looks to add more solar power as its electricity use and costs rise

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 5, 2026

The city of Belfast wants to generate more solar power to offset its rising municipal electricity consumption, driven by a transition from heating oil to heat pumps. Since 2014, Belfast has built three solar arrays. The largest, located near the Public Works Department on Crocker Road, went into service in 2019. For a period of time, the three arrays offset nearly all of the city’s electricity consumption and delivery costs. “As we’ve increased the amount we use, the solar doesn’t cover as much,” City Manager Erin Herbig said.

Protecting Lake Auburn ‘critical’ for communities in watershed, officials say

SUN JOURNAL • May 5, 2026

Protecting the Lake Auburn watershed is critical to the future health and financial well-being of Lewiston-Auburn and greater Androscoggin County. That was the word from local officials Tuesday at the Androscoggin River Watershed Council’s annual conference in Auburn. The conference focused on topics, including shoreland stabilization, PFAS and climate change. Planning for resilient water supplies and lake protection, particularly Lake Auburn, were also topics of conversation.

Bucksport welcomes step to close troubled landfill but contamination worries linger

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 5, 2026

A contractor has been chosen to permanently close a troubled Bucksport landfill that once took waste from a local paper mill, almost three years after the state ordered the scrap metal company that owns it to shut it down. That’s a big step toward closing the site permanently and is an indicator that continued attempts to reopen it have come to an end. Orono-based Sargent Corp. was chosen to do the work for American Iron and Metal, a subsidiary of which bought the Verso mill site and its holdings in 2015. Engineers hired by AIM estimated last year that the closure would cost more than $13.4 million, according to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

Leigh Hallett, GrowSmart Maine's next CEO

GROWSMART MAINE • May 5, 2026

Leigh Hallett has been selected to be the next CEO of GrowSmart Maine, with a start date of Monday, August 3. Her expertise includes nonprofit leadership, equitable resource deployment, agricultural and food system policy, and rural economic development. This combination of skills makes her exceptionally well-suited to advance GrowSmart Maine's mission of fostering vibrant, sustainable communities across the state. Leigh’s background includes directing resource programs for the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry, serving as a Public Information Officer for USDA Rural Development, and directing statewide nonprofits, including the Maine Federation of Farmers’ Markets, and most recently, the Maine Trails Coalition.

Detente declared in Spruce Head’s lobster turf war

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 5, 2026

The controversial smack boat is gone, the lawsuits and legal appeals are on hold and for the first time in weeks, a fragile 60-day peace has descended upon one of the most profitable but bitterly divided working waterfronts in Maine. Attorneys for these side-by-side lobster rivals — the Spruce Head Fishermen’s Co-op and the Mazzetta Company — told the South Thomaston Board of Selectmen last week that they have agreed to a two-month cooling off period to negotiate an end to their turf war.

Twin Rivers acquires New York specialty paper maker

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 5, 2026

Twin Rivers Paper Company has acquired a New York-based Potsdam Specialty Paper Inc., the company announced Tuesday. The acquisition adds 26,000 tons to the half-million tons of paper the Madawaska-based company produces annually. Twin Rivers, owned in a controlling share by Atlas Holdings and Blue Wolf Capital, produces paper for the publishing, label, technical and packaging sectors. It operates a pulp and paper complex in Madawaska and neighboring Edmundston, New Brunswick.

Auburn joins network to construct trail to Portland

SUN JOURNAL • May 5, 2026

Auburn City Council voted Monday night to join an effort to create a recreational trail between Lewiston-Auburn and Portland to be built partially along an inactive rail corridor between Auburn and Portland. The Casco Bay Trail is a proposed 72-mile off-road trail loop connecting Portland, Lewiston, Auburn, Brunswick and Freeport. It would includd a section of the St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad known as the Berlin subdivision that runs between Danville Junction in Auburn and The Roux Institute in Portland.

What are those boxes in Casco Bay’s mudflats?

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 5, 2026

The boxes are part of the Downeast Institute’s Clam Recruitment Monitoring Network. The project from the marine research and education institute studies how softshell clams survive and grow in the mudflats of Maine — something the clams have been struggling to do for the past four decades.

Rescuers are searching for a missing kayaker off Deer Isle

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 5, 2026

A kayaker is missing off Deer Isle. The man was kayaking near the Deer Isle Bridge on Tuesday morning when his boat overturned.

Letter: EPA should have no business with Heartland Institute

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 5, 2026

It’s no surprise that profitable industries try to protect their interests. However, what’s truly concerning is our Environmental Protection Agency chief, Lee Zeldin, “celebrating vindication” with a keynote speech at the Heartland Institute, where he promoted his rollback of the legal grounds for climate change legislation (News, April 9). The Heartland Institute is a think tank funded by major corporate interests, including oil and gas companies. With Mr. Zeldin now possibly under consideration for attorney general, I do not see any reason to celebrate his celebration at the Heartland Institute. ~ Richard Hackel, Chebeague Island

Candidates for Governor: Their Views on Wildlife

MAINE AUDUBON • May 5, 2026

Maine Audubon invited all candidates running to be our state’s next Governor who qualified for the upcoming primary election—five Democrats and seven Republicans—to participate in a 13-question survey covering a variety of wildlife-related topics. We are pleased to share answers from gubernatorial candidates who opted to take our questionnaire.

Lewiston’s Public Theatre tells the tale of a grandma who hit the trail and set a record

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 6, 2026

One of the most inspiring stories you’ve likely never heard is about a woman who went for a walk and ended up completing the Appalachian Trail. In 1955, the 67-year-old Gatewood, of Ohio, got the idea to walk the entire AT from reading a National Geographic article in a waiting room. She took a hand-sewn duffel bag carrying minimal supplies and a pair of Keds sneakers, and covered more than 2,000 miles from Georgia to Mount Katahdin. It took her 146 days. At the end, Gatewood became the first woman to solo-hike the storied trail. Gatewood later completed the Appalachian Trail a second time and also tackled the Oregon Trail. A stage version of Emma Gatewood’s story is being performed this month at The Public Theatre in Lewiston starting Friday.

Opinion: Nirav Shah is the best choice for Maine’s environment

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 5, 2026

Honey bees are Maine’s official state insect and a keystone species in our ecosystem. As a local beekeeper measuring PFAS in my own hives, I stand with the Maine farmers. I can’t help but wonder how different our response will be to present and emerging environmental crises if we have someone trained in both law and scientific thinking as our next governor. During his time as director of Maine’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Shah recognized how widespread PFAS contamination is in Maine’s soil and water. Now, at a time when science-informed leadership is more essential than ever, he’s made PFAS protection a top priority. ~ Erin Evans, Portland

The $85 test that could change Maine’s PFAS fight

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 5, 2026

As thousands of Maine homeowners face the daunting cost of testing their wells for forever chemicals, new state research suggests that an affordable mail-in kit may provide a reliable alternative. The state is providing free water testing and home filtration systems for those who live near known hot spots. Others who want to know if PFAS are lurking in their private well must pay for their own test, which isn’t cheap. Although prices have come down in recent years, the cost of a professional analysis conducted by a state-accredited lab will run between $250 to $500. In response to a surge of calls from concerned citizens, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention recently completed a first-of-its-kind study to determine if an $85 home test kit, made by the Illinois-based Cyclopure, can offer cheaper yet trustworthy test results.

Some Maine schools have unsafe radon levels. Most haven’t been tested.

SUN JOURNAL • May 5, 2026

A year and a half ago, Christy Crocker, director of the Maine Indoor Air Quality Council, was working with an enthusiastic school district to help test for radon in its building when all of a sudden, administrators called it off. She understood that for the small district, it likely wasn’t a priority. Something that can’t be seen, smelled or tasted doesn’t feel real, Crocker said, and school districts facing numerous financial pressures have to pick their battles. Maine passed a law in 2019 encouraging schools to test for radon. In March, Maine released the first progress report detailing five years of school testing data. Elevated radon levels existed in at least one room in nearly a quarter of buildings tested. In some, levels were much higher than the point where the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends taking action. However, only 12% of all Maine schools, have been tested.