Here are 8 places to hike in the Kennebec River Valley

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 30, 2026

The Kennebec River Valley encompasses over 5,000 square miles, and within that vast area of hills and mountains, rivers and streams, and lakes and ponds are a wealth of recreational opportunities. For hikers, dozens of public and private conservation lands totaling many thousands of acres and featuring miles of wonderful trails are available, a veritable footloose feast. Here are just a few places for you and your boots to explore ~ Carey Kish
• Moxie Falls, West Forks
• Moxie Mountain, Caratunk
• Good Will−Hinckley, Hinckley
• Kennebec Highlands, Belgrade Lakes Region
• Howard Hill, Augusta
• Pownalborough Courthouse, Dresden
• Whiskeag Trail, Bath
• Cooley Center Pond Preserve, Phippsburg

RFK Jr. announces new effort on Lyme disease

MAINE MORNING STAR • May 30, 2026

During a visit to New Hampshire Friday, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced millions of dollars in funding for research on Lyme disease before what’s expected to be a heavy tick season. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will be giving up to $2 million to projects that “harness artificial intelligence and open data to help patients with Lyme disease and other invisible illnesses get answers faster and access care more quickly,” Kennedy announced. He also said the department will be funding up to $250,000 worth of public awareness campaigns and educational projects, specifically those developed with input from patients, clinicians, and advocates, and another $250,000 to “promising frontline solutions.”

The Trump Administration Plans to Open Hunting, Fishing Opportunities on Refuge and Park Lands

OUTDOOR LIFE • May 29, 2026

The Interior Department’s announcement earlier this week of new and expanded hunting and fishing opportunities on national wildlife refuges and other federal lands include more properties and acreages than any previous administration has proposed. Another significant change is a proposal to suspend regulations that ban the use of lead shotshells, bullets, and fishing tackle on nine national wildlife refuges, including Rachel Carson NWR in Maine.

Towns get new survival guide as Maine predicts spike in extreme heat

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 29, 2026

Dangerous heat days are likely to increase two- to four-fold across Maine by 2050, forcing towns and cities to reconsider how workers and aging and homeless residents survive increasingly volatile summers, according to a state health report released Friday. The extreme temperature survival manual predicts a sharp rise in the number of life-threatening days with a heat index of 95 degrees or more by 2050. In Lewiston, five dangerous days a year will likely turn into 15. In Portland, four dangerous days will likely become 13.5. Officials are now urging Mainers to think like a “hot-weather state” without lowering their guard against a winter likely to be more volatile than in years past.

The last sardine cannery in Maine closed in 2010 but a new company aims to bring fish canning back

MAINE PUBLIC • May 29, 2026

The last large-scale sardine cannery in the state closed in 2010, but Joshua Scherz, co-founder of Maine Canned Fish, aims to package flounder, cod, oysters, and other seafood in attractive tins to offer new marketing opportunities for fishermen up and down the coast. His canning operation is in a Topsham industrial park not far from I-295. Scherz said he hopes it will be up and running by this summer. Maine Canned Fish is one of 12 start-ups in the Dirigo Labs Business Accelerator Program, run by the Central Maine Growth Council in Waterville.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Troy Jackson releases conservation plan

MAINE PUBLIC • May 29, 2026

Democratic gubernatorial primary candidate Troy Jackson unveiled a conservation plan for Maine Friday. One of his top priorities is to re-establish the Department of Conservation as a standalone agency. It merged with the Department of Agriculture under the LePage administration. A fifth-generation logger, Jackson said he'd ban aerial herbicide spraying in Maine's forests. Jackson also wants to establish a Forest Advisory Board comprised of landowners, environmental organizations, and tribal members. And he says he'd devote more funding to Land for Maine's Future. "To meet the 30% by 2030 goal, Maine must increase its rate of conservation five times over," he said.

Rabid fox found in Maine town

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 29, 2026

A rabid fox was found in Lisbon Falls about 4 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Lisbon Police Department. In humans, rabies causes flu-like symptoms early on. As the virus advances, anxiety, confusion, agitation hallucinations and hydrophobia. It is almost fatal, in both humans and animals, once symptoms develop. Police urge anyone who spots a suspected rabid animal to not approach it and report the sighting to the police department.

Bangor will rename city trail after Gerald Talbot

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 29, 2026

Bangor is renaming a trail after Gerald Talbot, a civil rights leader and the state’s first Black legislator. That comes after Talbot died May 9 at age 94. The City Council authorized renaming the trail in honor of Talbot, whose name also adorns the park and playground off Second Street, where he grew up. Talbot made history in 1972 when he became Maine’s first Black legislator. His daughter Rachel Talbot Ross went on to serve as Maine House speaker. During his life, Talbot championed civil rights in Maine.

Maine sewage sludge crisis is ‘still under a clock’ even if landfill expands

MAINE MONITOR • May 29, 2026

The proposed expansion of the Juniper Ridge landfill in Old Town and Alton comes as Maine grapples with where to put the PFAS-contaminated sludge that piles up each day at municipal wastewater treatment plants. The landfill’s application for an expansion license is being processed by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, which recently determined for a second time that the expansion would have a public benefit. That remains under an appeal brought by the Penobscot Nation and the Conservation Law Foundation. They argue air and water pollution from the landfill is an environmental injustice to the surrounding communities and to the Penobscot River. Juniper Ridge currently handles about half of the state’s total landfilled waste and about 90 percent of the state’s sewage sludge.

Maine still has places that feel genuinely wild. I explored one of them.

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 28, 2026

The Debsconeag Lakes Wilderness Area, managed by The Nature Conservancy, sits just south of Baxter State Park and is part of nearly 500,000 acres of conserved forest connected to Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument and Nahmakanta Public Lands. Trees as old as 300 years have been documented there. The lakes contain brook trout, Arctic charr and rare freshwater mussels, species that require pristine water quality and relatively undisturbed habitat. The Debsconeag Lakes feed into the West Branch of the Penobscot River. If you navigate upstream through the Penobscot River Corridor — past Chesuncook Lake — paddlers can access Telos Lake and Chamberlain Lake. Telos marks the southern end of the 92-mile Allagash Wilderness Waterway.

Community Trails launches matching campaign in memory of forester

THE COUNTY • May 27, 2026

Northern Maine Community Trails is in the midst of a community fundraising campaign honoring the life of local forester Hugh Violette, with all donations matched dollar-for-dollar up to $22,300 through June 5. The matching challenge was established by Hugh’s parents, Dennis and Holly Violette. Hugh Violette, a graduate of the University of Maine forestry program and professional forester in Aroostook County, built his life around the forests, trails and outdoor spaces of northern Maine. Northern Maine Community Trails, a nonprofit organization that purchased the former Nordic Heritage Outdoor Center in 2025, is working to secure long-term nonprofit ownership and operation of the trail system and lodge.

Maine plans to use herbicide against invasive water plants

MAINE PUBLIC • May 28, 2026

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection plans to use herbicides to kill invasive variable leaf milfoil infestations on three Maine lakes this summer. The agency is seeking new permits to apply chemicals in Messalonskee, Little Sebago and Androscoggin lakes, according to a department notice. John McPhedran, an aquatic invasives specialist at the department said it used the herbicide ProcellaCOR against milfoil infestations several times since the product was authorized by federal regulators in 2017. "We are discharging a pollutant to the state water, which none of us really like to do," McPhedran said. "But these are instances which we think that it is warranted."

Acadia waits for funding as Trump diverts $67M in park entrance fees to DC projects

MAINE PUBLIC • May 28, 2026

President Donald Trump has diverted at least $67 million in national park entrance fee revenue to finance beautification projects in Washington D.C., while parks like Acadia face a growing list of delayed maintenance needs. The administration has redirected $60 million in entrance fee revenue to repair nine decorative fountains around Washington. An additional $7 million has gone towards the controversial renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. At Acadia, officials estimate $138 million is needed to cover deferred maintenance and repair projects. On top of deferred repairs, officials estimate the park spends $9.6 million annually on routine maintenance.

Letter: Right whale requires ever more careful regulation

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 28, 2026

Your May 15 piece on North Atlantic right whales offered promising news about this year’s calving season. But as someone who has spent decades working to protect marine mammals, I’d caution against relying on this season’s numbers as a reason to ease up on regulations. More calves means more whales at risk. Recovery requires sustained 50-plus births per year. And we won’t get there without careful regulation. ~ Cindy Lowry, International Marine Mammal Project, a project of Earth Island Institute, Portland

9 midcoast towns receive climate grants

MIDCOAST VILLAGER • May 28, 2026

Nine midcoast towns—Rockland, South Thomaston, Union, Warren, Belfast, Northport, Lincolnville, Searsport and North Haven—will benefit from the latest round of state grants to prepare for severe storms and flooding and reduce costs to taxpayers through energy efficiency upgrades. The grants are through the state’s Community Resilience Partnership program, created in 2021 by Gov. Mills based on a leading recommendation of Maine’s climate action plan, Maine Won’t Wait.

Bowdoin temporarily withdraws Kingfield campsite application

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 28, 2026

Bowdoin College temporarily withdrew its application for a campsite in Kingfield through a May 26 letter sent by John Simoneau, Bowdoin’s director of capital projects, to the town’s board of selectmen and planning board. In the letter, the Brunswick college said it would not refile for at least six months. The period will give the town of Kingfield enough time to properly review the proposal and town ordinances. The planned campsite would be used by the college’s outing club, with groups from the club visiting the plot for weekend trips. For a week at the start of the school year, it would be used for freshman orientation trips.

Maine Audubon opens native plant education center

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 28, 2026

On one side of the Ann and Jim Hancock Native Plants Education Center, two birders scan the grassy field with binoculars. On the other side, an array of native plants sit in pots, ready to be distributed to homeowners across Maine who are looking to support local ecosystems. These two sides also represent the mission of the new education building at Maine Audubon’s Gilsland Farm, the headquarters of the statewide environmental organization. Maine Audubon cut the ribbon on the building Wednesday, joined by over 200 supporters, donors and staff. The center is dedicated to the organization’s native plant program and associated events.

Opinion: Federal defense of Big Oil ignores climate chaos

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 28, 2026

Big Oil is causing terrible damage to our climate, and its proposed Stop Climate Shakedowns Act of 2026 would prevent anyone from ever suing Big Oil to protect our children’s future. Even the name of this legislation is a lie. Big Oil not only harms us, it also intentionally deceived the American people about the dangers of its product. This is what makes it financially liable. The Republican agenda to defund clean energy is intensifying the damage from climate change that American citizens have to endure and pay for. ~ Richard Thomas, Waterville

Fact brief: Does pollution from the Midwest hurt Maine’s air quality?

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 28, 2026

Yes. Maine’s air quality is affected by pollution from other parts of the country, including the Midwest. America’s Health Rankings, a public health data platform funded by United Health Foundation, ranks Maine fifth-best in the nation for air quality, tied with Alaska and New Mexico. But transported ozone — a lung-irritating gas formed when pollution reacts in sunlight — periodically hurts Maine’s coastal air quality. Maine receives both ozone and ozone-forming pollutants from upwind states. 

Environmental group files lawsuit against federal government over horseshoe crab protections

MAINE PUBLIC • May 28, 2026

A national environmental organization Thursday filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for failing to protect American horseshoe crabs under the Endangered Species Act. The Center for Biological Diversity is among more than two dozen organizations that petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service to protect horseshoe crabs in 2024. The Center says horseshoe crab populations have plummeted in recent decades and the species is threatened by overharvesting and habitat loss.