Column: Watch for these classic Maine signs on your next road trip

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 1, 2026

Signs are everywhere. How could we cope without them? Signs in Greenville’s Thoreau Park tell the story of Henry David Thoreau’s visits to the Moosehead Lake region. One of my favorite signs is the weather-worn, barely legible wooden marker that stood at the summit of Katahdin the last time we made the climb. But my favorite Baxter signs are the ones that mark the trailheads to the park’s trout ponds. Bible Point is somewhat famous because a young Teddy Roosevelt camped, hunted and fished there in the late 1870s at the confluence of First Brook and the West Branch of the Mattawamkeag River. A plaque commemorates the spot. Signs are everywhere. Fortunately, many of them point us toward Maine’s history, outdoor traditions and wild places. ~ Al Raychard

Mainers flock to Wolfe’s Neck Woods for 16th annual birding festival

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 31, 2026

As spring turns to summer in Maine, park rangers are welcoming some familiar faces. Along with the tourists, the state will once again become home to thousands of birds of different species. The 16th annual Feathers Over Freeport birding festival at Bradbury Mountain and Wolfe’s Neck Woods state parks on Saturday and Sunday celebrated their return with a community event for all ages.

Opinion: Maine graduates, take a note from our feathered friends

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • May 31, 2026

The central message of a poem from my own graduation ceremony stays with me: Just like the birds, use your voice and be yourself. A bird sings a song, it isn’t very long, sings it, never gets it wrong. ~ Susan Graham, Kennebunkport

Get lost with us on a Sunday drive through western Maine

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • May 31, 2026

Feel like a leisurely drive on a beautiful day? Want to enjoy all the scenery that western Maine has to offer? We’ve got the guide for you.
• Grafton Notch Scenic Byway
• Evan’s Notch Road
• Newry’s Sunday River Covered Bridge
• Andover’s Lovejoy Covered Bridge
• Route 17 — Rumford to Oquossoc
• Rangeley Lakes National Scenic Byway
• Coos Canyon (Byron)
• Rumford Community Forest trails
• Route 4 — Rangeley to New Vineyard
• Route 27 — Carrabassett Valley to Stratton
• Route 156 — Jay to Wilton

Population trends in Maine show a shift to the suburbs

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • May 31, 2026

That “exurban” shift has become increasingly popular across the state and country, U.S. Census Bureau data shows, as people eschew major urban areas. The trend is reshaping Maine towns and cities, particularly in Cumberland County, as officials and residents in Portland’s bedroom communities grapple with seemingly exponential population growth. Scarborough, Windham, Gorham and Westbrook are growing rapidly — Portland isn’t. Between 2020 and 2023, Maine was the fastest-growing state in New England. More than ever, community planning is going to be crucial, said Joe Oliva, outreach and communications director for GrowSmart Maine.

Sabattus residents balk at large housing development: ‘That’s too much’

SUN JOURNAL • May 31, 2026

There is mounting public pushback among Sabattus residents to a proposed 96-unit housing development on No Name Pond Road across from the former Sabattus Primary School. The area is currently undeveloped and is wooded with pockets of wetlands, along with a stream in the southwest corner of the lot that drains into the Sabattus River. Some residents feel the area, and town services, cannot sustain that much new housing and the subsequent increased traffic in such a short period of time.

I went sea kayaking near the site of a recent drowning. Here’s what I learned.

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 31, 2026

My first sea kayaking adventure this year was off Deer Isle, near the location of a recent tragedy. Just a couple of weeks prior, a man had drowned after his kayak capsized off Little Deer Isle. He’d been paddling solo, and he hadn’t been wearing a life jacket. What’s so great about a life jacket? It keeps you afloat when you lose the ability to swim, which can happen shockingly fast in Maine’s frigid water. It gives you more time, and in that time, help might arrive. Another lesson: Sea kayaking on a wind-free morning is 100% worth the yucky, groggy feeling that usually tempts me to stay in bed for “just five more minutes.” ~ Aislinn Sarnacki

Aroostook immersion tour will bring Acadian history to life

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 31, 2026

An Aroostook teacher will bring Acadian culture to life with a weeklong immersion experience next month. “Living Acadia” (or “Acadie Vivante”) workshop will draw educators from across Maine to northern Maine’s St. John Valley, culminating in a public daylong reenactment of early Acadian life on June 27. It’s the first large-scale immersion event of its kind in the St. John Valley, to which many of Maine’s French Acadian descendants can trace their roots. It will coincide with the upcoming 50th anniversary of Van Buren’s Acadian Village, the second-largest such settlement in the U.S.

Column: Nest failure is common for birds in Maine. But many have backup plans.

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 30, 2026

Maine weather is seldom ideal. Renesting is a common survival strategy. If at first, you don’t succeed… Tree nests are vulnerable to predators, including raptors and red squirrels. Open nests are especially vulnerable to cowbirds. Ground-nesting birds face multiple threats besides the perils of cold and flooding. Ground-based predators such as foxes, raccoons and skunks relish eggs. Waterfowl on the nest are literally “sitting ducks” for large raptors. Renesting is impossible for raptors. When a raptor nest fails, it’s already too late for a do-over. Other large birds can renest successfully. If a common loon nest fails, the pair often tries again. ~ Bob Duchesne

Opinion: Five big wins for wildlife in Maine’s 2026 legislative session

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 30, 2026

The second session of the 132nd Maine Legislature wrapped up recently. Here are five important wins for Maine wildlife this session. ~ Ches Gundrum, Maine Audubon
• Dark sky protection: LD 1934 will require that new or replacement lighting installed using public funds or on public property meets standards that prevent light pollution.
• Protecting shorelines: LD 1904 will help municipalities hold shoreland zoning violators accountable.
• Plug-in solar: LD 1730 allows more Mainers to tap into an affordable renewable energy source by increasing access to plug-in or “balcony” solar.
• Improving the LUPC: LD 870adds two new seats to the Maine’s Land Use Planning Commission: one member representing the Wabanaki Nations and another with explicit natural resource-based expertise.
• Battery waste:LD 474 and LD 1519, that require companies that produce certain batteries or electronic smoking devices to take responsibility for their product waste through state-approved stewardship programs.

Opinion: For the health of Greater Casco Bay, Wyman Station cannot be allowed to skirt clean air laws

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 30, 2026

Wyman Power Station on Cousins Island, which burns heavy and residual oil, recently submitted a request for a clean air exemption to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) that would allow it to avoid complying with updated air quality standards for nitrous oxides for 13 more years. Wyman should not be granted this exemption. By May 2026, sources like Wyman Station that emit NOx were required to reduce their emissions with new technology or seek the use of alternate technology. A major energy company valued at more than $200 billion should not be allowed to skirt these common-sense safeguards. ~ Ivy Frignoca, Friends of Casco Bay; Luke Frankel, Natural Resources Council of Maine

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.