Acadia tourists keep building rock cairns faster than stewards can dismantle them

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 15, 2026

Friends of Acadia (FOA) stewards dismantled up to 150 rock stacks above high-tide mark at Bar Island on August 9. “Friends of Acadia Summit Stewards support Acadia National Park rangers by dismantling misleading rock stacks throughout Acadia to protect trail integrity and for visitor safety,” Perrin Doniger, of FOA, said. On Sunday, as one Friends of Acadia steward was dismantling what the park refers to as rock graffiti, visitors and families — mostly children — were building more. “Last year, Friends of Acadia’s Summit Stewards dismantled 867 misleading rock stacks and repaired 822 cairns that mark safe hiking routes throughout Acadia,” Doniger said. Rock stacks are art to some. But critics say it runs counter to the ‘leave no trace’ principle of preserving natural spaces and minimizing human impacts on them, and that it can cause erosion and confuse hikers who mistake them for trail markers.

Bucksport eyes new developer for long-vacant lot where project failed to materialize

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 15, 2026

Bucksport wants a local developer to build housing on a downtown lot that has sat vacant for about a decade. That comes shortly after the town took the parcel at 27 Main St. back from SFS Development, another area company it sold the land to for $1 in exchange for the construction of mixed-use buildings there within three years, a project that never broke ground. It’s another chapter in efforts to increase economic activity in Bucksport post-paper mill and increase the town’s available housing amid a statewide shortage.

Column: Birds are going to start behaving differently. Here’s why and what to look for.

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 14, 2026

Here is a bird identification tutorial for beginning birders. Yes, I know, that’s something that’s traditionally offered in the spring. There’s still a lot of bird activity going on right now, and yet you seldom find anyone describing how identification skills change with each season. Birds in late summer often look different and act differently. Birds in autumn have different habits and habitats, and often different plumages. Males have gone to an eclipse plumage that defies easy identification. This is all stuff that experienced birders should teach to novice birders in late summer. Somehow, we seldom remember to do it. ~ Bob Duchesne

New faces cause a stir in the New England crustacean community

MAINE MORNING STAR • August 14, 2026

Lobsters have long reigned as king among New England’s shelled sea creatures, but the chances of a coup are growing — and climate change is tipping the scales. What kind of creature could hope to dethrone the lobster? Only, perhaps, a similarly large, jagged, claw-brandishing arthropod: the Atlantic blue crab, of Chesapeake Bay fame. Blue crabs are thriving in the rapidly warming currents of the Eastern Seaboard, expanding northward and becoming more common in places once too cold for them to establish year-round populations. Meanwhile, other newcomers are making their debuts, too, such as the lopsided fiddler crab and aggressive lady crab.

Maine researchers tag their 1st white shark

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 14, 2026

Maine researchers have tagged an 8-foot juvenile white shark, their first, as part of a new effort to better understand how young white sharks use the Gulf of Maine. The female shark was tagged Wednesday night by shark researcher Matt Davis and University of Maine Associate Professor of Marine Science Walt Golet. The shark’s capture comes amid a shark-spotting frenzy in Maine waters this summer. The research is part of two projects being conducted this year to study shark presence, distribution and habitat use in the Gulf of Maine.

Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument celebrates 10th anniversary this weekend

MAINE PUBLIC • August 14, 2026

Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument celebrated its 10th anniversary this weekend. Visitation to the monument has fluctuated in recent years. Its busiest was 2022 with about 43,000 visitors. Nearly 34,000 people visited the monument last year, according to federal data. Brian Hinrichs, executive director of Friends of Katahdin Woods and Waters, said the numbers have been highly weather dependent. This summer has been busier than usual. Federal data show that visitation was up more than 32% this June compared to the previous one. The National Park Service and the non-profit Friends group are hosting several events this weekend to commemorate the monument's 10th year.

White shark spotted feeding on seal off MDI

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 14, 2026

A great white shark was spotted Thursday in Frenchman Bay off Bar Harbor feeding on a seal, according to an Ellsworth man. John DeRaps posted on Facebook, “I’ve been on the water my whole life and I have never seen a great white, this one was feasting on a seal today.” DeRaps posted a photo of the shark.

How a global fluoride shortage is affecting Maine’s water systems

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 14, 2026

Global supply chain disruptions have forced several Maine water districts, including the state’s largest public water supply, to temporarily stop adding cavity-fighting fluoride to local drinking water. In Lewiston and Auburn, storage tanks that usually hold thousands of gallons of their fluoride mixture liquid sit empty. But they aren’t the only ones to fall victim to the shortage — Portland and Waterville-area systemstemporarily halted fluoridation last month. Although both have since resumed normal operations, Portland Water District was forced to stop fluoridation for two weeks and Kennebec Water District for 24 days while waiting for their next shipment of the mineral to arrive.

Column: Hiking in for dinner, bunks and a night in the clouds

SUN JOURNAL • August 14, 2026

Rebecca Richard takes a journey from western Maine to New Hampshire’s Presidential Range for an overnight at an Appalachian Mountain Club hut accessible only by trail in another installment of Maine Field Notes.

Downeaster gets millions to relocate Portland train station

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August14, 2026

The operators of the Downeaster have received $48 million in federal funding to relocate the train service’s Portland station to a main line of the railway along St. John Street. City officials and staff had argued that another spot should be chosen. Now, city leaders will have to agree with the rail authority’s preferred location.

Help Wanted: Friends of Baxter State Park Executive Director

MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • August 14, 2026

Friends of Baxter State Park is a non-profit organization that strives to inspire passion for the Park's wild character in the spirit ofPercival Baxter. We promote exemplary use, natural resource stewardship, and a healthy Katahdin region to ensure the Park forever remains a refuge. The Executive Director will lead the organization during an exciting time as it embarks upon a new stage of growth. Application materials should be submitted by September 18, 2026 to search@friendsofbaxter.org.

Worker hospitalized after being electrocuted at Sappi mill in Skowhegan

CENTRAL MAINE • August 13, 2026

A worker was electrocuted by machinery at a Somerset County paper mill Thursday morning, officials confirmed. First responders were called to the mill just before 10 a.m. for a report of a male employee who was unconscious and not breathing after being shocked while working on a machine at the Somerset Sappi mill. The Somerset Sappi mill has seen a number of safety incidents in recent years. A company that contracts workers at the mill was fined around $13,000 last year after a worker fell some 40 feet while on the job. A large fire there in January last year took several hours to extinguish. Sappi North America, a Boston-headquartered subsidiary of South Africa-based Sappi Limited, operates the Somerset Mill. About 780 employees work at the mill, which is off U.S. Route 201. In addition to the Somerset Mill, Sappi operates mills in Westbrook; Cloquet, Minnesota; and Matane, Quebec.

Stepping back in time with the lighthouse keeper on Goat Island

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 13, 2026

Just beyond the Cape Porpoise Pier, where lobster boats idle in the harbor and seals surface between mooring buoys, Goat Island seems to slow time, Nick Lewia said. Lewia, 41, spent his childhood exploring Goat Island with the sons of its longtime keepers. Now, he lives there as the head keeper from May to November with his wife Amy, 12-year-old son Brandon and their hound-shepherd mix Mavis.His family joined an apprentice program in 2020, gradually taking on longer stays until the former caretakers retired in 2024. Last year, Lewia and his family officially took watch over the lighthouse, which local seafarers still rely on for safe passage into the harbor.

High Peaks Alliance dedicates Kinney Family Forest

DAILY BULLDOG • August 13, 2026

High Peaks Alliance welcomed more than 60 supporters, community members, sponsors, and friends to the Kinney Family Forest in Farmington on Saturday for a dedication ceremony celebrating the protection and future of this special woodland. Under beautiful weather, attendees gathered to recognize the vision and generosity of Stephen “Steve” Kinney and the Kinney family. Four generations of the family were present for the occasion, underscoring the deep personal and community connection to the forest and its future.

Wet hay sparks blaze at Aroostook farm

THE COUNTY • August 13, 2026

A Thursday morning blaze at an Aroostook hay and feed farm destroyed about 100 tons of product waiting to be processed, but resulted in no injuries. Staff of Lucerne Farms, which sits on the line between Fort Fairfield and Easton, arrived Thursday morning to find flames atop an unprocessed hay pile. The fire was likely a result of spontaneous combustion. With humidity and some rain in the past few days, the hay has been wet — which ironically can cause hay to heat up and ignite. The fire damaged no structures or equipment. The pile of hay was lost, but in a facility that generates thousands of tons, the loss is minimal.

Shark sighting shuts down swimming at Biddeford beaches

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 13, 2026

A great white shark was spotted near Biddeford beaches Thursday, shutting down swimming in some areas — the latest in a string of shark sightings along Maine’s coast. Swimming is prohibited between Fortunes Rocks Beach and Biddeford Pool for the rest of the day. The shark was spotted in the area of Granite Point and Timber Point.

Westbrook teen drowns at Tumbledown Pond near Farmington

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 13, 2026

A 19-year-old from Westbrook died Wednesday in the pond on Tumbledown Mountain. Bogdan Dosov was swimming with a camp group in Tumbledown Pond that afternoon when he started having difficulty swimming and slipped beneath the water’s surface. Minutes later, witnesses recovered Dosov from about 12 feet of water and pulled him onto an island in the pond. They started CPR and called 911. About 40 emergency responders from various agencies were involved in the response, but resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful.

Maine shifts focus to mental health as PFAS crisis deepens

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 13, 2026

Maine is launching a mental health network to help local farmers survive the emotional trauma of forever chemical contamination, which threatens the long-term financial and physical health of rural families as well as poisons their soil and water. Maine taken a leadership role in the national PFAS farm crisis, conducting a statewide review to find farms tainted by sludge-derived fertilizer and banning its use going forward. Now, it is shifting its focus from protecting the land to protecting the people who work it.

Scarborough to celebrate inaugural Marsh Day

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 12, 2026

It’s difficult to think about Scarborough without thinking of the Scarborough Marsh. Maine’s largest salt marsh serves as the background of the town’s website, its waterways snake into the center of town, and marsh grasses adorn Scarborough’s logo. Residents and visitors flock to the marsh in all seasons to take photos of wildlife, watch birds, cross-country ski, kayak or just enjoy a nice walk. To celebrate this key feature in town, the Scarborough Land Trust organized the inaugural Marsh Day. From 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, residents can explore the marsh, learn about its wildlife, and discover the conservation efforts that protect it.

Ospreys return to Bath roadside 2 years after CMP removes nest, erects platform

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 12, 2026

In spring 2024, Bath birders were disturbed to learn that Central Maine Power removed a long-established osprey nest from atop a utility pole off Route 1, installing bright yellow spikes to prevent future nesting. Though the utility company erected a nesting platform as a safer alternative for the raptors to build a home, years passed without any little heads poking out of nests high above the highway. That was, until this April, when birder and osprey advocate Joanne Adams spotted a breeding pair getting to work on their new home. Then she didn’t see them for several weeks, and feared they’d left — until she noticed four birds in the nest in June. “Suddenly, they had two chicks,” said Adams.