The most comprehensive online source of conservation news and events in Maine and beyond, edited by Jym St. Pierre
Thank you for reading Maine Environmental News. Each year, we post thousands of news summaries, notices, and links related to important environmental issues from across the state (and beyond). If you find this service useful, you can help us continue to provide it by making a donation. Just click on the button below and contribute whatever you can afford. Thanks again for your generous support!
Sincerely,
Jym St. Pierre
Editor, Maine Environmental News
MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • May 30, 2024
See the premiere of a beautiful new wildlife film by Lee Ann Szelog and Thomas Mark Szelog. Touted as a quiet film, a Peace of Forest is a one-of-a-kind cinematic adventure, allowing viewers to experience a wild, peaceful and mysterious world that is filled with complex relationships and ways of wonder. A Peace of Forest celebrates the beauty and intimacy of wildlife in Maine with surprising, tender and exquisite interactions of wildlife during undisturbed moments in Maine’s natural world. At Lincoln Theater, Damariscotta, June 30, 2 pm. Tickets for adults $20, Lincoln Theater members $15, youth 18 and under $5.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 14, 2024
Baxter State Park will reopen to vehicle traffic on Wednesday. While the Togue Pond and Matagamon gatehouses open to vehicles, there will be limited access to some sections of road, according to Baxter State Park. Staff continue to clear and repair the roads. Roaring Brook Road sustained “significant damage” during the winter, Baxter State Park said earlier this month. That has delayed its reopening. As a result, reservations at Roaring Brook Campground for May 15-23 have been canceled, and there will be no access for vehicles to the campground and to trailheads to Katahdin Lake, Russell Pond and the east side of Katahdin. You can check the daily conditions report to see what sections of road remain off limits to vehicles on Baxter State Park’s website.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 14, 2024
John ‘Jack’ Sylvester owns a piece of Barleyfield Point, a 1.45-acre waterfront property on Orr’s Island that has been passed down to an ever-expanding list of shareholders since the 19th century. It’s historically been open to the public for recreation and fishing. But in a legal complaint, Sylvester alleges that the property has deteriorated because it’s “unmanaged and unsecured” with too many owners and “uncontrolled access and use.” In a trial that starts Tuesday, Sylvester is asking the courts to allow him to buy the property from the other 25 owners. The other shareholders are fighting back, saying they fear that Sylvester's purchase could signal the end of another working waterfront in Maine.
ASSOCIATED PRESS • May 13, 2024
The Maine government will spend tens of millions of dollars to rebuild the state’s working waterfront communities after a series of devastating winter storms pummeled the state’s docks, wharves and coastal businesses. The back-to-back storms hammered the Northeast in January and hit Maine especially hard, bringing flooding and heavy damage to dozens of businesses. State officials in Maine said the storms, which were later declared a “major disaster” by President Biden, caused about $70 million in damage in the state. Applications for funding are now available to repair and rebuild working waterfront areas damaged by the storms, Democratic Gov. Janet Mills said Thursday. The $25 million being made available is part of a $60 million rebuilding package approved by the Maine Legislature for storm rebuilding.
WASHINGTON POST • May 13, 2024
Wildfires in Canada have roared back to life, sending harmful smoke into the northern United States – an unwelcome reminder of last summer’s historic fire season that also repeatedly sent plumes of noxious haze southward. At least 500,000 acres of land have burned so far. Mexico is also contributing to hazy conditions because of rapidly spreading fires fueled by excessive heat and drought. Human-caused climate change intensifies heat, droughts and fire intensity.
MAINE PUBLIC • May 13, 2024
Maine’s moose permit lottery is projected to receive 65,000 to 70,000 entries before Wednesday’s deadline, according to officials. That's in step with 72,446 entries received for last year’s hunting season. 4,105 moose hunting permits will be issued for this fall — the same number issued last year. Around 8% of resident applicants are given a permit per last year's lottery.
WMTW-TV8 • May 13, 2024
The Maine State Aquarium in West Boothbay Harbor will reopen this summer with several new tanks and exhibits - including a touch tank. The aquarium, which is run by the Maine Department of Marine Resources, will open on June 26 during the Windjammer Festival and will remain open through Labor Day. The aquarium will be open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. The aquarium closed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and then underwent significant renovations and updates. There is even a new 300-gallon touch tank themed as an intertidal pool with an accompanying wave tank.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 13, 2024
Baxter Woods is an asset held in common by the citizens of Portland. Those who love and use the park should take precedent[sic]. Why has the city imposed incoherent rules for using this park? What we have here is poor governance. A rule, enacted to accommodate a vocal few, pleases nobody and angers just about everybody. It’s time the city resolves this issue in favor of those who love and use Baxter Woods – and their pups. ~ John Schaberg, Portland
NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO • May 13, 2024
Spending at least two hours outside each day is one of the most important things your kids can do to protect their eyesight. "We think that outdoor time is the best form of prevention for nearsightedness," says Dr. Noha Ekdawi, a pediatric ophthalmologist. In the U.S., 42% of people are now myopic – up from 25% back in the 1970s. In some East Asian countries, as many as 90% of people are myopic by the time they're young adults.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 13, 2024
Browntail moth caterpillars might be facing their own zombie apocalypse in Maine this spring, which would provide relief to people who get the itchy rash caused by the insect’s microscopic hairs. The caterpillars are emerging now, and people are most likely to come into contact with the airborne hairs between mid-May and late June. Angela Mech, assistant professor of forest entomology for the University of Maine, said an unusual combination of conditions – including a roaming horde of “zombie caterpillars” last fall – might trigger a collapse in browntail moth populations this year.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 13, 2024
Maine’s brook trout fisheries face some serious threats, including climate change that warms their waters and invasive species that eat their food. A first-of-its-kind state study will teach biologists what they need to know to help Maine’s heritage species of game fish survive. Mooselookmeguntic is the state’s fifth largest lake. There is no ice fishing allowed and its fishery is native. It is one of hundreds of Maine State Heritage Fish waters, which means the state cannot stock it. That’s an increasingly rare treasure in Maine and one that several groups want to protect. Once the study’s data is[sic] in hand, a community advisory group will be convened to figure out how to use it and to build a management plan.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 12, 2024
Firefighters put out a wildfire on St. Sauveur Mountain in Acadia National Park Saturday evening.
MORNING SENTINEL • May 12, 2024
Members of a small group of Skowhegan Area High School students who are working to improve the community say they want to be just like bees. The tiny pollinators “spread things throughout the community,” Sydalia Savage, 16, a junior at Skowhegan Area High School, said. “We want to spread positivity,” added Layla Conway, 17, an SAHS senior. On Saturday, members of the group revealed their latest project, a mural at the Skowhegan Transfer Station & Recycling Center that promotes recycling.
MAINE MONITOR • May 12, 2024
Lawmakers failed to advance a bill addressing invasive aquatic plant infestations on Friday, weakening a slate of initiatives that environmentalists said would buttress Maine lakes and freshwater bodies in the face of climate change. The bill would have provided a one-time $2 million infusion to a fund managed by the Maine DEP to address aquatic plant infestations, which have become increasingly frequent and severe. Lawmakers stripped the funding at a meeting of the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee on Tuesday, leaving the bill with a mandate but no money. The Senate then approved this updated version Friday afternoon but was thwarted by the House when it chose not to take up any legislation sent through by the committee.
MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • May 12, 2024
Of course you need to carry them and they might actually scare a turkey instead of attracting one, but use them right, and you might cash in. ~ Bob Humphrey
MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • May 12, 2024
One of the surest signs of spring and the breeding season for birds is the return of the morning cacophony. Birds make all sorts of sounds for different purposes. We define a song as a noise used to proclaim territory or attract a mate. These are the longer and more complex vocalizations we think of as a “song,” but these can also be short and abrupt in some species. Almost all of the other noises birds make are considered “calls.” Increasing noise pollution, especially from combustion engines large (airplanes) and small (leaf blowers), has caused birds to need to sing louder to maintain their same levels of productivity. ~ Maine Audubon Staff Naturalist Doug Hitchcox
MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • May 12, 2024
Re: “Renewable natural gas will help Maine reach its climate goals,” I fully support the anaerobic (without oxygen) digestion of manure; the process can, indeed, allow methane to be captured through a biological process and then utilized as a fuel. That is a winning proposition for the environment. To say, however, that methane created in this fashion is “renewable” is a stretch, as is the notion that a “carbon negative” gas is created in the process. Anaerobic digestion, with the production of methane for fuel, reduces some methane emissions but the overall process of raising cattle is still extremely emissions intensive. Research with new types of feed (including seaweed), however, offer promising reductions in belched methane. ~ Joe Hardy, Wells
KENNEBEC JOURNAL • May 12, 2024
There seems to be a lot of foot dragging by Maine politicians when it comes to the possibility of restoring passenger rail service north of Brunswick. So why not consider passenger rail on a smaller scale? The existing rail line north of Brunswick, through Gardiner, Hallowell, and Augusta could be upgraded and used for light rail. If a line from Brunswick to Augusta is still too much, how about light rail between Augusta and Gardiner, with a stop in Hallowell as a first step? How many cars could be taken off the road by using light rail? ~ Mike Barron, Augusta
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 11, 2024
The years-long effort to build a waterfront park in Boothbay Harbor will drag on even longer after a court recently ruled that the town’s planning board must reconsider two key approvals it originally gave to the project. As it’s currently planned, the contested Eastside Waterfront Park on Atlantic Avenue would feature a pavilion, a concrete splash pad for kids, grassy space and a working wharf for lobstermen, among other amenities. However, after backers of the park first began pursuing it in 2019, they’ve gotten mired in permitting and legal disputes with the owners of a neighboring property, marking yet another lengthy and contentious struggle over a development project on Maine’s coast.
