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February 6, 2012
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Press releases, events, publications released, etc. from Maine environmental organizations and agencies. Submit content.
Maine Environmental News
Announcement - Sunday, February 05, 2012
Thanks for visiting Maine Environmental News, the most comprehensive online source available for links to Maine conservation and natural resource news stories and events. Since the start of 2009, I have posted more than 16,000 news articles and announcements. Be sure to check not only today's stories, but take a look at the headlines from the past several days as well. Articles often come to my attention a few days after they are published. ~ Jym St. Pierre, RESTORE: The North Woods |
Defining Wilderness: Defining Maine
Event - Posted - Sunday, February 05, 2012
This book discussion series is offered by the Maine Humanities Council. The discussions will be held at the Cary Memorial Library in Wayne on four Mondays: Feb 13, Mar 19, Apr 23, May 14. Discussion leader: Carol Kontos, English professor at UMA. |
Windfall
Announcement - Sunday, February 05, 2012
We can all agree that energy independence is a worthy objective, right? Alternative energy sources like solar power can help free the U.S. from fossil fuels and the grip of unstable Persian Gulf states. And wind power — wait, not so fast, says “Windfall,” Laura Israel’s urgent, informative and artfully assembled documentary. An account of rural Meredith, in upstate New York, when wind turbines came to town, the film depicts the perils of a booming industry and the bitter rancor it sowed among a citizenry. ~ Andy Webster, New York Times |
Intro to Winter Camping, Feb 10-12
Event - Posted - Friday, February 03, 2012
Introduction to Winter Camping with David Butler. This course will provide information about the skills to maximize your winter camping experience. At Hidden Valley Nature Center, Jefferson, Feb 10-12. |
Tracking with a naturalist, Feb 10
Event - Posted - Friday, February 03, 2012
Join naturalist Nancy Holmes to learn how to identify the animal tracks you will (hopefully) see in the snow this winter. At Damariscotta Lake Watershed Association office, Jefferson, Feb 10, 3:30 pm. |
Dirty Tar Sands Oil Coming Through Maine? Feb 9
Event - Posted - Thursday, February 02, 2012
Learn about the environmental and safety risks of this proposed project and about ways you can join the effort to prevent Portland from becoming the tar sands capital of the eastern U.S. The Canadian oil and gas giant Enbridge is proposing to pump dirty tar sands oil from Ontario to South Portland, where it would be shipped by tanker to refineries along the East Coast or Gulf of Mexico. The pipeline passes next to Sebago Lake, the drinking water supply for more than 15% of Maine people, and could endanger Casco Bay and our fishing and lobster industries. At USM, Glickman Library, Portland, Feb 9, 7-8:30 pm |
The Wildness Within: Remembering David Brower
Publication - Wednesday, February 01, 2012
The twentieth-century environmental movement owes much to a single man: David Brower. For the hundredth anniversary of David Brower’s birth, his son Kenneth Brower, an acclaimed nature writer, has brought together the testimonies of twenty environmental leaders whose lives and careers were transformed by David Brower; the result is a book in which a repertory company of path-forgers reveal their deepest values and most moving experiences. Available May 2012 from Heyday. |
Reducing coastal erosion, Feb 8
Event - Posted - Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Megan Facciolo, district manager of the Hancock County Soil and Water Conservation District, will talk about reducing coastal erosion. At Lamoine Town Hall, Feb 8, 7 pm. Sponsored by Lamoine Conservation Commission. |
Managing Your Timber Harvest, Feb 8
Event - Posted - Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Maine Forest Service District Forester Morten Moesswilde will talk about harvest planning, working with professional foresters and loggers, different harvest methods, wood values, closing out the job, and other aspects of harvesting. At Damariscotta Lake Watershed Association office, Jefferson, Feb 8, 6-8 pm. |
Birds, Bats & Blades-Wind Turbines & Wildlife, Feb 7
Event - Posted - Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Steve Pelletier, Wildlife Ecologist, Stantec, speaks about bats and wind power. At Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Nov 7, 7 pm. Sponsored by Friends of Merrymeeting Bay. |
Winter Extremes: Oh, Deer, Feb 7
Event - Posted - Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife Regional Biologist Keel Kemper will discuss current wildlife issues, including the effects of severe winters on Maine's deer herd. At Sheepscot Valley Conservation Association office in Sheepscot Village, Newcastle, Feb 7, 6:30 pm. |
Great blue heron flies into Merryspring, Feb 7
Event - Posted - Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Danielle D’Auria, Maine wildlife biologist, will give a presentation on the Great Blue Heron at Merryspring Nature Center, Camden, Feb 7 at noon. |
Smelt/Ice Festival, Feb 3-4
Event - Posted - Saturday, January 28, 2012
Ice Cutting-Smelt Fishing Festival. At Mailly Waterfront Park, Bowdoinham, Feb 3-4. Part of a yearlong celebration of the 250th Anniversary of the Town of Bowdoinham. |
Family Winter Ecology Festival, Feb 4
Event - Posted - Saturday, January 28, 2012
This year’s Family Winter Ecology Festival will offer a variety of free indoor and outdoor activities for the entire family. At Merryspring Nature Center, Camden, Feb 4, 10 am to 12:30 pm. |
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Eagle Population on Road to Recovery
Mount Desert Islander - Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Eagles in Maine were removed from the threatened list earlier this month, and wildlife biologists banded 12 eagle chicks in nine of 10 nests on islands in Frenchman Bay, as well as on Schoodic and Great Duck Island. |
10 Years After Dam Removal, Fish Return To River
WMTW-TV8 - Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Removing the Edwards Dam on the Kennebec River in Augusta allowed 11 species of sea-run fish to access the river. The removal of the dam marked the first time the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ruled that the value to the public of the free-flowing river was greater than that of the dam. |
Neighbors try showing the power lines and the trees
Sun Journal - Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Talking about the trees and what having them gone will mean isn't enough, said homeowner Elaine DuMais. You have to see the difference. DuMais' backyard is ringed with hardwoods and pines and a grove of apple trees. All of the trees and part of a rock wall would be removed under a power line expansion plan proposed by Central Maine Power Co. They'd be replaced with huge towers as the utility's power reliability upgrade winds its way through Lewiston. |
Editorial: Mainers in House had right position on climate bill
Portland Press Herald - Tuesday, June 30, 2009
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a historic energy bill last week that, for the first time, takes an aggressive national approach toward combating man-made climate change. Both of Maine's representatives not only voted for it, but they also worked to make it better. The focus will now be on getting a bill through the Senate. Maine's senators should continue their strong tradition of bipartisanship and support for conservation to move this important issue forward. |
River advocates hail Westbrook fish passage decision
Portland Press Herald - Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Presumpscot River advocates say Monday's decision ordering Sappi Fine Paper North America to install a fish passage on one of its dams is significant because it could open the entire river to several species of anadromous fish. The decision by the commissioner for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife came nearly three years after river advocates asked the state to intervene. |
More tricks or a murre treat? Time will tell
Portland Press Herald - Tuesday, June 30, 2009
A penguin-like bird that disappeared from the Maine coast more than a century ago has apparently decided that it's time to come back. Wildlife advocates found a murre egg perched on a cliff on Matinicus Rock. It's the first time the birds have been known to lay an egg south of the Canadian border since the 1870s, said Stephen Kress, director of the National Audubon Society's seabird restoration program. "We have been waiting for this for 17 years," Kress said. |
Islanders celebrate wind power
Bangor Daily News - Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Hundreds gathered Monday morning at a 75-acre construction site in a misty spruce forest to celebrate the groundbreaking of the Fox Islands Wind project. By Thanksgiving, developers said, three turbines will take advantage of the high offshore winds to produce enough electricity to provide power to the 1,500 year-round residents of Vinalhaven and North Haven islands. |
Retired trucker first to solo kayak 740-mile route
Bangor Daily News - Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Gil Whitney, a 67-year-old retired truck driver, became the first person to solo kayak the Northern Forest Canoe Trail. Completing the 740-mile water odyssey from Old Forge, New York, to Fort Kent, Maine, also made the Lakeville resident the oldest person to date to complete the trip. |
Along the Allagash Wilderness Waterway
Other - Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Blog - So, you’ve been thinking about a canoe, camping trip into the wilderness, and you’ve chosen the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. |
Forever Wild: Roxanne Quimby's legacy to the North Woods
Other - Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Maine Home+Design - To date, Quimby has invested $50 million in the conservation of 90,000 acres of land, in addition to giving away nearly a million dollars a year to nonprofits across the state. If everything falls into place, she will donate her holdings to the National Park Service upon its centennial anniversary
in 2016—a gift she hopes will rival the neighboring 200,000-acre Baxter State Park in size. |
Maine receives habitat restoration funding
Associated Press - Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Officials said $6.1 million would go toward the demolition of Great Works Dam on the Penobscot River, while another $1.6 million would pay to replace culverts as part of Atlantic salmon restoration. Gov. John Baldacci's office said the funding in Maine is expected to create at least 60 jobs over two years. |
Sappi will not appeal ruling on dam
Associated Press - Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Sappi Fine Paper North America said the company will not appeal a decision by the state ordering Sappi to install a fish passage at its Cumberland Mills Dam. Alewives, shad, salmon, and sturgeon could migrate upriver from the ocean to Sebago Lake, if Sappi installs fishways at six hyrdoelectric dams it operates on the Presumpscot River. |
GrowSmart gets new director, moving to Portland
Mainebiz - Tuesday, June 30, 2009
GrowSmart Maine, the Yarmouth nonprofit that earlier this month lost its president amid a funding crisis, has appointed new leadership and announced plans to move to Portland. The organization has appointed Maggie Drummond, GrowSmart's former advocacy director, as interim director. |
Ten years after dam removal: 'We stand in awe at power of nature'
Capital Weekly - Tuesday, June 30, 2009
About 100 people gathered Tuesday morning to celebrate one of the nation’s most successful river restoration projects. They were observing the 10th anniversary of the removal of Edwards Dam on the Kennebec River and the opening up of 17 miles of the river from Augusta to Waterville to free-flowing status for the first time in 160 years. By all accounts, the result of removing the dam has been to bring the river back to life.
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Running logs down Kennebec returns for a day
Capital Weekly - Tuesday, June 30, 2009
All the recent rain created more work for the Augusta Public Works Department as employees were out Tuesday, July 30, rescuing the city's East Side docks from being washed down river and pushing threatening waterlogged tree trunks from smashing into the wharf on the river's west side. |
Recovery Act to help fund Penobscot sea-run fish restoration
Capital Weekly - Tuesday, June 30, 2009
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Tuesday that it will invest $6.1 million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help rebuild sea-run fisheries of the Penobscot River. |
Maine Legislature Sends LMF to the Voters
Other - Monday, June 29, 2009
One of the last pieces of business for the 124th Maine Legislature was the bond package. The Legislature agreed to a $150 million package, including a $10 million conservation ballot question. Specifically, $6.5 million is earmarked for the Land for Maine's Future program, $2 million for the Working Waterfront program, $1 million for farmland protection and $.5 million for state park infrastructure. This piece of the overall bond package will be decided by the voters in November of 2010. |
Earning Green: Mainebiz takes a look at green business
Mainebiz - Monday, June 29, 2009
Four businesses discuss the two major reasons to go green: conscience and cost, in Shades of green. A demand-response energy program gives cash incentives for businesses willing to flip off the switch, in Power broker. How federal stimulus and carbon-credit funds are fueling energy-saving programs, in Efficiency Maine, the granddad of green. A handful of Maine businesses join the ranks of the emerging B Corporation sector, in The real deal in assessing green. GraffamSolution's Merritt Carey shares ways to avoid being a greenwasher, in How to market yourself as green and mean it.
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Letter: River access is available
Sun Journal - Monday, June 29, 2009
The Androscoggin River Watershed Council is developing The Androscoggin River Trail, a water trail, from Lake Umbagog in New Hampshire to Merrymeeting Bay. There are more than 40 public access sites along the river. |
Embracing the unspoiled
Portland Press Herald - Monday, June 29, 2009
What was once an unbroken canopy of trees is now punctuated by cleared lots and the shingled roofs of Cape Cods and split-levels. In this checkered sea, the Clark farm stands like an island – more than 550 acres of unspoiled fields and forests. The Windham Town Council is expected to schedule a public hearing on borrowing $1 million to help conserve the Clark property for farming, timber and recreation. |
Powerboat culture gave rise to new Bangor club
Bangor Daily News - Monday, June 29, 2009
Bangoreans already had a canoe club, a bicycle club and a horse club a century ago. The rise of the gasoline-powered motorboat gave them yet another reason to found a club devoted to locomotion. The Bangor Yacht Club held its first meeting in the fall of 1908. By June, members had opened a new clubhouse on the banks of the Penobscot River. |
Sunspots and the weather
Bangor Daily News - Monday, June 29, 2009
It has been rumored lately that the cause of the cloudy, misty, cranky weather this month is a lack of sunspots. From 1645 to 1715 almost no sunspots were seen. This quiet period corresponded roughly to the Little Ice Age, when Earth’s average temperature dropped about 1 degree.
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Letter: Coyote not culprit
Bangor Daily News - Monday, June 29, 2009
The supposed coyote “facts” in a recent letter to the editor are not supported by any peer-reviewed science. |
Editorial: Water over the dam
Capital Weekly - Monday, June 29, 2009
Next week, environmentalists and leaders will gather on the banks of the Kennebec to mark the 10th anniversary of the removal of the Edwards Dam, the very dam that in the 1800s was a necessity for area mills and commerce. In the late 1990s, though, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ruled the value to the public of the free-flowing river was greater than that of the dam. And thus it was removed. |
MDIF&W: S.D Warren must provide fish passage at dam
Capital Weekly - Monday, June 29, 2009
In the first decision in more than a century under a Maine statute that requires dam owners to provide for fish passage, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife ruled the S.D Warren Company must construct and maintain fish passage at its Cumberland Mills Dam on the Presumpscot River. |
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Natural Resources Council
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Do I Dare to Plant a Peach? | | It's a sign that Maine and the nation are getting hotter, according to a new analysis by the U.S. De... | | 1/30/2012 12:00:00 AM |
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Maine Organic Farmers and
Gardeners Association
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The myth of the self-made yeoman |  By Gene Logsdon – No figure is more endearing and enduring in agriculture than the lonely plowman out there on the horizon who raises himself by his own bootstraps to financial success. Only problem is, there is no occupation more dependent on the cooperation of society and nature to achieve success than farming. | | 11/2/2011 12:00:00 AM |
Sharp, careful eye brings Maine mushrooms from forest to table |  By Avery Yale Kamila – On a crisp morning at the end of October, chef David Ross and I step off a dirt road in Kennebunk and head into a forest dominated by pines and smaller hardwood. Our objective: To track down a few chanterelles and any other wild mushrooms we can find this late in the season. This trip will mark one of the last of the year for Ross, who is an avid mushroom forager and the owner of 50 Local in Kennebunk. | | 11/2/2011 12:00:00 AM |
New climate prediction: ‘Weird’, getting weirder |  By Seth Borenstein (AP) – For a world already weary of weather catastrophes, the latest warning from top climate scientists paints a grim future: more floods, more heat waves, more droughts, and greater costs to deal with them. A draft summary of an international scientific report obtained by The Associated Press says the extremes caused by global warming could eventually grow so severe that some locations become “increasingly marginal as places to live.” | | 11/2/2011 12:00:00 AM |
What to feed your chickens to get the best eggs |  By Nina Lalli – "I have a theory, and I don't think you're gonna like it." Justin was seated across from me at a communal table in a "Secret Restaurant." We had met not half an hour before, but were now deep in discussion about what chickens should eat to produce the best-tasting eggs – an obsession of mine recently. | | 11/1/2011 12:00:00 AM |
Factory farming: not just on land anymore |  By Wenonah Hauter – When most people think of factory farming they typically think of feedlots, hog factories or chicken operations–not massive open net pens growing millions of fish in our oceans. However, factory fish farming will soon pose many of the same threats to the environment and to consumers as its land-based counterparts. | | 11/1/2011 12:00:00 AM |
Bt resistant rootworm spreads | | By Dr Eva Sirinathsinghji – Bt is a toxin from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, which produces a large family of similar proteins that target different insect pests; and quite a few of them have been incorporated in genetically modified crops to act as ‘biopesticides’. Unfortunately, the pests soon develop resistance to it. | | 10/31/2011 12:00:00 AM |
Cranberry juice beats extract at fighting infection |  By Christine Lepisto – Just between you and me, ladies, what do you do when you feel that irritating burn, knowing it can only mean a urinary tract infection? Do you run to the doctor's office for antibiotics, only to fight the yeast infection that sets in when drugs knock other systems out of balance? Then you probably haven't heard yet that cranberries can fight infections naturally, and very effectively. | | 10/30/2011 12:00:00 AM |
‘Hobby farm’ couple do part, feed hungry |  By Bill Nemitz – It's not uncommon for someone to show up at the Bread of Life Soup Kitchen in Augusta with a bag full of fresh broccoli, tomatoes or other leftovers from their garden. In recent months, however, Glenn and Rachel Powers have taken that kind of community support to a whole new level. They're giving away the farm. | | 10/30/2011 12:00:00 AM |
New England shrimp target cut in half | | AP – Portland: Fisheries regulators have set the start date for the shrimp season and halved the target for the amount of shrimp to be caught by New England fishermen. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission on Friday set a target of 2,000 metric tons, compared with 4,000 metric tons the year before. | | 10/29/2011 12:00:00 AM |
The life of a seaweed gatherer |  By Daniel Klein – Most of the seaweed we get these days is farmed. But way up in northern Maine, Larch Hanson is still harvesting it wild in its many varieties on the rugged coast. This video isn't about the details of that process, however. It's about the essence of life for Larch, who rises at dawn to cut seaweed and then writes Zen poems about it. | | 10/28/2011 12:00:00 AM |
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