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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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Power struggle at packed meeting in Farmingdale
Kennebec Journal - Wednesday, June 30, 2010
If a community feels strongly about burying lines in a certain area, then Central Maine Power Co. representatives will talk with them -- if they are willing to pay for the additional cost. That was one of the messages from CMP officials Tuesday evening. Residents were given a chance to ask CMP representatives questions about plans to erect a 245-kilovolt transmission line through the Kennebec Heights Country Club as part of its Maine Power Reliability Project. |
Harbor porpoise returned to wild off Biddeford
Portland Press Herald - Wednesday, June 30, 2010
A small harbor porpoise rescued after becoming stranded on Goose Rocks Beach in Kennebunkport on Feb. 26, has been returned to the wild. A satellite tag on her dorsal fin will allow researchers to follow the two-year-old 52-pound porpoise’s movements for the next six months. |
Searchers fail to find vessel's stolen equipment
Portland Press Herald - Wednesday, June 30, 2010
A research mission to study global warming's effect on Greenland's glaciers will get under way in a few days, despite failed efforts to find critical pieces of stolen scientific equipment. Phineas Sprague said Tuesday that Sonar Systems Engineering & Assessment Ltd. of England has agreed to ship a pair of transducer heads to replace the ones that were stolen this month from the research vessel Gambo. |
COA to rebuild destroyed field station on remote island
Bangor Daily News - Wednesday, June 30, 2010
The summer programs that College of the Atlantic holds each year on Mount Desert Rock faced a significant challenge last summer when Hurricane Bill, passing by the Gulf of Maine, churned up exceptionally heavy surf along Maine’s rocky coast. Rough seas decimated some of the college’s buildings. For the past couple of weeks, work crews have been trying to make repairs so research can resume in mid-July and classes can be held in August. |
Collins, Snowe roles key in jobs, energy bills
Bangor Daily News - Wednesday, June 30, 2010
The political spotlight is once again focused on Maine’s two U.S. senators as Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill grapple with a host of contentious issues during a pivotal election year. From financial reform to a federal cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gases, there is no shortage of weighty and often partisan issues. And Maine’s two moderate senators, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, could play major roles in shaping and deciding the fate of legislative initiatives. |
Carter, King clash over wind power project
Bangor Daily News - Wednesday, June 30, 2010
A former Green Independent Party candidate for governor exchanged charges of greed and hypocrisy Wednesday with a former governor who’s promoting a 128-megawatt wind power project. Building 48 wind turbines in Highland Plantation would require blasting of 1.6 million cubic yards of rock and dirt, decimate fragile alpine terrain and generate visual and noise pollution all while failing to reduce greenhouse emissions, said Jonathan Carter, director of the Forest Ecology Network. Former independent Maine Gov. Angus King, one of the Highland Wind LLC business partners, said the project carries an environmental impact but that it’s more benign than oil, gas, coal or nuclear power. |
Hearings ahead for Calais liquid natural gas project
Bangor Daily News - Wednesday, June 30, 2010
The process to bring a $1 billion liquefied natural gas facility to the city is moving along quickly this summer, with a series of public hearings set before the Calais Planning Board and the Maine Board of Environmental Protection. Save Passamaquoddy Bay has been against siting any LNG facility on that body of water. |
A fishing record that lives on
Bangor Daily News - Wednesday, June 30, 2010
James “Bob” Foster Sr., who passed away Monday at the age of 73, was the fisherman who caught the state record brook trout — an eight-pound, eight-ounce monster — at Aroostook County’s Chase Pond back in 1979. Foster’s record stood for 30 years. It was broken by Patrick Coan of Waterboro on Jan. 8, 2009. But Coan’s 9.02-pound brookie was not wild. It was stocked in York County’s Mousam Lake. |
Letter: Nukes are mistake
Bangor Daily News - Wednesday, June 30, 2010
I disagree with the June 26 BDN OpEd, “Nuclear power is the answer to our energy needs.” Nuclear fission power is not a solution. Instead, we should be focusing on developing truly green alternatives to oil, such as wind, solar and even nuclear fusion. |
Beach access conflict simmers
Times Record - Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tucked away off a dirt road, a small, privately owned beach on the northern point of Bailey Island in Harpswell is the subject of a legal inquiry by the town of Harpswell, which seeks to determine whether the public’s use of a private access road for years justifies a public easement. |
Horseshoe Crab Study Continues Along Shores of Taunton Bay
Ellsworth American - Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Despite the depredation of a fishing industry that once harvested them by the millions to chop up for bait, the horseshoe crab has survived essentially unchanged, and apparently unperturbed, for some 445 million years. For the past decade, less then an eye blink in their history, these creatures have been the subject of an annual population survey at several sites along the Maine coast. |
Letter: Go with natural gas, shale oil
Sun Journal - Wednesday, June 30, 2010
It is said that the shale oil out West contains around 3 trillion barrels of oil. When will we be ready to make an effort to develop that resource, when the Gulf spill reaches Miami Beach? The beaches of the Carolinas? The Gulf of Maine? |
Acadia Birding Festival a big draw
Bar Harbor Times - Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Acadia Birding Festival took place June 10-13. Participants from across North America traveled to Mount Desert Island for an opportunity to observe the incredible diversity of Gulf of Maine birds, and spend quality time in the field with local naturalists and experts. During the three field days of the festival, we collectively saw 116 species of birds on Mount Desert Island. |
Butterfly Restoration Project Takes Wing
Mount Desert Islander - Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Volunteers at the Charlotte Rhoades Park in Southwest Harbor are participating in a nationwide program to revive the dwindling population of monarch butterflies. |
Opinion: Why Is Maine’s Moose Lottery and Hunt Disappearing?
George Smith Maine Nature Blog - Tuesday, June 29, 2010
You’d have to conclude that hunters are losing interest in Maine’s moose hunt, judging by the huge decline in applicants in the state’s once-popular moose lottery. In the last two years alone, applications have decreased by a stunning 23 percent. |
Dam controversy swirls in Wiscasset
Times Record - Tuesday, June 29, 2010
The Chewonki Foundation’s planned removal of the Lower Montsweag Brook Dam, and the loss of an upstream pond it has held in place for 42 years, continues to stir passionate debate in Wiscasset. State officials tapped Chewonki, a Wiscasset-based environmental education organization, to restore fish passage up Montsweag Brook. But some property owners argue that the project strips them of valuable recreational space and a backup to the town’s water supply. They also question whether removing the dam will restore fish passage.
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Rockweed harvest in question this year
Bangor Daily News - Tuesday, June 29, 2010
While four companies — twice as many as last year — submitted plans to harvest rockweed in Cobscook Bay this summer, the number of residents that have signed up to halt harvesting at their oceanfront properties has tripled. Between already protected lands, such as state-owned and conservation property, and the high number of private landowners on the no-harvest list, nearly the entire bay has requested protection. |
UMF launches program for outdoor recreation
Bangor Daily News - Tuesday, June 29, 2010
UMaine at Farmington’s Fitness and Recreation Center has launched an outdoor recreation program. Mainely Outdoors is now taking registrations for the summer programming that will begin in July. It will offer members of the campus and local community year-round opportunities to participate in activities to promote a fit lifestyle, to acquaint people with new recreation opportunities and to take advantage of the abundant natural resources in the region. |
Bush's daughter to appear in Acadia National Park
Bangor Daily News - Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Jenna Bush Hager, he daughter of President George W. Bush, will be in Acadia National Park Wednesday to appear live on the "Today" as part of the NBC morning staple's series on national parks. |
Mainers full of gusto for wind power, survey finds
Portland Press Herald - Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Maine residents overwhelmingly support wind power development, chiefly because it cuts dependence on fossil fuels and creates jobs, according to the first survey released by the industry. In a statewide telephone poll of 500 registered voters, 88% supported wind power in Maine. Calls to residents in seven rural "rim" counties, from Aroostook to Oxford, where most wind power projects are built or planned, showed 83% in support. |
Open-carry gun group plans Acadia event
Portland Press Herald - Monday, June 28, 2010
The Maine Open Carry Association will hold a picnic on Thompson Island in Acadia National Park on July 11 to protest a new state law that limits the possession of firearms in the park. Under the law, which takes effect July 12, a gun is allowed in the park if: it is carried by a qualified law enforcement officer; it is in a motor vehicle and rendered temporarily inoperable or packed away; it is concealed and carried by a person who has a concealed weapons permit. |
Commissioners stand pat on forest proposal
Bangor Daily News - Monday, June 28, 2010
Skeptical of the “Keeping Maine’s Forests” effort, the Maine Woods Coalition has asked officials in Aroostook, Piscataquis, Somerset and Penobscot Counties to sign a resolution to stop what it calls a “back door” approach to turn the northern Maine forest into a national park. “We have put in writing that this is not about a national park, this is not about a national forest,” committee member Alec Giffin of the Maine Forest Service said. He stressed that he found it “incredibly ironic” that the coalition is opposed to a document that would do everything the coalition supports. |
Maine crew to help in gulf cleanup
Bangor Daily News - Monday, June 28, 2010
Two teams of oil spill cleanup experts from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection left for Panama City, Fla., on Monday hoping to lend a hand in the cleanup of the nation’s worst-ever oil spill. |
Maine Oil Skimmers Head to Gulf to Help With Cleanup
Maine Public Broadcasting Network - Monday, June 28, 2010
It's been nearly two months since the Maine Department of Environmental Protection offered to provide staff and equipment to respond to the oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico. Alabama and Florida made inquiries about the DEP's offer earlier this month. But no one has taken Maine up on the invitation until now. |
Scenic rail line ready to launch
Bangor Daily News - Monday, June 28, 2010
The Downeast Scenic Railroad is gearing up for the start of an excursion rail service later this summer. The locomotive will power the railroad's planned scenic trips between Ellsworth and Ellsworth Falls. |
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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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