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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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Bangor council to begin planning waterfront trail system
Bangor Daily News - Monday, January 23, 2012
The Bangor City Council took its first solid steps toward providing happy trails to its residents by giving a go-ahead for further evaluation, cost analysis and planning for a waterfront walking/running/cycling trail system Monday night. A long-debated idea to build trails along the waterfront that eventually will link the area around the new arena and events center to the waterfront gained traction as councilors voted 7-2 in a council workshop session to approve further study and a plan for the project. |
Vanishing Maine Nonresident Hunters Get Legislative Attention
George Smith Maine Nature Blog - Monday, January 23, 2012
The challenge of reversing a 60 percent decline in Maine’s nonresident hunters was tossed to a Task Force last year by the legislature, and Monday that Task Force reported back with a list of thoughtful recommendations. The recommendations are excellent and very necessary if we are to reverse the decline in nonresident hunters. The Task Force worked hard and did a superb job. But that doesn’t mean the recommendations will ever be implemented. |
Extension of U.S., Canadian softwood lumber deal draws bipartisan applause
Bangor Daily News - Monday, January 23, 2012
Maine’s federal delegation cheered news Monday that the U.S. and Canada extended a 5-year-old softwood lumber agreement through 2015, but called for more consistent enforcement of the controversial pact. Originally set to expire in 2013, the multibillion-dollar agreement aims at addressing unfair Canadian lumber subsidies undercutting American industry. Unlike American manufacturers, Canadian producers can be subsidized by their provincial governments in the form of smaller fees charged for timber harvested from government land. |
Opinion: Mainers would win with renewable standard
Bangor Daily News - Monday, January 23, 2012
Maine Citizens for Clean Energy formed to put a question on the ballot this November that would achieve those important goals for the future prosperity of Maine. The initiative would ensure 20 percent of Maine’s electricity comes from new renewable energy sources such as wind, hydro and solar, and require utilities to invest in energy efficiency whenever it would reduce costs for ratepayers. This group will turn in more than the required number of signatures this week to ensure the question appears on the ballot in November. The benefits of the passage of this question are clear: hundreds of jobs created, lower electric bills for Maine ratepayers, cleaner air, a healthier Maine and more energy dollars kept locally. ~ Jeremy Payne, Maine Renewable Energy Association |
Dover-Foxcroft company recognized for safety
Bangor Daily News - Monday, January 23, 2012
Pleasant River Lumber was recognized last week by The SafetyWorks! program of the Maine Department of Labor for its efforts in providing a safe and healthy work environment. The Department of Labor presented the company with a Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program — or SHARP. |
Alfond gift of $10.85M will allow community college to expand
Bangor Daily News - Monday, January 23, 2012
A gift of nearly $11 million that was announced Monday will allow Kennebec Valley Community College to dramatically expand its campus to help accommodate a huge enrollment demand. The gift from the Harold Alfond Foundation — announced Monday by Gov. Paul LePage and other officials at the Blaine House — also will help the Good Will-Hinckley School grow its new magnet school, the Maine Academy of Natural Sciences. |
Bike commuting sees big bump in Maine
Bangor Daily News - Monday, January 23, 2012
A new report from the Alliance for Biking & Walking finds that the number of Maine residents who bike to work increased by 120 percent between 1990 and 2009. Across the nation, there was a 64 percent increase in bicycle commuters over the same time period. |
Opinion: How to field dress a LURC
Forecaster - Monday, January 23, 2012
Everyone knows that Gov. Paul LePage, Conservation Commissioner Bill Beardsley, Senate President Kevin Raye, and a passel of other red-meat Republicans are determined to shoot, gut, and field dress LURC so they can pave the Unorganized Territory (UT) and put up Marden’s junk stores in every township if they feel like it. The LePage plan to slaughter LURC starts with the bogus argument that what happens in the UT stays in the UT. The plan, outlined in the reform commission’s report, starts by throwing a bone to those who want to retain a statewide regulatory body, but then it allows county commissioners to appoint themselves to LURC and counties to decide to set up local land use commissions if they so desire. I guess we should be grateful that the governor didn’t just let Plum Creek draft Maine’s new land use regulation laws. ~ Edgar Allen Beem |
DIF&W Funding Gets Batted Around
George Smith's Outdoor News Blog - Monday, January 23, 2012
Up for public hearing this morning was LD 1652, An Act to Ensure a Reliable Funding Stream for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. The bill’s sponsor, Senate President Kevin Raye, testified for the bill with a few other proponents, including Dave Trahan for the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, Tom Abello for The Nature Conservancy, Jenn Burns for Maine Audubon, and Beth Ahearn for Maine Conservation Voters. It’s great to have the attention and support of the state’s leading environmental groups who recognize the responsibility of the public to provide funding for this agency. |
Letter: Beem is right about overpopulation
Forecaster - Monday, January 23, 2012
I do not usually agree with Edgar Allen Beem and his columns, but I do agree with him and his latest essay concerning population. I have scant respect for environmentalists, conservationists, and those who advocate for "green," when they refuse to acknowledge the dangers of overpopulation. Why is this a forbidden subject? It is time for the people of this country to get their heads out of the sand and face reality. ~ Frank Barbieri, Portland |
Letters: Halt to pipeline elicits praise, criticism
Portland Press Herald - Monday, January 23, 2012
I congratulate President Obama for rejecting the massive oil pipeline that was planned to run from Alberta, Canada, through the heart of the United States. Given an election year, powerful Republicans in public office and the over-the-top money and clout of the oil industry, this was a calculated yet courageous decision. ~ Nicole d'Entremont, Peaks Island; We need this pipeline to get access to oil from a friendly neighbor. It will be a source of domestic production of oil and it will provide many jobs, which are sorely needed as well. ~ Robert Stinson, Portland; Obama should have signed on to the Keystone pipeline. ~ Nick Pappas, Cape Elizabeth |
Two Grocers Certified By Maine DEP As Environmental Leaders
Maine Government News - Monday, January 23, 2012
Two northern Maine groceries are being recognized by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection for their voluntary efforts to reduce the impact their stores have on the environment. Paradis Shop'n Save in Houlton and Graves' Shop'n Save in Presque Isle were recently certified by the department as Environmental Leaders, joining Edwards' Family Shop'n Saves in Unity and Dover-Foxcroft as the only state certified green grocers north of Waterville. |
Board to consider wind energy standards
Sun Journal - Monday, January 23, 2012
Farmington Selectmen will hold public hearings Tuesday on proposed wind energy system guidelines. After months of review, the Planning Board accepted a draft of performance standards in November that will allow the town to regulate commercial and residential wind energy systems. The draft now comes before selectmen for a public hearing. Voters will consider whether to add the standards to the town's zoning ordinance at the annual town meeting in March. Any concerns raised during the hearing Tuesday would return the draft to the Planning Board. |
Maine's small farmers being left out of disaster equation
Sun Journal - Monday, January 23, 2012
On Wednesday the U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded $810,000 in disaster assistance grant funding to the state of Maine to help farmers and landowners in rebuilding land damaged by Hurricane Irene, which was downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it hit Maine. However, many of Maine's small farmers will be walking away with empty pockets. The problem is a requirement in the 2008 Farm Bill that requires all farms to have crop insurance in order to qualify for federal disaster relief. |
Opinion: Critics misrepresent Sappi's role in Sebago Lake management plan
Portland Press Herald - Monday, January 23, 2012
There is a need for the media to help accurately explain to Maine residents how this vital water resource will potentially be managed far into the distant future. The proposed new management plan for inclusion in a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license has received input and approval from state agencies, various citizens and Sappi. The plan will benefit the lake environment as well as more efficiently use the water released from the Eel Weir Dam, while maintaining prescribed state lake level targets. |
Officials: Increase radon awareness
Kennebec Journal - Monday, January 23, 2012
Testing your home for radon -- the leading cause of lung cancer for non-smokers -- should be at the top of your to-do list this month, officials say. The EPA has declared January National Radon Action Month. Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas present in many homes, schools and buildings, yet few people know about the health risk or have tested for it. Most people associate lung cancer with smoking, but radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among nonsmokers. |
Offshore wind projects touted as job creators
Kennebec Journal - Monday, January 23, 2012
The state's economy could grow by 15,000 jobs during the next 20 years if Mainers embrace offshore wind projects, a University of Maine professor said Sunday. Habib Dagher, a professor of civil/structural engineering, said a $20 billion effort to build a wind farm 20 miles off shore would allow Maine to sell electricity to neighboring states and make the state less dependent on foreign oil. Dagher came to UMaine at Augusta as part of the Forum on the Future series. |
Maine bill seeks better sportsmen's-landowner ties
Associated Press - Monday, January 23, 2012
Lawmakers are looking at a bill aimed at improving relations between outdoor recreationists and private property owners. Rep. Andre Cushing's bill is up for a hearing Monday morning before the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee. It seeks to strengthen what's become a tradition in Maine of public recreational access to private land. The bill would revamp the Landowners and Sportsmen Relations Advisory Board's functions and establish a strategy for long-term funding of a landowner relations program. It would also implement a land user certification program and update landowner liability laws as they relate to public use of private land. |
LePage backing proposed legislation to place fee on landfilled waste
Maine Campus - Monday, January 23, 2012
As state regulators decide if an Old Town landfill can more than triple waste capacity, Gov. Paul LePage is recommending passage of a bill that would levy a per-ton fee on waste the landfill was established to hold. In a letter to the Maine Legislature’s Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, LePage adviser Carlisle McLean said the governor recommends a new $4-per-ton fee of construction and demolition debris put into Maine landfills. Sen. Tom Saviello, the committee’s senate chair, said the fees will go to the fund to aid towns in shuttering landfills they must close. He said money in the fund could also go toward operating Dolby Landfill in East Millinocket, which the Maine Legislature authorized the state to purchase. |
Editorial: LePage endorses waste regulation, shapes new outlook
Maine Campus - Monday, January 23, 2012
Gov. Paul LePage has offered assistance in lifting a hefty burden from the shoulders of Maine’s environmental supporters. Literally helping out by the ton, LePage has decided to recommend passage of a bill that could require up to a $4-per-ton fee of construction and demolition debris as well as a $3-per-ton fee for any CDD processing residues deposited into the state’s landfills, including Juniper Ridge Landfill on the Old Town-Alton border. Good going with the garbage, Governor. Sometimes getting a little dirt on your hands strikes the right balance for affirmative change, no matter what side of the aisle you’re on. |
Turning wood into a steam into savings
Morning Sentinel - Monday, January 23, 2012
A new $11.25 million biomass plant at Colby College is now in operation, with officials expecting it will save the college about $1.5 million a year in heating costs. The 8,100-square-foot biomass plant burns forestry products, including wood chips, bark, branches and treetops, producing steam that is distributed underground to all parts of the campus. Two huge 400-horsepower boilers inside the plant produce steam used not only for heat, but also for hot water, cooking and co-generation of electricity on campus. The plant will replace 90 percent of the 1.1 million gallons of heating oil Colby has used every year. |
Wood heat heats up as homeowners give boot to oil
Associated Press - Sunday, January 22, 2012
The number of households using wood as their primary heating source nearly doubled in Maine from 2000 to 2010, while growing by a third nationwide, according to U.S. Census figures. |
New rules could boost New England renewable power
Associated Press - Sunday, January 22, 2012
The federal government released an order this fall to make it easier to build electricity transmission. That's badly needed in New England to connect remotely located renewable power sources to customers. Every New England state has set goals to increase the amount of renewable power it uses. To date, grid managers have focused on whether transmission projects would help keep power flowing. After the new order, they must plan projects that help a state reach such goals as increasing renewable power. And they must devise a way to pay for it. Renewable energy advocates say that gives the transmission projects a major boost. |
Opinion: LURC reform: unorganized territories have right to self-determination
Bangor Daily News - Sunday, January 22, 2012
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Legislature created the Land Use Regulation Commission to take over planning and zoning in the unorganized territory of Maine. This agency was created with admirable intentions, but has evolved to become what we all dislike about state government. This insulated agency deprives property owners and residents of the unorganized territory the right of self-determination and local accountability. |
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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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