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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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Group questions Poliquin tax breaks in conservation law
Sun Journal - Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Maine's Majority on Wednesday released several documents showing that 10 acres of State Treasurer Bruce Poliquin's 12.3-acre waterfront property in Georgetown are enrolled in Maine's Tree Growth tax relief program. The program, adopted in 1972, gives landowners significant property-tax discounts in exchange for adopting sustainable timber-harvesting methods. Poliquin in 2004 enrolled 10 acres of the Georgetown property in the tree growth program and has since received an estimated annual tax break of $5,000. According to a 2009 Forest Service report, there was no demonstrated timber harvesting on Poliquin's property. There is some question about whether Poliquin's enrollment in tree growth runs counter to the intent of the program. |
Feds list Gulf of Maine sturgeon as threatened species
Times Record - Wednesday, February 01, 2012
The National Marine Fisheries Service on Tuesday listed Atlantic sturgeon in the Gulf of Maine — including populations in the Kennebec and Penobscot rivers — as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act. The service will now develop regulations to protect the fish. Atlantic sturgeon, which date back 200 million years, often are seen leaping out of the Kennebec River. The armor-plated fish can reach up to 14 feet in length and live up to 60 years. But populations of Atlantic sturgeon declined during the late 1800s and early 20th century because of dams that blocked access to spawning areas, poor water quality, dredging and vessels hitting the fish. In 2009, the Natural Resources Defense Council petitioned to have Atlantic sturgeon listed under the Endangered Species Act. |
Regulators buy time for New England cod fishermen
Associated Press - Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Members of the New England Fishery Management Council on Wednesday asked federal regulators to adopt an emergency interim rule, which removes the law’s requirement to immediately “end” overfishing on Gulf of Maine cod. To do that, fishermen were looking at a 90 percent cut in their catch, which would have wiped out fishing businesses from the tip of Cape Cod to northern Maine. Now, regulators are instead required to “reduce” overfishing on the cod — a far lower standard than to end it — while they try to better understand what’s happening with the prized species, which was thought to be rebounding just months ago. |
Steady Hand at the DMR Helm
Free Press - Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Patrick Keliher, 45, is a calm man. Which is a good character trait for a person who became the new Maine Department of Marine Resources commissioner last week. Keliher takes over an agency beset by funding difficulties whose personnel were deeply distressed by the management style of his predecessor, Norman Olsen, who abruptly resigned in July 2011. |
Wilderness Sled Dog Race canceled
Bangor Daily News - Wednesday, February 01, 2012
The seventh annual Wilderness Sled Dog Race scheduled for Saturday in the Moosehead Lake Region has been canceled, according to race organizers. The decision was made after organizers assessed the conditions on lake and woods trails. The inspection team found that despite recent snowfall, conditions were inadequate to safely run dog teams on both the 100-mile and 30-mile courses. |
Moose, Deer, Fish, and Landowner Relations
George Smith's Outdoor News Blog - Wednesday, February 01, 2012
The legislature’s Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee received a number of reports today on issues from moose to coldwater fisheries. Following those presentations, the committee worked on a number of bills on deer, moose, fisheries funding, and landowner relations. |
Record Lobster Haul for Maine (Maybe)
Other - Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Slate - Conservation measures and warm ocean temperatures appear to have created an unprecedented Maine lobstering boom, with fishermen bringing in a record haul of over 100 million pounds of lobster. That said, officials are cautioning that this is only a preliminary figure. This brings home the extent to which our conventional national statistical series are not well-suited to a modern economy. When it comes to lobsters, you have a very clear distinction between the quantity of lobsters caught (100 million pounds) and the nominal value of the lobster harvest (which is way down from record levels because lobsters have become cheaper). But people intuitively want to measure the health care sector in terms of how much health it delivers, rather than how many units of health care it delivers. That ends up muddying the waters about what does and doesn't constitute a pure increase in prices. |
Lack of snow causes cancellation of Portland’s Downtown Showdown
Associated Press - Wednesday, February 01, 2012
The smattering of snow and sleet over the past 24 hours in Portland won’t be enough to prevent the cancellation of Friday’s Downtown Showdown. The fourth annual snowboarding and freestyle skiing event in Portland’s Monument Square has fallen victim to a lack of natural snowfall and warm weather that has prevented consistent snow making to create the 35-foot-tall skiing hill to be used for the event. |
Letter: More to population story
Bangor Daily News - Wednesday, February 01, 2012
I’m mystified by Ron Stauble’s contention in his recent letter to the editor that world population growth is a myth, while at the same time he cites UN sources for population growth. We reached seven billion people on the planet just recently, and predictions are that we will reach nine billion by 2050. It was less than three billion in 1950. That isn’t growth? All of us — not just the old folks — are going to have to reassess that living standard (which takes an inordinate amount of the world’s resources while creating grave threats to the world’s environment) and figure out a new course. ~ Marty Weaver, Belfast |
Letter: Searsport tank concerns
Bangor Daily News - Wednesday, February 01, 2012
David Cole’s OpEd, arguing that a liquid petroleum tank in Searsport would provide energy security, never mentions the loss of jobs or the decrease to property values with increased industrialization of Searsport. These tanks usually have a mile radius buffer zone. Many Searsport and Stockton Springs residents live and work within a mile of the proposed tank. Are we disposable? ~ Kathy Goldner, Stockton Springs |
COA offers nature camp for middle school students
Bangor Daily News - Wednesday, February 01, 2012
A new outdoor vacation camp for grades 6-8 will be held in the diverse and breathtaking habitats of Mount Desert Island during February and April vacations, led by experienced camp staffer Lucy Atkins, senior at the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor. |
Letter: Forum on the Future about energy gave sensible ideas
Kennebec Journal - Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Thanks for Susan M. Cover's story about the Jan. 22 Forum on the Future, featuring professor Habib Dagher's vision for offshore wind generation. I came away thinking that Dagher's ideas are sensible and should be pursued with great determination. ~ Tom Feagin, Board of UMA Senior College |
Opinion: Lack of snow puts damper on Vacationland's draw for tourists
Kennebec Journal - Wednesday, February 01, 2012
In the early 1900s, a correspondent for The Nation reported, "As a whole, the disposition to provide especially for the needs or desires of visitors is not strong," amongst Maine's residents. "The assumption seems to be, rather, that the visitors are sure to come anyway, and that the less there is expended for their gratification, the greater will be the profit from despoiling them." Some locals worried that summer visitors distracted families from their work, drove up farm wages and set a poor example of extravagance. Yet between 1879 and 1909 investments in Maine summer resorts increased from $500,000 to $138 million, and tourist-industry income rose from $250,000 to $20 million. Vacationland was up and running. ~ George Smith |
Column: Selective Trapping Techniques Can Protect Maine's Canada Lynx
Maine Sportsman - Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Hopefully, before next October's trapping season, the US Fish & Wildlife Service will issued the permit conditioned on workable, practicable steps the state can take to continue its trapping tradition while still minimizing the risk to Canada lynx. ~ Will Lund |
Column: Changes at IFW
Maine Sportsman - Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Edie Smith was forced out of her position as Director of the Information and Education Division by Gov. Paul LePage. No reason was given, but it is widely know that Commissioner Chandler Woodcock had to work hard to convince the Governor to appoint Edie to this position, because she managed the campaign of Les Otten, one of LePage's opponents in the 2010 Republican gubernatorial campaign. ~ George Smith |
Officially Listed as Endangered, Sturgeon Are on the Slow Way Back
Other - Tuesday, January 31, 2012
To prevent the Atlantic sturgeon from vanishing entirely, the Natural Resources Defense Council filed a petition in September of 2009 to list the fish under the Endangered Species Act. Today, the petition was granted: the National Marine Fisheries Service listed four distinct population segments as endangered: the New York Bight, the Chesapeake Bay, the Carolina, and the South Atlantic. All “take” of the fish—e.g., killing, collection, and harassment—is prohibited without a permit. The northernmost DPS, the Gulf of Maine, will be listed as threatened. |
Hunt for tiny, sap-sucking tree-killer expands to MDI
Bangor Daily News - Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Staff from the Maine Forest Service will be on Mount Desert Island this week searching for additional infestations of a tiny, sap-sucking bug that is wiping out hemlock groves up and down the East Coast. The hemlock woolly adelgid — an invasive insect from Asia — has expanded its presence in Maine over the past five years and is now approaching areas Down East where hemlock trees are a common and ecologically important species. |
Maine DEP favors limited expansion of Juniper Ridge Landfill
Bangor Daily News - Tuesday, January 31, 2012
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection decided Tuesday that increasing the size of Juniper Ridge Landfill would benefit the public, but only if the expansion were limited to less than half the space the landfill’s operators wanted. Casella Waste Systems Inc., which operates the state-owned landfill in Old Town, wanted to expand by 21.9 million cubic yards, but the DEP’s partial approval states that a 9.35 million cubic yard expansion would suffice. |
Clean energy won't be on November ballot in Maine
Portland Press Herald - Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Supporters of an effort to require the use of more renewable resources to generate electricity failed to meet Monday's deadline to turn in signatures calling for a statewide referendum in November. Maine Citizens for Clean Energy came close, but not close enough, to the 57,277 voters' signatures it needed. They said they will try for 2013 instead.
SUPPORTERS SAY
• The renewable-resource initiative is necessary to reduce Maine's dependence on foreign oil.
• It could bring 11,700 jobs to Maine.
• Electricity rates would increase initially, then drop dramatically in later years.
GOV. LePAGE SAYS
• The initiative is a "job killer" that would keep businesses from coming to Maine.
• It would send Maine residents and businesses to other states where electricity is cheaper.
• Electricity prices in Maine are the 12th highest in the country.
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Opinion: Propane tank in Searsport benefits one
Bangor Daily News - Tuesday, January 31, 2012
David Cole’s Jan. 26 BDN OpEd supporting the proposed propane tank in Searsport is wrong on a number of levels. What Mainers need is access to the cheap natural gas that runs through the state. Why not work to bring sustainable exports to Mack Point so Searsport and all Mainers could benefit? Mr. Cole might consider exerting his influence on Sprague to get it to put in the high-speed bulk loading and unloading capacity that the Mack Point terminal needs to be competitive exporting Maine’s biomass to waiting markets in Europe. ~ David Italiaander, Searsport |
Maine’s 2011 lobster haul breaks record at over 100M pounds
Associated Press - Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Maine lobster fishermen last year caught more than 100 million pounds of lobster for the first time, indicating the state’s signature seafood is robust as other fishery resources continue to flounder, the state’s top fisheries official said Tuesday. But even with a whopper of a harvest, Maine lobstermen continue to struggle with lower prices that began with the global economic meltdown in 2008. |
Letter: Searsport’s atomic bombs
Bangor Daily News - Tuesday, January 31, 2012
A DCP Midstream spokesperson said she “did not want to speculate what would happen” if an accidental BLEVE (boiling liquid expanding vapor) explosion occurred in its proposed 22.7 million gallon liquefied petroleum gas tank at Searsport. We should not speculate what would happen, but we should try to predict what could happen. Because these LPG risks are far higher than any conceivable benefits, the Searsport LPG tank project should not be approved. ~ Randall Parr, Appleton |
Moose lottery tweak faces test
Portland Press Herald - Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Some say the new system will bring more people back to the lottery, but others still doubt it's fair. |
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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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