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May 18, 2013
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Press releases, events, publications released, etc. from Maine environmental organizations and agencies. Submit content.
Maine Environmental News
Announcement - Saturday, May 18, 2013
Thanks for visiting Maine Environmental News, the most comprehensive online source available for links to Maine conservation and natural resource news stories and events. I have posted links to more than 23,000 news articles and announcements. I also post breaking stories and exclusives. Be sure to check not only today's news, 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. Will Sugg is the website developer. ~ Jym St. Pierre, RESTORE: The North Woods |
Thorne Head Birding, May 25
Event - Posted - Saturday, May 18, 2013
Thorne Head Preserve in Bath, on the Maine Birding Trail, is rich in migrating warblers and vireos.
Meet at CVS, Bath, May 25, 7:15 am to carpool. Sponsored by Merrymeeting Audubon, Kennebec Estuary Land Trust, and Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust. |
Pond Life: Gills, Webbing and Air Bubbles, May 25
Event - Posted - Saturday, May 18, 2013
Families are invited to the museum to dip nets in the pond and go on an exploration of wildlife that lives in the wetlands. See and learn how animals adapt to water. At L.C. Bates Museum, Hinckley, May 25,1 pm. |
10th Annual Down East Spring Birding Festival, May 24-27
Event - Posted - Friday, May 17, 2013
The annual Down East Spring Birding Festival provides a unique birding experience during spring migration and the breeding season with four days of self-guided explorations, guided hikes, boat tours and presentations led by area experts. May 24-27. |
Chimney Swifts, May 24
Event - Posted - Friday, May 17, 2013
Enjoy the spectacle of a hundred or more swifts in migration swirling into their chimney roost before they continue to their breeding locations. Carpool from Brunswick Hannaford, May 24 at 7 pm. Sponsored by Merrymeeting Audubon. |
Birding at Hedgehog Mountain, May 24
Event - Posted - Friday, May 17, 2013
Hedgehog Mountain is a gem owned by the town of Freeport. See migrating songbirds, including warblers, sparrows, grosbeaks, tanagers and more. May 24, 7–9 am. Maine Audubon members $5, non-members $8. |
Scarborough Marsh Full Moon Canoe Tour, May 24 & 25
Event - Posted - Friday, May 17, 2013
Experience the sights and sounds of marsh creatures under the full moon. At Scarborough Marsh, May 24 and May 25, 7:30–9:30 pm. Maine Audubon members $11, non-members $13. |
No Tar Sands Oil in Casco Bay
Action Alert - Thursday, May 16, 2013
This petition asks the South Portland City Council to protect public health, the environment, and property values from the impacts of transporting tar sands oil through South Portland and exporting it from Casco Bay. |
Pennellville Birding, May 22
Event - Posted - Wednesday, May 15, 2013
This easy trail goes through varied habitats, by ponds and ends at a saltwater cove. You will see Bobolinks, woodpeckers, warblers, some nesting songbirds, and hopefully some ducks, eagles, hawks and ospreys. Meet at Brunswick Hannaford, May 22 at 7 am to carpool or at the soccer field on Pennellville Rd in Brunswick at 7:30 am. Sponsored by Merrymeeting Audubon. |
Day Hikes on the Appalachian Trail in Maine, May 22
Event - Posted - Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Aislinn Sarnacki, hiker and outdoors writer for the Bangor Daily News, will speak at a meeting of the Maine Appalachian Trail Club. At Brewer Performing Arts Center, May 22, at 6:30 pm. |
Accessing the Maine Coast
Announcement - Monday, May 13, 2013
In the mid 1970s the Maine State Planning Office completed an inventory of public access ways to the coast in Maine. That information has never been publicized. This website will not tell you where you can legally get to the water, but it contains information to help waterfront users, coastal communities, and land owners address issues related to coastal access cooperatively, possibly reducing the need for litigation. |
Bird Walk at Florida Lake, May 21
Event - Posted - Saturday, May 11, 2013
Florida Lake, owned by the Town of Freeport, includes a lake, surrounding wetlands and forested habitat. May 21, 7–9 am. Maine Audubon members $5, non-members $8. |
Water management class for foresters, May 21
Event - Posted - Saturday, May 11, 2013
Androscoggin Valley Soil and Water Conservation District, the Maine Forest Service and Kennebec Estuary Land Trust are partnering to offer a free workshop for anyone interested in learning best management practices for water management and protection at small- or largescale timber harvests. At the Bath City Hall auditorium, May 21, 8 am - 1 pm. |
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Thanks for visiting Maine Environmental News, the most comprehensive online source available for links to Maine conservation and natural resource news stories and events. If you are a regular visitor we strongly encourage you to make an annual donation of $35 or more to keep this service going.
Jym St. Pierre, RESTORE: The North Woods, Editor, Maine Environmental News.
Maine Environmental News is provided with free hosting and development by Planet Maine.
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Letter: Super highway to nowhere
Bangor Daily News - Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Many of us who live and own property on or near Penobscot Bay are horrified by the proposed dredging of the bay by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the sole purpose of creating a superhighway for tankers right down the middle of one of the last beautiful small bays in America. ~ Susan Guthrie, Belfast |
Fuel-efficient lobster boat design moving forward
Working Waterfront - Monday, May 13, 2013
Lobster boat designs were as different as the Maine harbors in which the boats floated in the early 20th century. But by mid-century, those competing designs blended into the easily recognized, now classic, modern Maine lobster boat. The outer hull design has stayed largely the same since then. That may change if a project by the Penobscot East Resource Center continues to make progress. The center has teamed with Maine Maritime Academy professor Doug Read to attempt to create a new kind of lobster boat that can cut fuel costs by 25 percent or more. |
Warming Could Slash Species’ Habitat Ranges in Half
Other - Monday, May 13, 2013
Vast numbers of plant and animal species could see their ranges slashed in half later this century as a result of climate change, according to a study in Nature Climate Change. The result, say the authors, could be serious ecosystem disruptions along with the loss of so-called “ecosystem services,” such as the purification of air and water; erosion and flood control; and the recycling of nutrients that natural systems provide. |
Bates College Appoints New VP of Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty
Maine Environmental News - Monday, May 13, 2013
Bates College announced today that Matthew R. Auer will become dean of the faculty and vice president of academic affairs, effective July 1. Auer is a leading scholar and globally engaged expert in the arenas of environmental policy, energy policy, sustainable development and foreign aid. Auer received a doctorate in forestry and environmental studies from Yale University in 1996. |
Greenville’s Louis Hilton remembered for philanthropy, love of hometown
Bangor Daily News - Monday, May 13, 2013
Louis O. Hilton, who contributed greatly to the Greenville area, is being remembered fondly by the community following his recent death in Florida. Hilton, 80, died on May 6 after a short hospital stay in Palm Beach, Fla. “I’ve known him for quite a few years and I consider him a really, really good friend,” said Alan Hutchinson, executive director for the Forest Society of Maine. “It was heartbreaking news to hear he’s died.” Born in Greenville, Hilton inherited millions from his grandfather Louis Oakes, brother of Sir Harry Oakes, who discovered the second-largest gold vein in the world in Ontario. Hilton used that money to improve his local community. |
The Aroostook Medical Center makes history with conversion to compressed natural gas
Bangor Daily News - Monday, May 13, 2013
With the turn of a valve, The Aroostook Medical Center on Monday afternoon became the first facility in the state and only second in the nation to convert to compressed natural gas for heating and cooling, according to hospital officials. Stored under high pressure, this form of natural gas is one of the cleanest and safest fuels available. |
Supreme Court rules for Monsanto in patent case
Associated Press - Monday, May 13, 2013
The Supreme Court said Monday that an farmer violated Monsanto Co.'s patents on soybean seeds resistant to its weed-killer by growing the beans without buying new seeds from the corporation. The justices unanimously rejected the farmer's argument that cheap soybeans he bought from a grain elevator are not covered by the Monsanto patents, even though most of them also were genetically modified to resist the company's Roundup herbicide. |
Bill to arm forest rangers cut down by department, lobbyist opposition
Kennebec Journal - Monday, May 13, 2013
Despite a major push by forest rangers to get the power to carry guns, a bill to allow them to do just that has stalled and may be carried over for consideration next year. Nearly 20 forest rangers testified in favor of the bill last month, with many saying they need to be able to protect themselves while they patrol remote areas and confront people who might be breaking the law. However, the state agency that oversees the forest rangers doesn't back the bill. Doug Denico, director of the forestry division at the state Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, testified in opposition to the bill, citing a concern that allowing rangers to carry guns could "alienate the constituency." |
Committee rejects tar sands moratorium; opts for study instead
Sun Journal - Monday, May 13, 2013
A bill that would have set a two-year moratorium on the transportation of oil sands crude in Maine left the Legislature's Environment and Natural Resources Committee on Monday as a resolution directing state officials to expand a study already in the works. The committee vote was unanimous. |
650 students expected at Southern Maine Children’s Water Festival this Friday
Maine Government News - Monday, May 13, 2013
Around 650 fourth, fifth and sixth grade students and their teachers from 13 area schools will flow onto USM’S Portland Campus next Friday for a day of fun and interactive learning about clean water, wetland ecosystems and the importance of stewarding Maine’s most rapidly renewable resource. The 18th annual Southern Maine Children’s Water Festival is organized through a partnership of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership, Poland Spring, Portland Water District, the University of Southern Maine and 19 other local, state and federal agencies, businesses and nonprofit organizations. |
Letter: Bill identifies 'worst of the worst chemicals in children's products'
Portland Daily Sun - Monday, May 13, 2013
At some point we have to say enough — enough to polluting our planet and causing our climate to change and enough to polluting our own bodies. Practically everything we buy is manufactured in some faraway factory using a host of synthetic chemicals. I can only imagine how difficult it must be for a parent to shop for products for their kids that won't affect their physical and mental development. LD 1181 would make sure that Maine is identifying the worst of the worst chemicals in children's products, and help make a plan to start phasing them out of kids products. This is the least we can do. ~ Briana Haile, Portland |
FSM undertakes $7 million capital campaign
Maine Environmental News - Monday, May 13, 2013
To continue to fulfill the vision of its founders, the Forest Society of Maine has embarked on a capital campaign to raise funds to complete two land conservation projects centered on Moosehead Lake, respond to several new high priority forestland conservation projects, and build an enduring financial base so that FSM can carry its mission forward for another 30 years and beyond. The goal of the Moosehead-North Woods Campaign is to raise $7 million. Through leadership gifts FSM is two-thirds of the way toward that goal. |
Bear awakens from hibernation, scares residents in downtown Ellsworth
Bangor Daily News - Monday, May 13, 2013
An early morning bear sighting on a downtown residential street had nervous residents looking to authorities for help on Monday. Around 5 a.m., the Ellsworth Police Department received several reports of a “large bear” wandering around Elm and Water streets. A dispatcher called an official at the Maine Warden Service, who said not to worry, as the animals generally leave populated areas when the sun comes up. |
Trail biking at Perch Pond
Other - Monday, May 13, 2013
The Perch Pond area in Old Town offers the newest riding opportunity in the greater Bangor area. This 850-acre parcel, which borders the undeveloped Perch Pond (formerly Mud Pond) in Old Town, came under ownership of the University of Maine in 2010. In the spring of 2012, local mountain bikers were invited to help develop a sustainable multi-user trail system under the direction of university forester Al Kimball, the Forest Society of Maine, and Inland Fisheries and Wildlife of the the State of Maine. Since then over eight miles of single track trails have been cleared. |
Maine lawmakers discuss moratorium on tar-sands oil transport
Portland Press Herald - Monday, May 13, 2013
State legislators on the Environment and Natural Resources Committee are meeting this afternoon discuss a proposal to place a two-year moratorium on the transport of so-called tar-sands oil through Maine. It is expected that the measure either will be sent to the full Legislature following today’s vote, or killed, members of the committee said. |
Maine wind turbine fire under investigation
Associated Press - Monday, May 13, 2013
An investigation into the cause of a fire that destroyed a wind turbine at New England’s largest wind farm is expected to wrap up within a month. The Jan. 16 blaze, the first reported turbine fire in Maine, burned out the gear box at the top of one of the 44 turbine towers at the Kibby Wind farm in northern Franklin County. The turbine appears to be beyond repair, but TransCanada, hasn’t decided if it will be replaced. |
Andy Cadot Receives Land Heritage Award
Maine Environmental News - Monday, May 13, 2013
At the recent annual Maine Land Conservation Conference, Andy Cadot was awarded the 2013 Espy Land Heritage Award in recognition of nearly four decades of remarkable achievements on behalf of the lands, water and people of Maine. He has been an active member of several organizations, including Maine Audubon (trustee, president and treasurer), Freeport Conservation Trust (founding trustee and board member), Physicians for Social Responsibility (board director), and Maine Conservation Voters (board director). Cadot was also a member of the Maine Board of Environmental Protection from 1997 to 2002. |
Editorial: Redirecting Maine’s wind energy policy
Bangor Daily News - Monday, May 13, 2013
We agree with Patrick Woodcock, director of the Governor’s Energy Office, that it’s time for a comprehensive review and update of Maine’s wind energy policy. Five years have passed since former Gov. John Baldacci’s task force aggressively shepherded the Maine Wind Energy Act into law. The knowledge accumulated during that time should be incorporated into a revised policy to promote wind energy in Maine. The review should take the form of a fact-based process designed to improve the way Maine advances development of wind energy, not a tool to scuttle the industry. To address valid concerns about a lack of transparency during deliberations that produced the Maine WInd Energy Act, the review must emphasize openness and public input. |
Peregrine Falcon Banding
Maine Government News - Monday, May 13, 2013
Maine wildlife biologists banded three peregrine chicks this morning in Portland. Photos by Mark Latti. |
Maine alewives heading for newly opened fishways this week
Associated Press - Monday, May 13, 2013
Alewives are expected to swim upriver of the Grand Falls dam on eastern Maine's St. Croix River this week for the first time in 22 years. Lawmakers passed a law this spring allowing the fish, also known as river herring, to swim upriver of the dam, overriding an earlier law that closed a fish passage at the Grand Falls dam to alewives. As of Monday, more than 600 alewives had swum past the Woodland dam, about 10 miles downriver from the Grand Falls dam. With the fish passage open once again, the St. Croix, which is the border between Maine and New Brunswick, in time could have the largest alewife run in the country. |
Hidden Valley Nature Center Welcomes New Director
Maine Environmental News - Monday, May 13, 2013
Andy McEvoy has been hired as the new director of Hidden Valley Nature Center. After graduating from Colby College in 2009 with a degree in biology, McEvoy found it hard to leave Maine. Since then he has participated in various conservation efforts including endangered shore bird restoration and mapping the state’s flora with the Maine Natural Areas Program. Departing Co-Founder and Director Gary Hayward has been instrumental in creating what HVNC is today, only 6 years after its quiet start. Hidden Valley Nature Center, located in Jefferson, is a member based, community supported organization with 1000 acres of diverse habitat, many small ponds and vernal pools, miles of trails, and a range of low-impact, sustainable forestry projects both completed and underway. |
Viles Arboretum Gets Looney
Maine Environmental News - Monday, May 13, 2013
This past weekend, the Viles Arboretum held its fourth annual day long program of educational activities in celebration of International Migratory Bird Day, all focused on introducing people to everything about birds. |
Millinocket co. unearths logging history for niche market
Mainebiz - Monday, May 13, 2013
Tom Shafer says between 700,000 to 1 million cords of wood — enough to harvest for around 20 years — is estimated to have sunk into the lake during log drives to Great Northern Paper's nearby mill. For the past two years, Maine Heritage Timber has been reclaiming the mostly century-old wood. In the first year, most of the logs were turned into pulp to feed biomass boilers. But in the last year, Shafer has been seeking a niche market that promises a much greater return for the wood, high-end flooring. |
Potato farmers innovate to find new markets
Mainebiz - Monday, May 13, 2013
Talking about his new potato planter, Jay LaJoie uses a matter-of-fact tone to describe technology that would have seemed like science fiction to previous generations of farmers. A GPS system will plot the tractor's course, and the machine will drive itself, never wavering more than an inch in planting row after row of potatoes. Pesticide and fertilizer applications also will be pinpoint-accurate. For a farming industry where success depends on maximizing yields, those inches saved can make all the difference, LaJoie says. |
Turkey hunting poised for major expansion
George Smith's Outdoor News Blog - Monday, May 13, 2013
A remarkable thing happened last week at the legislature. The Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee stepped up to direct a major expansion of turkey hunting opportunity. A flood of turkey bills were submitted. But I had little hope that much would be done because the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife opposed all of the proposals. But DIF&W delivered a big surprise at last week’s work session on the turkey bills, informing the committee that the department had decided to offer a whole package of ideas.
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Maine Organic Farmers
and Gardeners Assn
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Island gardens - veggies among the deer and rocks | | By Kaitlin Webber - Island gardens aren't that different from what I'm used to - apart from the layer of seaweed I spread last fall and the mussel shells that inexplicably keep rising to the surface. I'm also not used to having to keep all plants in maximum-security-prison mode. I left the netted gate open late last August and returned to find a vacant brown pit and a few beets with raccoon tooth marks. | | 5/16/2013 11:00:00 PM |
Genetically Modified Democracy: Monsanto and Congress Move to Stomp on Your Rights |  By Ronnie Cummins - Reliable sources in Washington D.C. have informed the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) that Monsanto has begun secretly lobbying its Congressional allies to attach one or more “Monsanto Riders” or amendments to the 2013 Farm Bill that would preempt or prohibit states from requiring labels on genetically engineered (GE) foods. | | 5/16/2013 11:00:00 PM |
Organic industry clout grows with consumer demand | | By Mary Clare Jalonick (AP): Washington - The organic food industry is gaining clout on Capitol Hill, prompted by rising consumer demand and its entry into traditional farm states. But that isn't going over well with everyone in Congress. Tensions between conventional and organic agriculture boiled over this week during a late-night House Agriculture Committee debate on a sweeping farm bill that has for decades propped up traditional crops and largely ignored organics. | | 5/16/2013 11:00:00 PM |
Old Orchard Beach butter maker faces loss of license | | By Jessica Hall - The Old Orchard Beach Town Council on Tuesday will consider revoking the business license of Kate's Homemade Butter, which has operated as a home-based business in the town since 1981. Kate's operates in about 1,000 square feet of space in a garage of an Old Orchard Beach home. The company has been building a 17,600-square-foot facility in Arundel, but that relocation has been slowed by past construction problems. | | 5/16/2013 11:00:00 PM |
Organic Valley ‘planning for a rebuild’ after fire | | By Allison Geyer - Displaced Organic Valley employees gathered outside a makeshift command post at the La Farge Community Temple on Wednesday afternoon, anxious to learn when - and how - they could get back to work. | | 5/15/2013 11:00:00 PM |
Diplomatic cables reveal aggressive GM lobbying by US officials | | By Suzanne Goldenberg - American diplomats lobbied aggressively overseas to promote genetically modified (GM) food crops such as soy beans, an analysis of official cable traffic revealed on Tuesday. The review of more than 900 diplomatic cables by the campaign group Food and Water Watch showed a carefully crafted campaign to break down resistance to GM products in Europe and other countries, and so help promote the bottom line of big American agricultural businesses. | | 5/14/2013 11:00:00 PM |
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Natural Resources Council
of Maine
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A Home Run for Maine Alewives | |
BENTON – Alewives are on pace for a record run in Benton, whose residents will celebrate their rel... | | 5/17/2013 12:00:00 AM |
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