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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. |
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. |
Protect Maine’s Clean Elections System
Action Alert - Friday, January 27, 2012
Many conservation organizations strongly support Maine's Clean Elections law because it promotes fairer elections, allows more citizens to run for office, and helps to balance the influence of well-funded special interests, which too often work to weaken our state’s environmental and public health standards. But now the Clean Elections law is in serious danger. Due to a recent court decision, adjustments need to be made to the program. If the Maine legislature does not act, the system that empowers voters and keeps big money out of state elections will be in jeopardy. You can help by signing the petition urging lawmakers to strengthen the Maine Clean Elections law.
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Maine prof named editor of journal on Thoreau
Associated Press - Sunday, January 29, 2012
A Maine professor is taking the editorial reins of an academic journal devoted to author Henry David Thoreau. Kristen Case at the University of Maine at Farmington has been named editor of the Concord Saunterer, an annual professional journal of The Thoreau Society. Thoreau, who lived from 1817 to 1862, wrote "The Maine Woods," a book about his observations and thoughts during his three journeys to northern Maine, in 1846, 1853 and 1857. Case has conducted scholarly work on Thoreau since 2007.
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Opinion: Response to Roger Ek re: LURC Reform Commission
As Maine Goes Blog - Sunday, January 29, 2012
Roger, read your article. Disappointed my friend. I was one of the anchors to the "right" in all commission discussions trying to find a way to find real reform for LURC. I was the one who recommended and fought to keep in the county opt out as I saw its importance to keep power to the people. I was the one who took the wrath of the Ag committee when I stood against the cannibalization of the study groups [sic] final recommendation. I was the one who took the time to explain to you your misunderstandings on what the bill does and how it drastically changes LURC from what it is now to what it will be under the commissions [sic] recommendations. The left HATES this bill because in most part they actually understand what it accomplishes. We have some republicans on that committee, yes republicans that are arguing against it because they think it goes to [sic] far. ~ Chris Gardner |
N.H. bats threatened as millions reported dead
Foster's Daily Democrat - Sunday, January 29, 2012
State officials say the fate of the Little Brown Bat in the Granite State teeters on the brink and several other bat species are endangered as the spread of white nose syndrome continues to wreak havoc on the state's winged nocturnals. Scientists studying white nose syndrome in bats estimate the fungal ailment has killed at least 5.7 million bats in 16 states and Canada, providing alarming new numbers about the scope of its decimation. |
Opinion: A lesson to be learned in Lolo
Sun Journal - Sunday, January 29, 2012
In north-central Idaho, in an area known as Lolo, there is a wolf-control controversy that has some similarities with Maine's coyote-deer issue. In 1989, there was an elk population of 17,000. Today's elk population is estimated at just 2,200. The elk numbers began to decline after U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service introduced wolves to Lolo. Reports indicate further that hunting and trapping have not controlled the wolf numbers in Lolo, so state and federal officials have been taking out wolves with aerial gunners. Animal rights advocates argue that it is habitat, not wolves, that is impacting the elk numbers. Maine, it seems, is having the same debate: hunters, trappers and official sportsman voices contend that an aggressive coyote control program is long overdue, if Maine is going to recover its decimated deer numbers. At the same time, Maine animal rights groups, and Maine's wildlife managers apparently don't view coyotes as major contributors to our deer problem. They blame habitat. ~ V. Paul Reynolds |
Forget global warming - it's Cycle 25 we need to worry about
Other - Sunday, January 29, 2012
Daily Mail (UK) - The supposed ‘consensus’ on man-made global warming is facing an inconvenient challenge after the release of new temperature data showing the planet has not warmed for the past 15 years. The figures suggest that we could even be heading for a mini ice age to rival the 70-year temperature drop that saw frost fairs held on the Thames in the 17th Century. |
Do I dare to plant a peach?
Maine Sunday Telegram - Sunday, January 29, 2012
Terry Skillin, president and owner of Skillins Greenhouses in Brunswick, Cumberland and Falmouth, has begun to notice that local gardeners are having greater success growing varieties of produce that flourish in the South, such as tomatoes, peppers and melons. It's a sign that Maine and the nation are getting hotter, according to a new analysis by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The USDA's new plant hardiness zone map, which was released last week, shows how growing zones have changed since the last growing guide was published 22 years ago. |
Cavers say scientists wrong about bat deaths
Associated Press - Sunday, January 29, 2012
A national organization of recreational cavers is questioning a new estimate of the number of bats killed by a mysterious ailment that is spreading across the country. The estimate by state and federal scientists said 5.7 million to 6.7 million bats had died across the Northeast from what's known as white nose syndrome. But that estimate, released this month, is flawed and could lead to unnecessary restrictions on access to caves across the country, said Peter Youngbear, of the National Speleological Society. |
Letter: Renewable energy should come clean with its details
Maine Sunday Telegram - Sunday, January 29, 2012
The more I read about "renewable energy" scams in Maine, the more it irks me. Why can't the wind industry just come clean and tell the average Joe what is going on behind the scenes? I think I know the answer to that question. It is because if "Joe" knew the whole truth about renewable energy and what it will cost the consumers once in place, no one would want renewable energy. ~ Linda Miller, Lexington Twp. |
1 lynx killed, 6 trapped as state waits for ‘incidental take’ permit
Bangor Daily News - Saturday, January 28, 2012
One lynx has been killed and at least six others captured in traps during the 2011-12 trapping season even as Maine wildlife officials await federal action on a permit intended to shield the state from liability when the protected wildcats are caught in the future. While six of the lynx were released alive after being caught in foothold traps, one of the cats was killed in a so-called Conibear, or body-gripper trap, that had apparently been set for a different species. Wally Jakubas, mammal group leader with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, said the investigation into the killed lynx is continuing but that the trapper is facing charges of failing to follow proper procedures when setting traps in lynx territory. |
Dolphins are latest mammal deaths in New England
Associated Press - Saturday, January 28, 2012
Whether they got lost, sick or swam astray chasing food, 77 dolphins that beached on Cape Cod in recent weeks have died, the second time in three months New England has seen a mass of marine mammal deaths in the Gulf of Maine. Now, scientists are trying to figure out why. |
Pipeline Has Promise, But Will It Happen?
Maine Townsman - Saturday, January 28, 2012
Will Maine town and cities build a natural gas pipeline or will they help finance one? That’s one way of looking at attempts to bring the nation’s hottest fossil fuel to the Kennebec Valley, potentially involving 12 towns and cities from Richmond to Madison. And it is only one of several such plans. The proposal currently getting most of the attention comes from Kennebec Valley Gas Co. It received the go-ahead to seek financing in August from the Maine Public Utilities Commission. The pipeline would run more than 52 miles from Richmond to Madison and involve up to 120 miles of transmission and distribution lines, at a cost of $85 million. The Town of Madison would also like to build the same pipeline, in part as a means to bring a reliable source of generation to its municipal electric company – one of only two municipally owned electric utilities in Maine. |
Addressing energy and education will create jobs
Village Soup Journal (Waldo County) - Saturday, January 28, 2012
Next month, you will hear about an energy proposal that will lower electricity rates for Maine residents and businesses. Not only does our high electricity cost have an effect on the economy and our job creators, but it also hurts Maine families. In addition to our plan, you’ll hear more about the administration’s support to encourage expanded investments in alternative sources of energy and efficiency. I also support all forms of renewable energy including hydropower. We must remove the 100 megawatt restriction on this renewable green energy. ~ Governor Paul LePage |
Making Smart Choices for Maine in 2012
Dirigo Blue Blog - Saturday, January 28, 2012
Even though Maine’s cost of electricity is the lowest in New England, it still too high. We know the cheapest kilowatt hour and gallon of oil are the ones we don’t use. That’s why we must invest and encourage energy efficiency so we will use less energy and lower our bills. We cannot ignore what got us here—for too long we have been dependent on fossil fuels. Just this week, an independent study pointed out that Maine can create nearly 12,000 jobs by developing new renewable energy. This is a win-win for our economy. ~ Sen. Seth Goodall |
Letter: Population decline’s consequences
Bangor Daily News - Saturday, January 28, 2012
It’s hard to believe that Beedy Parker (Jan 10 letter) still believes in the overpopulation myth, while worldwide birthrates are in free-fall. World economies are also in free-fall as their workers fail to replace themselves, while being burdened with supporting aging populations. It takes 2.1 children per couple just to replace existing populations. Eighty countries, representing over half the world’s population, suffer from below replacement fertility. The economic consequences of population aging will cause closing schools, shrinking tax revenues, declining stock markets, dying economies. More caskets than cradles obviously is the problem, not the answer. ~ Ron J. Stauble, Unity |
Letter: Wind venture would be boon to state
Portland Press Herald - Saturday, January 28, 2012
We at James W. Sewall Co. have had the opportunity to work on more than 90 percent of wind turbine sites now operating in Maine. Wind farm development creates jobs for engineers, surveyors and biologists; construction workers and electricians; suppliers, ports and truckers; hotels, restaurants and stores. It boosts not only the economy of the region during construction, but also the community tax base. It attracts investment to the state. ~ David T. Edson, James W. Sewall Co. |
Green Happenings at the York County Shelter Programs
Other - Friday, January 27, 2012
This slideshow is an overview of the many green practices that have taken place at the York County Shelter Programs including recycling, composting, energy evaluations, the incorporation of solar and alternative technologies, and various green ventures. |
Smiles and Sadness at Tourism Conference
George Smith Maine Nature Blog - Friday, January 27, 2012
Visits to Maine were up 8.5 percent in 2011 over 2010. But the coast got most of that increase. Inland tourist-based businesses continued to struggle. The state grabbed $400 million in taxes from tourists in 2011, a return of $8 for every $1 invested. 9.5 million overnight visitors and 13.8 million day visitors enjoyed our state last year, and 35 percent did so to experience some kind of outdoor recreation – the leading reason tourists come to our state. Tourism is a competitive market and our investment, specifically in marketing our state, is minimal. |
Opinion: Gulls of Portland, elder carnivores of the air
Portland Daily Sun - Friday, January 27, 2012
Drop your hot dog in Monument Square and the five second rule will do you no good. A seagull's probably got it within two. It's likely that one's been hovering above you like a hummingbird since his hawk eyes spotted you with your arms full trying to stuff your lunch into your mouth. They're a very smart bird, and focused like you wouldn't believe. There would be no way to verify it by empirical data, I'm sure, and the world's major religions would probably resist the notion, but I know that seagulls have emotions and a firm belief in the afterlife. ~ Cliff Gallant |
A vision for 2020: John D. Judge to become AMC's fourth president
Other - Friday, January 27, 2012
Conway Daily Sun (NH) - Effective Feb. 1, the 136-year-old Appalachian Mountain Club will welcome a new president. John D. Judge, 44, of Boston replaces Andy Falender. Judge will be tasked with leading the AMC into a decade of growth and new objectives, including broadening the impact of AMC's Maine Woods Initiative in the 100-Mile Wilderness region.
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Bears on the air: Den camera sheds light on Maine bruins
Bangor Daily News - Friday, January 27, 2012
The Maine Departement of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has been visiting bear dens since the 1970s. This year a partnership with the Wildlife Research Foundation has resulted in video link to a bear den in northern Maine, with real-time video available on the Internet. |
Opinion: Frankfort’s wind ordinance deserves court challenge
Bangor Daily News - Friday, January 27, 2012
This unfair course of conduct by the town of Frankfort and its Wind Energy Ordinance committee is now before the Waldo County Court. I fully expect that the court will find the persistent trampling of the plaintiff’s “due process” rights to be unacceptable — and that the product of this misbehavior, Frankfort’s Wind Facility Ordinance, will be declared void. ~ Orlando E. Delogu, emeritus professor, UMaine School of Law |
Developer of Clifton wind farm signs agreement to supply Bangor Hydro with electricity
Bangor Daily News - Friday, January 27, 2012
With the push for renewable energy part of the national agenda and the Maine Public Utilities Commission directing local utilities to enter into long-term contracts with Community-based Renewable Energy projects, it’s no surprise that small industrial wind projects such as the one planned for Pisgah Mountain are popping up around the state. The PUC has directed Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. to enter into three 20-year contracts for renewable energy projects — one with Pisgah Mountain LLC, the others with Jonesport Wind LLC and Lubec Wind. |
Clifton farmers lose latest round in battle over wind farm
Bangor Daily News - Friday, January 27, 2012
Walk through Rebel Hill Farm and the nearly 60 acres of woods that surround it, and it’s easy to see the “enchanted forest” that Peter and Julie Beckford call their backyard. The couple, who grow and sell native perennial plants on their small farm, say the $25 million five-turbine wind farm planned on nearby Pisgah Mountain threatens their very livelihood. To fight the wind farm project, the Beckfords asked the town’s board of appeals to review the planning board’s approval of the project, citing 11 items they contend the planners did not fully consider. The appeals board decided late Wednesday to deny their appeal. |
Group opposes Howland fish bypass
Bangor Daily News - Friday, January 27, 2012
State Rep. Paul Davis, R-Sangerville, thinks the fish bypass planned for the Howland dam should be stopped and is organizing a meeting for others who feel the same way. The Penobscot River Restoration Trust plans to install a bypass at the Howland dam and decommission that dam while removing dams in Veazie and Old Town as part of a $50 million project over the next three years. The project’s goal: to help Atlantic salmon, shad, alewives and other fish to migrate farther into northern and central Maine waterways. Davis said he fears that the bypass will also allow northern pike farther up the Penobscot and into other waterways. The Maine DEP permit for the project issued in 2010 said the “bypass channel operation should not result in any significant harm to resident fish resources provided that the applicant takes appropriate measures…to create and-or maintain barriers to the upstream movement of northern pike and other invasive fish at strategic locations." |
State senator pitches east-west highway proposal
Bangor Daily News - Friday, January 27, 2012
Sen. Douglas Thomas, R-Ripley has submitted a bill to fund a feasibility study of an east-west highway across Maine. Thomas said his bill seeks approximately $300,000 for the feasibility study, using some federal planning money but no state funds. “It will be a four-lane highway and it’s going to be a private road,” Thomas said, noting that a group of investors would fund construction, and tolls along the travel way would provide funding for the highway. |
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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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