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May 19, 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. |
Ecopsychology, May 23
Event - Posted - Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Dennis Kiley from the Institute for Integrative Living will give this presentation about an emerging discipline that integrates the fields of ecology and psychology to support environmental and human growth. At Jesup Memorial Library, Bar Harbor, May 23 at 7 pm. |
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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LePage not keen on renewable power subsidies
Associated Press - Saturday, May 21, 2011
Maine Gov. Paul LePage used his weekly radio address to tout his proposal to alter the state's renewable energy mandate by giving electric consumers a choice in deciding whether to pay extra for green power. He says the idea is to give Mainers the option of selecting up to 100 percent from renewable energy choices, rather be subjected to a 1 percent year to year increase as currently mandated. He downplayed critics' claims that his plan would take away renewable power construction jobs. |
LePage defends tax cuts, budget: ‘People pay taxes, eagles don’t’
Bangor Daily News - Saturday, May 21, 2011
Gov. Paul LePage defended his tax cut proposals, pledged to improve Maine’s mental health programs and called on the federal government to put people before bald eagles during a town hall meeting in Newcastle Friday night. |
Monitoring the alewife comeback
Morning Sentinel - Saturday, May 21, 2011
Nate Gray, a scientist with the Maine Department of Marine Resources, said a high-tech monitoring system is showing a remarkable comeback for alewives in the Sebasticook River. The restoration of the alewife could have profound implications for just about every plant and animal in the area. Alewives are key to the local environment, Gray said, describing them as the base of the food chain. Everything from bacteria, to fauna, to birds, and humans, are touched by alewives and their place in the cycle. |
DEP to check milfoil level in Belgrade stream
Morning Sentinel - Saturday, May 21, 2011
Personnel with the Department of Environmental Protection and lake conservation groups will soon check the status of variable watermilfoil discovered last summer in Great Meadow Stream, which flows from North Pond to Great Pond. Variable watermilfoil grows quickly and when it is broken apart by waves, it can infest an entire lake. It is virtually impossible to eradicate and is devastating to water quality and property values. |
Opinion: Mandates on renewable power raised prices
Kennebec Journal - Saturday, May 21, 2011
While some seem to suggest that electric prices are not as important as mandating the use of "green" energy and subsidizing developer's projects, Gov. Paul LePage believes that all three of these goals can be achieved. Maine already has the highest renewable energy requirement in the nation. In fact, Maine's current 34 percent requirement is two to three times greater than any other New England state. L.D. 1570 is simply allowing Maine ratepayer's wallets to take a break while the rest of the region catches up to Maine's high renewable standard. ~ Kenneth Fletcher, Maine Office of Energy Independence and Security
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Letter: Country needs 49 more governors like LePage
Kennebec Journal - Saturday, May 21, 2011
I am thankful for LePage, he has opened a lot of eyes to what should have been done in the beginning. This country needs 49 more governors like LePage, and maybe we would be rid of a mess in government and red ink. ~ Candace Sloma, Augusta |
Letter: Smart-meter worries symptoms of paranoia
Portland Press Herald - Saturday, May 21, 2011
There has been too much paranoia demonstrated about the wireless communication feature of Central Maine Power's new meters. The Earth's magnetic field that surrounds us all; the wireless communications between airplanes; car radios; Wi-Fi computer hookups, etc. -- our atmosphere is so full of electromagnetic devices communicating with each other that the meter emissions are as a grain of sand on the beach. ~ J.K. Crosbie III, Raymond |
Letter: Bill to let DeCoster off hook shouldn't ever become law
Portland Press Herald - Saturday, May 21, 2011
GOP Sen. Dale Craft's outrageous bill would absolve Jack DeCoster's factory farms of requirements to pay minimum wage and overtime to their workers and allow collective bargaining. DeCoster's unspeakable cruelty certainly does not merit a legislative favor. ~ Eddie Garza, Mercy for Animals campaign |
Opinion: LePage budget unfair, expensive for lower-income Mainers
Portland Press Herald - Saturday, May 21, 2011
The administration's proposed tax cuts could be a job killer. One consequence of handing tax breaks to the wealthy by cutting critical investments is to shift costs to municipalities. Cities and towns, left holding the bag of broken state promises, will have to consider raising property taxes and cutting jobs and services. Everyone loses under this scenario. There is a better way. Maintain protections for our people, especially our most vulnerable populations, and continue investment in the future: infrastructure, environment, energy, and education and training. ~ Dan Coyne, Maine Center for Economic Policy |
Energy bill still needs more analysis
Portland Press Herald - Saturday, May 21, 2011
Legislation proposed by Gov. Paul LePage to limit state-mandated incentives for renewable energy production remained in committee on Friday. The Legislature's Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee debated L.D. 1570 and decided to take it up again on Tuesday. The bill would scale back a law requiring Maine electric utility companies to get at least 10 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2017. |
Opinion: Look to other green alternatives and forget about wind power
Portland Press Herald - Saturday, May 21, 2011
Your May 12 editorial urging the governor and Legislature to advance onshore industrial wind energy usage in Maine again asks that government pick a winner in the race to develop "green energy" ("Legislature, governor should lead on wind"). While your editorial is dismissive of those who oppose wind power, you overlook the salient fact that these machines are heavily subsidized by taxpayer funding, are capriciously unreliable generators of juice and blight the landscape. If you must insist that government choose a "green energy" winner, why not back solar or tidal power? ~ Peter Mayo, Bowdoinham |
Pickens chides Obama for failing to create energy plan
Associated Press - Saturday, May 21, 2011
Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens faulted President Obama on Friday, saying the president has failed to develop the energy plan he promised Americans as a presidential candidate in 2008. "He's never told us how we're going to get off the Mideast oil, and no one's ever asked him," Pickens said. "We're the only country in the world that has no energy plan." Pickens stressed, though, that Republicans also have been remiss in tackling the problem. |
Opinion: What about electromagnetic pollution?
Times Record - Friday, May 20, 2011
The “smart meters” and the wireless grid system currently being installed in Maine by CMP have functional capacity to send information-data wirelessly, via some form of electro-radio frequency wave. As such, will not “smart meters” contribute to an already extremely large amount of existing and accumulating electromagnetic pollution? If so, it’s not smart. |
Agriculture Plan Panned
Mount Desert Islander - Friday, May 20, 2011
The pros and cons of rule changes that would allow restaurants and lodgings on agricultural properties were debated at a public hearing before the Bar Harbor town council on Tuesday. Jake Jagel said he conjured pictures of hog farms, properties covered with hoop houses, and hotels and conference centers springing up all over town with the passage of the proposed ordinance. Gary Friedmann, who is managing a new farming business, said the intent of the ordinance is to encourage agricultural practices, not create factory farms or allow commercial businesses to spring up without limit. |
People from Katahdin-region Arrive in Augusta to Save Mills
Maine Public Broadcasting Network - Friday, May 20, 2011
Mill workers, elected officials and others fighting to re-open two paper mills in the Katahdin region traveled to Augusta today for a public hearing. The legislature is considering a bill that would authorize the state to take over a landfill that's been a stumbling block in the effort find a buyer for the mills in Millinocket and East Millinocket. |
Energy bill's savings: $4.80 a year per home
Portland Press Herald - Friday, May 20, 2011
Legislation proposed by Gov. Paul LePage to scale back a law requiring that 10 percent of Maine's electricity come from renewable sources by 2017 would save homeowners 40 cents a month. Kenneth Fletcher, who heads the governor's energy office, projected that the change would save Maine ratepayers $42 million over the next six years. The savings, however, average only $4.80 a year -- one-half of 1 percent -- on an annual residential bill of $960. Businesses that benefit from the current arrangement oppose the bill, saying the governor's plan would drive away investment for wind, tidal and biomass energy projects. The wind power industry estimates that the state's current energy policy has attracted $1 billion in investment over the past four years and could bring an additional $16 billion in the next few years.
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First Wind issues $200M in notes for new wind projects
Other - Friday, May 20, 2011
First Wind Holdings Inc. has raised $200 million by issuing notes through its subsidiary First Wind Capital LLC, which the company said it will use to pay down debt and finance new wind projects. The senior secured notes, due 2018, were issued at par with a coupon of 10.25 percent. Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank Securities, Goldman Sachs & Co. and RBS acted as joint book-running managers. First Wind operates several large wind farms in Maine and is also developing a 40-megawatt wind farm in Sheffield, Vt., and a 60-megawatt project in Penobscot County, Maine. |
Coldwaters to team with national conservation agency
Other - Friday, May 20, 2011
News Virginian - As government officials and business leaders work to establish a Center for Coldwaters Restoration in Waynesboro, VA, a leading agency in water quality research and sustainability is looking to lend a hand. Within a few weeks, a group of engineers with the Freshwater Institute plans to assess the feasibility of the Mill at South River as a site for the center. Anglers traveling to Maine and Eastern Canada can spend thousands of dollars per week to catch prized brook trout, board members say. |
Opinion: Counties can do LURC’s job better
Bangor Daily News - Friday, May 20, 2011
The Land Use Regulatory [sic] Commission (LURC) bills in the Legislature have generated a lot of discussion over the past few weeks. Be assured, the counties are very capable of taking on land planning. ~ Christopher M. Gardner, Washington County Commissioners |
Editorial: Energy Logic Lacking
Bangor Daily News - Friday, May 20, 2011
A proposal from the LePage administration to stall Maine’s development of renewable energy is misguided and should be rejected. Stalling development of renewable energy won’t reduce electricity costs and it won’t create jobs. |
Scientists are miscalculating how fast species are disappearing, study says
Other - Friday, May 20, 2011
LA Times - The world’s species may not be going extinct quite as fast as we thought they were, according to research published online Wednesday in the journal Nature. While stressing that the global extinction crisis is still indeed a crisis, the study’s two authors called for a better mathematical model to predict how fast the world’s diversity is disappearing. |
Students volunteer at nature center
Bangor Daily News - Friday, May 20, 2011
Recently, 14 Chewonki’s Semester School students arrived at nearby Hidden Valley Nature Center in Jefferson to roll up their sleeves and do some community service work. They broke into three groups, each led by a HVNC volunteer. Two groups cleared an old logging road in anticipation of future logging, all done sustainably under strict standards of the Forest Stewardship Council. The mile-long trail also will be used for recreational purposes, such as hiking, biking and skiing. |
Mill jobs hang in balance, lawmakers warned
Bangor Daily News - Friday, May 20, 2011
Town officials from the Katahdin region joined the LePage administration on Friday in urging state lawmakers to approve a bill that would allow the state to purchase a landfill tied to the fate of roughly 600 papermaking jobs in the area. Brookfield Asset Management, the parent company of the East Millinocket and Millinocket mills, has made clear that the state needs to begin the process of purchasing the old Dolby landfill in East Millinocket as part of efforts to find a new buyer. |
Cleanup of sewage-contaminated Limestone stream complete
Bangor Daily News - Friday, May 20, 2011
After a nearly two week cleanup effort, officials from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection said Friday that water quality in a stream that was contaminated by more than a million gallons of untreated wastewater last month has returned to normal levels. Greenlaw Stream is now safe for public access. |
Bill would increase number of moose permits for 2011 hunting season
Bangor Daily News - Friday, May 20, 2011
Many prospective moose hunters have griped about buying chances in the annual moose permit lottery, only to find out each June that their name had not been drawn. A legislative committee took action on a bill Friday afternoon that would help make 21 percent more hunters happy during next month’s permit lottery: If passed, LD 291 will make an additional 657 moose permits available for this year’s hunt, as well as tweak other rules designed to give every applicant a more equal shot at the highly coveted permits in coming years. |
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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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