Maine Environmental News

News Items

Opinion: Maine should stop cruel bear hunting practices
Bangor Daily News - Monday, September 24, 2018
If Maine’s goals are to slow the growth of the bear population and reduce conflicts, banning bear baiting is an essential step. IFW also fails to address the problems associated with trapping and hounding bears. Other states with lots of bears and geography similar to Maine — including Oregon and Washington — have banned these cruel, unsporting and problematic practices and continue to successfully manage their bear populations. With numbers of hunters continuing to plummet and numbers of wildlife watchers exploding, we strongly urge IFW to earnestly incorporate the wishes of this growing constituency and use the best available science when making management decisions. ~ Katie Hansberry, Maine senior state director, Humane Society of the United States

Historic Casco Bay island once owned by Arctic explorer up for sale
Portland Press Herald - Monday, September 24, 2018
A private Casco Bay island once owned by famed Arctic explorer Robert Peary is up for sale, complete with two private sandy beaches and a secluded camp. Crab Island lies just outside the mouth of the Harraseeket River in Casco Bay. LandVest listed the property last month for $950,000, the first time it has been on the market in 65 years. It was one of a string of islands off Freeport that were purchased by Peary and became known as Peary’s Freeport Archipelago. Eagle Island, one of the many islands owned by the Peary family, features the previous summer home of Adm. Peary. Today the island is a national historic landmark and state park, open to visitors and tours.

Maine film fest to feature documentary on ‘Lobster War’ border dispute
Bangor Daily News - Monday, September 24, 2018
The dispute over whether Machias Seal Island is part of Maine or part of New Brunswick — and how that dispute has affected lobster fishermen from each country who fish near the border — is the topic of “Lobster War,” a film by David Abel and Andy Laub. Abel, an award-winning journalist for The Boston Globe, has worked with Laub, a nature and cultural documentary filmmaker, on prior films. The movie highlights how the disagreement has been exacerbated by changes in the Gulf of Maine that, over the past 30 years, have made the gulf’s lobster fishery one of the most lucrative in the country.

Opinion: Trump just the worst symptom of a sickened political system
Portland Press Herald - Monday, September 24, 2018
Placing his self-interest above the nation’s and engaging in potential criminal activity, Donald Trump, a cultural and anti-establishment fraud, is turning Republicans into sycophants and destroying the party’s brand. Yet, despite all the drama, the president isn’t the country’s biggest problem. He’s just the latest fake change agent leading a government whose lack of political will is transforming the richest country in the world into the most indebted and creating an existential threat to American democracy and capitalism. Since voters increasingly dismiss the two-party system as the political equivalent of professional wrestling, an effective PR campaign aimed at creating a nonpartisan National Unity Agenda and Change Coalition lobby can begin to reshape the political landscape. ~ Joe Mokler of Augusta, SmartVoters.org

Letter: Conservation fund needs reauthorizing
Portland Press Herald - Monday, September 24, 2018
To my dismay, while I was serving in Afghanistan last month, I learned that the Trump administration and Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke had removed the Land and Water Conservation Fund from the federal budget. Our beloved parks, forests, monuments, wildlife refuges and over 40,000 state and local park projects are now in danger. This directly affects Maine, as we receive over $900,000 to support our public lands and drive our economy. Funding comes from taxing oil and gas extraction – not from taxpayers. For more than 50 years the Land and Water Conservation Fund has been reauthorized with bipartisan support. Every $1 of LWCF funds invested results in a return of $4 in economic value. Time is running out before the fund expires next month. ~ Alexander Cornell du Houx, Solon

Letter: Endangered species at risk from Trump White House
Portland Press Herald - Monday, September 24, 2018
We write with concern regarding proposed Trump administration changes to the Endangered Species Act that would:
• Make it difficult to extend protections to threatened species by creating new administrative procedures.
• Require consideration of economic factors instead of scientific evidence when deciding to list an endangered species.
• Make it more difficult to designate a critical habitat, an essential tool for protecting and restoring species.
• Exempt climate change as a factor when considering whether to list a species.
The Endangered Species Act has succeeded in preventing the extinction of 99 percent of the fish, plant and wildlife species listed since 1973. Please join us in supporting the Endangered Species Act and opposing proposed changes that reduce its future successes in protecting species whose continued existence is threatened. ~ Debbie and John Grew, Scarborough

Letter: Nominee’s environmental record concerning
Portland Press Herald - Monday, September 24, 2018
We urge Sen. Susan Collins to vote against Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Kavanaugh’s environmental record is clear – and it’s not good for clean air and water. It is not good for our children who suffer from asthma, as he’s unlikely to support regulating pollution that crosses state lines. It’s not good for maintaining the progress we’ve made bringing back species like bald eagles from the brink of extinction. It won’t be good for sustaining the Gulf of Maine. In major cases and minor, Kavanaugh finds a way to rule against environmental regulations. He should not be confirmed. ~ Landis Hudson, Maine Rivers, Yarmouth

Letter: Transmission line a bad idea for Maine
Morning Sentinel - Monday, September 24, 2018
I can’t believe what I am reading about the Central Maine Power transmission line. We should protect our wilderness, trails, mountains and beautiful lakes. What CMP wants to do is not going to add beauty to our state but destroy some of it. All that CMP is thinking about is money. ~ Cecile Vigue, Fairfield

Tackling climate change to be a key issue at U.N. summit
Associated Press - Sunday, September 23, 2018
With global temperatures rising, superstorms taking their deadly toll and a year-end deadline to firm up the Paris climate deal, leaders at this year’s U.N. General Assembly are feeling a sense of urgency to keep up the momentum on combating climate change. That’s why, in between discussing how to tackle wars, poverty and deadly diseases around the world, leaders will be devoting substantial time in New York this week to the question of global warming and how to rein it in. About the only leader not expected to dwell on climate change is President Trump.

50 enjoy first day of fall navigating Androscoggin
Sun Journal - Sunday, September 23, 2018
Rumford Falls Times - Fifty people enjoyed the first day of fall Saturday on the Androscoggin River during the eighth annual River Run. The event was sponsored by the River Valley Growth Council, Androscoggin River Watershed Council, Mahoosuc Land Trust, River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition, EnvisionRumford and Stony Brook Recreation.

Farmington to host public meetings on dam removal
Morning Sentinel - Sunday, September 23, 2018
Three public meetings will be held prior to a November referendum asking Farmington residents if they want to see the Walton’s Mill Dam on Temple Stream removed by the Atlantic Salmon Federation. The first meeting will be held Wednesday while additional dates have been set for Oct. 10 and Oct. 24, according to the Farmington Conservation Commission.

Editorial: Don’t weaken protections for New England’s marine monument
Bangor Daily News - Sunday, September 23, 2018
Two years ago, a portion of the ocean off the coast of New England was declared a marine national monument, the first in the Atlantic Ocean. Since then federal scientists have been assessing the corals and hundreds of other marine species that live in the conserved area. But the protected area remains under threat as the Trump administration has recommended opening it to commercial fishing. This is unnecessary and will undermine the monument designation. Recently revealed documents show that Trump’s Department of Interior has only one metric in mind: that monuments are not special places meant to be preserved. Instead, they are seen as a source of money from what could be extracted from them.

A Maine man spent more than $100,000 to dredge for quahogs. Now the practice might be banned.
Bangor Daily News - Sunday, September 23, 2018
Raymond “Bucky” Alexander figures he has at least $100,000 and several years invested in rebuilding his boat and crafting, by hand, the iron dredger he has used this summer to dredge for quahogs in the New Meadows River. While Alexander’s dredging is perfectly legal in the New Meadows River, other shellfish harvesters and oyster farmers aren’t happy with his method, and appealed to the town. They cited concerns about the sustainability of the quahog fishery, the river and the ecosystem. Last week, the state proposed a rule change that would prohibit Alexander from dredging in the 6-mile section of the river he’s found to be most productive.

Southern Maine sees building boom as cities bust out permits
Maine Sunday Telegram - Sunday, September 23, 2018
Portland's tight residential and commercial markets are pushing eager investors to neighboring communities, with one city approving three permits a day. The pressure is reflected in a 33 percent surge in the number of building permits granted over the past five years in the cities of York and Cumberland counties. Westbrook and Biddeford have seen the biggest spike – 88 percent and 60 percent, respectively. And the surge is not showing any signs of slowing.

Car-moose collisions on decline in Maine
Maine Sunday Telegram - Sunday, September 23, 2018
Good news for moose: The overall population is up, but the number of car-moose collisions is trending down. In 2017, there were 287 car crashes in Maine involving a moose, according to new data from the Maine Department of Transportation. That’s less than half the 646 crashes 10 years earlier, in 2007, and down 32 percent from five years earlier, in 2012. So far this year, there have been 158 car-moose crashes, continuing the downward trend.

Interactive map: see where Maine drivers crashed into moose in the past year
Maine Sunday Telegram - Sunday, September 23, 2018
Each dot in the map below represents a car crash involving a moose between Sept. 1, 2017, and Sept. 1, 2018, according to police reports and data from the Maine Department of Transportation. There were 251 moose-car collisions for this period – a slight decline from the 291 crashes during the same period in 2016-2017.

‘Weird’ is in: Scientist running Replenova Farm seeks out unexpected niche
Maine Sunday Telegram - Sunday, September 23, 2018
"Once I started talking to stores that said, 'No, we don't want your vegetables,' it was like, OK, I guess I gotta figure out what you do want," says Gary Goodrich. “It’s OK if you hit a bump...In farming you have to make tons of adjustments to make it sustainable from the financial point of view. You also have to enjoy the trip here. And each day you learn something new.”

Column: Bill Yeo can’t wait to use the new electric car charging station at L.L. Bean
Maine Sunday Telegram - Sunday, September 23, 2018
When we called Bill Yeo to talk about the electronic car charging station his employer, L.L. Bean, had just installed, he seemed more cheerful than your average person talking to a reporter. It turned out he’d gotten word that the Tesla he ordered would be delivered that very day. “There is no dealer in Maine. So they show up with it on a flatbed and drop it at your house.” He’s been waiting two years for it. No wonder he was happy. We talked EVs (that’s the lingo for electronic vehicles, in case you missed it), solar power and Yeo’s work as the retail manager for the Outdoor Discovery School at Bean’s.

Column: Maine’s artisanal cheese scene is growing up
Maine Sunday Telegram - Sunday, September 23, 2018
Aged cheese is trickier to make than fresh, but the state's cheesemakers are making headway. ~ Christine Burns Rudalevige

Column: Crossbows gaining respect, being used more
Sun Journal - Sunday, September 23, 2018
Although crossbows have never held a lot of appeal for me, I have hunted with a borrowed crossbow in Maryland. It just seems awkward to carry while still hunting, and it doesn’t have the visual appeal of conventional longbows, recurves or compound bows. As a hunting device, it is accurate and lethal. The Maine Warden Service considers the crossbow not to be a firearm. The Maine Bowhunters Association could never warm up to the medieval contraption, deeming it not a true bow. Crossbows have a place, however, despite their controversial background among Maine sportsmen. ~ V. Paul Reynolds

Maine Observer: Lunch guest discovers my secret spot
Maine Sunday Telegram - Sunday, September 23, 2018
Over the last 35 years I have sought solace in the Maine woods to paint, the more remote the better. I love being alone in nature. I have crossed paths with deer, mink, porcupines, raccoons, skunks and groundhogs over the years. Every encounter was exhilarating, and I always cherish these chance meetings with wildlife. Once when I was painting, an American hawk landed on a branch inches from my face. He looked me over and then flew off. Another time, a monarch butterfly landed on my hand and made me feel as though I were a spiritual part of nature. ~ Charles Thompson, Saco, professor of art at the University of New England

Column: A vote on power project may revive Greens
Maine Sunday Telegram - Sunday, September 23, 2018
There was a time when the Maine Green Independent Party was a major force in this state. Though they never managed to win a major elective office like governor or member of Congress, their candidates regularly had a significant impact on those races. Much of that early energy in the Maine Greens came from their willingness to use referendums to take on the state’s biggest industries. The state’s bottle law was first enacted as a citizen initiative, and we have Bigelow Mountain Preserve instead of a ski area thanks to a referendum. Another major environmental issue may be coming to the forefront of Maine politics soon: the battle over Central Maine Power’s proposed transmission corridor. ~ Jim Fossel,

Column: Sometimes you have to hunt for a place to hunt
Maine Sunday Telegram - Sunday, September 23, 2018
According to surveys, access or lack thereof is one of the biggest impediments to hunter recruitment and retention. Finding a place to hunt is intimidating to a new hunter, and holding onto the ones you have is a daunting challenge to a veteran. The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife manages over 100,000 acres, aggregated into 62 Wildlife Management Areas. The Bureau of Parks and Lands coordinates management on another 600,000 acres of state lands. Nearly all of this is open to public hunting. So are thousands of acres in National Wildlife Refuges, National Forests and parts of some Monuments. Perhaps the most overlooked source of public access is your local land trust. ~ Bob Humphrey

Column: There’s a bounty of beauty around the Berwicks
Maine Sunday Telegram - Sunday, September 23, 2018
The Great Works Regional Land Trust conserves land across six towns in southern Maine, an area where undeveloped spaces are few and far between. Looking at a topographical map of the region, you may think these low-lying areas don’t have much to offer hikers. Don’t be fooled. The hills, valleys, rivers, ponds and woods in and around the Berwicks are home to a bounty of opportunities for hiking, rambling and strolling. ~ Jake Christie

Belgrade Lakes residents awarded for championing environment
Kennebec Journal - Saturday, September 22, 2018
Maggie Shannon has a passion for protecting lake quality, both around her home and statewide. George MacDonald is passionate about recycling and enthusiastic about composting. Both environmental protectors from the Belgrade area recently received awards for their work from the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

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