Maine Environmental News

Email link to Letter: Selectmen have own agenda

Letter: Shameful flip on solar bill
Bangor Daily News - Thursday, April 19, 2018
Even though I am not a constituent of Reps. Stacey Guerin, Matthew Harrington, Teresa Pierce, Matthew Pouliot and Abden Simmons, I cannot stay silent in the face of such blatant hypocrisy and cowardice. I hope their flip from initially supporting LD 1444, the solar bill, with a supposed “veto-proof” majority to upholding the anti-solar governor’s veto will be remembered by voters in their districts. Come November they should find themselves out of a job. ~ Jason Langle, Orono

Blog: Camp Directors Gather to Consider Diversity and Inclusion
Bangor Daily News - Thursday, February 15, 2018
When close to 80 Maine camp directors gathered Tuesday in Portland to discuss diversity and inclusion, they were challenged to consider the impact of differences and division, and to seek to “create balance in an unbalanced world.” ~ Kristine Snow Millard

Man gets prison time for illegally harvesting Virginia eels
Associated Press - Monday, November 6, 2017
A New York seafood dealer has been sentenced to 1 ½ years behind bars for illegally trafficking more than $150,000 worth of baby eels from Virginia. Tommy Zhou was sentenced Friday in a federal Virginia court after he pleaded guilty in April. Prosecutors say Zhou obtained a Maine elver dealer license in 2013 and then used it to cover his illegal operation.

Offshore Wind Farms See Promise in Platforms That Float
New York Times - Thursday, September 29, 2016
The University of Maine is undertaking an elaborate physics experiment meant to simulate conditions that full-scale floating wind turbines could face at an installation being planned about 10 miles off the Maine coast in up to 360 feet of water near tiny Monhegan Island. For nearly 18 months in 2013 and 2014, an operating version of the apparatus — one-eighth of scale — sat in the waters off Castine sending electricity to the grid. That proved the technology fundamentally worked and guided refinements to the design. Now, the UMaine team is using the data collected at the lab to confirm the final form, a crucial next step in bringing the technology to market.

Blog: Singing is an act of territorialism for birds
Bangor Daily News - Thursday, April 7, 2016
Birds don’t think about much, mostly just food and sex. Despite the simplicity of such a life, bird communication can be quite complex. Birds are renowned for their vocal abilities, but they use lots of visual cues, too. Perhaps nothing is more obvious than the crests sported by many species. ~ Bob Duchesne

Marco Rubio Finds Common Ground With Armed Militia In Oregon
Climate Progress - Thursday, January 7, 2016
Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (R) doesn’t like that militants are currently occupying a federal wildlife facility in Oregon. But he does like the militia’s main idea: Seizing and selling off America’s public lands. Rubio explained his position on the controversial occupation at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, now entering its fifth day. Rubio said that while he doesn’t support “lawless” activity, he does agree with the militia on its main point that federal public lands should be transferred to private ownership for activities like logging, coal mining, oil drilling, and farming. Rubio’s plan would essentially cause a free-for-all, where states can devastate national forests, parks, and other important wildlife and plantlife zones for temporary economic gain.

Editorial: Conflict over land preservation confirms where the public stands
Portland Press Herald - Wednesday, December 16, 2015
If Gov. Paul LePage’s yearslong barricade of Land for Maine’s Future has proven anything, it’s how popular the conservation program is among a broad cross-section of the state. When the governor held hostage the voter-approved bonds that fund the program, residents from across the political divide responded with one voice, united in their support for an initiative that has protected more than 550,000 acres for a variety of economic and recreational uses. That response should make it clear that the focus should be on strengthening and tightening the program, not obstructing or trying to dismantle it, as LePage has done for most of his time in office. The governor, not corruption or mismanagement, is the program’s true problem.

Opinion: This is Bar Harbor’s chance to become a solar success and example
Bangor Daily News - Tuesday, May 19, 2015
On June 2, Bar Harbor voters have an exciting opportunity to take a step toward putting the brakes on climate change. Article T on the town meeting agenda authorizes leasing town land and roofs as part of Community Solar Farms and Power Purchase Agreements for the purpose of providing power to the municipality. The change starts here and now. With our prominence as a popular tourist destination, Bar Harbor has an outsize influence on the rest of the state and the nation. By voting for this article we are saying that we care, that we can make a collective difference. ~ Gary Friedmann, Bar Harbor Town Council

Opinion: A new set of bold predictions
Maine Sunday Telegram - Sunday, January 4, 2015
In 2015, LePage will reduce the size of state government by 5 percent, he will succeed in further reducing municipal revenue sharing and he will change state law to permit municipalities to tax nonprofits. The Legislature will pass major welfare reform and reduce energy costs by welcoming in more natural gas and hydro. ~ Phil Harriman

Letter: Give deer the food they need and they will flourish
Kennebec Journal - Monday, April 28, 2014
I read with interest the April 13 article about whitetail deer, “In northern Maine, deer herd shrinks despite efforts to rebuild it.” Anyone can look at Google satellite maps and know that very little of the Maine woods is untouched. The deer are being squeezed out of their natural habitat searching for food. They are vulnerable to predators and starvation because of the condition of the forest. The state cannot save the deer herd by pumping money into various programs. We just need to let some of the forest grow back, and the animals will survive on their own. ~ Betsy Laney, West Gardiner

Letter: Gubernatorial climate
Bangor Daily News - Tuesday, December 10, 2013
As we approach the gubernatorial election year in Maine, and in light of the “interesting” comments made by our governor on Dec. 5 regarding the profit potential in climate change, I am reminded of the election that put such a person into office. From all early indications, LePage’s tea party supporters will hold about the same sway next November, and with Eliot Cutler again as a wild card in the race, the potential for Maine to have another four years with a governor who has squeaked into office with a minority of the state’s voters behind him is not small. We have had three years to try to correct this significant weakness in our election system, and yet we will be going to the polls in November 2014 faced with the same problem. This is unpardonable. ~ Dana Williams, Belfast

Fabulous Find assists Great Works land trust
Seacoast Online - Monday, October 28, 2013
Fabulous Find thrift store in Kittery gave a boost to conservation recently with proceeds from September sales. Store staff presented a check for $4,332 to Great Works Regional Land Trust to assist the trust's conservation projects and ongoing operations.

Diehard Mainers take advantage of extended woodcock season
John Holyoke Out There Blog - Wednesday, October 10, 2012
For years, Maine bird hunters in search of woodcock had just 30 days — generally the month of October — to do so. After years of study and discussion, that all changed in 2011. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service extended the woodcock season from 30 to 45 days.

Opinion: Save the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund
Other - Friday, July 22, 2011
The U.S. House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee has passed a bill devastating the crown jewel conservation program for America's public lands and waters — the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Created in 1965 to offset the environmental risks from offshore oil and gas development, the conservation fund uses money from federal oil and gas leases to protect environmentally sensitive lands and watersheds. Over the years, the fund has paid for the expansion of national, state and local parks as well as conservation easements. All of this is accomplished without spending any federal tax dollars. President Obama's budget for 2012 provided $900 million for the fund. Regrettably, the bill passed by the subcommittee cuts the budget figure by more than 93 percent to the lowest funding level in the program's 45-year history.

Fort Williams home to threatened rabbit
Portland Press Herald - Friday, April 22, 2011
Volunteers had an arboretum in mind as they cleared invasive plants from part of Fort Williams Park last fall. Little did they realize that their hard work would uncover evidence that the thick mass of plants was habitat for the endangered New England cottontail rabbit. The state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife visited the site and confirmed that droppings were those of the New England cottontail. The rabbit was placed on Maine's list of threatened and endangered species in 2007 and is a candidate for protection under the federal Endangered Species Act. Officials from the town and the state are discussing what to do in response to the unintentional destruction of habitat.

Opinion: Amherst forest project to benefit people of Maine
Bangor Daily News - Saturday, April 10, 2010
Just 20 miles east of Bangor, you can walk through deep forests, along bold ledges, streams and wetlands, and find your way to remote ponds named Half-Mile, Partridge, Indian Camp, Ducktail and Snowshoe. On a clear day, the view from Bald Bluff or Bald Mountain includes such landmarks as Cadillac Mountain and Mt. Katahdin. Thanks to more than six years of conservation planning led by the Forest Society of Maine and the town of Amherst, people of all ages will enjoy these places for generations to come.

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