Land trust recipient of Patricia D. Klingenstein Grants program

LIVERMORE FALLS ADVERTISER • September 4, 2024

The Androscoggin Land Trust is one of this year’s recipients of the Patricia D. Klingenstein Grants program from the Sadie and Harry Davis Foundation. ALT will use the funds to support the “Nurturing Nature, Nurturing Health” initiative that enhances children’s physical and mental health through nature-based programming, including environmental education outreach and curriculum integration work with area schools, summer camps, and after-school programs that engage children with nature.

White Mountain National Forest eyes Albany land acquisition

BETHEL CITIZEN • September 4, 2024

The White Mountain National Forest  is in discussions for the potential addition of a 700-acre tract of land adjacent to the forest in Albany that would enhance recreational resources and protect wildlife and the Crooked River watershed, according to acquisition supporters.The parcel, owned by a family company, Penley & Mills, Inc., shares about 10,000 feet of boundary with current WMNF lands. If the land is acquired, Maine would continue to receive revenue from it in the form of payments in lieu of taxes.

Column: A love of Maine’s outdoors

CENTRAL MAINE • September 12, 2024

I am thrilled and excited to be launching “Hunt & Harvest.” I started hunting when I was 20 years old because I was curious about what deer hunting entailed. I knew people who were adamantly against hunting, but I knew that what my dad was doing was not wrong. My curiosity about hunting and conservation has taken me from deer to turkey to bear. It is very easy to judge something you have never seen or done. So in 2014, during the bear hunting referendum, I volunteered with groups and met people who were avid bear hunters and guides. One of my goals is always to expose more people to hunting and conservation through my stories. ~ Erin Merrill

Inspectors found deficiencies in Brunswick airport’s fire suppression system last year

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 12, 2024

A fire suppression system at Brunswick Executive Airport was flagged as “deficient” 14 months before it malfunctioned and discharged more than 51,000 gallons of toxic chemical foam that state-funded clean-up crews have yet to fully contain. The last test of the system intended to douse aviation fires revealed deficiencies in June 2023, but the airport owner, Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, couldn’t find a fire sprinkler company willing to fix them. Even trace amounts of some PFAS are considered a public health risk. Firefighting foam is the most common source of forever chemical contamination in the U.S.

Loon Echo Land Trust wins award

SUN JOURNAL • September 12, 2024

Loon Echo Land Trust (LELT) was recently awarded a Love Maine Trails Month Award of $1,000 by the Maine Trails Coalition. This award was given to five organizations that participated in the third annual Love Maine Trails Month (LMTM), which took place this June at trail locations all across the state. LMTM is a month of statewide events bringing people and organizations together to care for Maine’s trails.

Column: People who oppose bear baiting have no idea what they’re talking about

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 12, 2024

When it comes to hunting in Maine, no topic breeds more division between not only hunters and non-hunters but also within the hunting community itself than whether we should be able to hunt bears over bait. Bear baiting in Maine has long been scrutinized. The practice remains intact currently for many reasons, nearly all of which are backed by research, statistics and data gathered by Maine State biologists and hunters. Without baiting, hunters would be unable to even come close to the state’s bear harvest goals in order to help regulate the population. ~ Chris Sargent

Baby snakes are everywhere this time of year

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 12, 2024

Fall is the time for babies, and September is an active month for baby snakes who are dividing their time between eating as much as possible and looking for a place to spend the winter. Maine is home to nine species of snakes, all non-venomous. The most common is the garter snake. Other snakes in the state are the brown, ribbon, smooth green, northern water, milk, northern black racer, ringneck and redbelly. Their babies tend to look like miniature versions of the adults.

Elusive Canada Lynx First Sighting in Vermont Since 2018

MY MODERN MET • September 11, 2024

Gary Shattuck came across an odd-looking bobcat as he drove—only it wasn't a bobcat. Curious about the animal he spotted as he drove around central Vermont, Shattuck decided to take out his phone and record the feline. Hoping to get some expert insight, he sent the video to Vermont Fish & Wildlife. Not only did they give Shattuck an answer, but they were taken aback. The man had come across an elusive and rare Canada lynx. “Canada lynx are a federally threatened species and they're elusive even in Maine and New Hampshire where they're more common than our neck of the woods,” writes Vermont Fish & Wildlife.

Highland Green Fall Hike Saturday, September 28

MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • September 11, 2024

At Highland Green, Topsham, Sep 28:
• Regularly guided, scenic hikes to Cathance River departing regularly 10 am - 1 pm.
• More rigorous hikes are available throughout the 230-acre nature preserve.
• Cathance River Ecology Center (CREA) will be open for tours.
• Wildlife Presentations with Nick Lund of Maine Audubon at 10:30 am and 12:30 pm..

Maine Climate Council is on the road to hear feedback from Mainers

SUN JOURNAL • September 11, 2024

The Maine Climate Council began its statewide tour Tuesday night at the Lewiston Public Library with a question in mind: “What does successful climate action in Maine mean to you?” Attendees had a chance to answer that question and others as the council held the first of five workshops this month in an effort to hear Mainers’ concerns about the climate. The first draft of Maine’s next climate action plan for the next four years, Maine Won’t Wait, was met with criticism for lacking resolve around certain targets, such as transportation emissions. The council has four more workshops scheduled this month in Portland, Bangor, Biddeford and Ellsworth to hear what efforts Mainers want to combat climate change.

At the debate, Harris made climate change a pocketbook issue

NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO • September 11, 2024

When moderators at the presidential debate asked the candidates about plans to fight climate change, Vice President Kamala Harris highlighted a problem quietly accelerating across the country: homeowners are losing their insurance. Harris said the costs of inaction on global warming are already having an impact: homeowners nationwide face soaring insurance costs — or the loss of coverage altogether — as extreme weather like storms and wildfires becomes more extreme. Climate change is “very real,” Harris said. Trump didn’t say at the debate what, if anything, he would do to limit global warming. The former president for years has cast doubt on the scientific consensus that the Earth is getting hotter mainly because of burning fossil fuels. Trump’s campaign has said he would try to boost fossil fuel production in a second term.

Brunswick legislators kickstart efforts to address PFAS contamination after foam spill

MAINE MORNING STAR • September 11, 2024

Brunswick Rep. Dan Ankeles submitted three bill titles to the Maine Legislature on Tuesday aimed at removing and better regulating forever chemical-laden firefighting foam following the accidental discharge of the toxic material in his district last month. One bill proposes a foam take-back program. Another calls for the immediate removal of the foam from Brunswick Executive Airport. The last is a measure to provide legislative authority to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to conduct a statewide inventory of the foam. In the Senate, Democrat Mattie Daughtry will be taking the lead on legislation to address the governance of the residential and business community integrated with the airport.

Column: The decline of the Unity park

CENTRAL MAINE • September 11, 2024

A few years ago, one of the huge windstorms that have been ramping up in frequency and fury lately toppled an enormous old pine tree standing on the shore of Unity Pond at the Field of Dreams park. For about 25 years, through changes in which Unity College reemerged as the owner, the park was kept trim and true every summer. When that old pine tree blew down, I figured the Unity students would take care of it. I was wrong. The students from the renamed Unity Environmental University never came. The tree is still there. There are hardly any students left. The management that took over has basically deserted the campus. You can’t learn about the woods in front of a computer. Unity College never made money, but it made a community. That value is drained away. It is a bitter betrayal of the community and its history. ~ Dana Wilde

Protecting What We Love: A Celebration of Action for Maine's Environment

NATURAL RESOURCES COUNCIL OF MAINE • September 11, 2024

Join the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) at Wolfe's Neck Center for Agriculture & the Environment for an evening of inspiring talks, engaging workshops, and hands-on activities all focused on protecting our beautiful Maine environment. This event is a chance to connect with like-minded individuals, learn about local conservation efforts, and take action to safeguard what we cherish. In addition to celebrating our collective action, we'll present our Conservation Leadership Awards to celebrate individuals who have done extraordinary work in their communities.

Outdoors groups push for passage of Maine’s first trail bond

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 11, 2024

Maine has always relied on volunteers and donations to build and maintain its trails, but advocates warn that weekend work parties and membership dues alone can’t design the kind of trails that will survive a changing climate and grow the state’s outdoor recreation economy. That’s why advocates from The Partnership for Maine Trails want Maine voters to approve a $30 million bond in November to hire the professional engineers, heavy machinery and laborers needed to design, develop and maintain hiking, bike, snowmobile, ATV and accessible recreational trails around the state. An approved bond would provide $30 million in competitive grants over four years to create, repair and maintain motorized, nonmotorized and multiuse trail projects across the state, including accessible paved trails. It is Maine’s first-ever trail bond.

Bangor marine biologist launches line of cookie dough made with seaweed

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 11, 2024

When Jessie Muhlin decided to start selling frozen cookie dough, she knew one had to contain seaweed. The first flavor the marine biologist developed was the Selkie Sea Biscuit, a lemon cookie with flakes of seaweed, almost like tri-color sprinkles. The cookie has a subtle seaweed taste, Muhlin said. “It adds, I think, an element of intrigue and nutrition because it does have nutritional qualities,” she said. The seaweed is harvested in Maine and sold by Maine Coast Sea Vegetables.

Rising seas increasingly threaten coastal Maine wastewater plants

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 11, 2024

Maine’s climate action plan estimated the cost of replacing low-lying wastewaterfacilities could reach up to $93 million. Moving Wiscasset’s wastewater treatment plant and demolishing the old plant could top $50 million. Residents of Bath approved a $25 million bond last year to upgrade their aging system, with work that will include upgrading the pump stations, some of which were at risk of flooding during the January storms. Municipalities continue to request state funding for wastewater facilities through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, created as a part of the federal Clean Water Act. But the aid provided has decreased. In 2021, 51 applicants requested a total of $235 million, and the state awarded $113 million. This year, the state was only able to award $67 million, despite getting 66 applications requesting a total of $392 million.

Column: A breached dam on Green Lake could threaten Arctic charr

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 10, 2024

Next year the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will rule on the licensing of a private hydro dam at the outlet of Green Lake. According to Burr, the likely scenario is that the commission will require the installation of fish ways in the dam, the cost of which would force the closure of the hydro facility and the eventual removal of the dam. Green Lake is one of only 14 Maine waters that hold native arctic charr, which the state has pledged to protect at all costs. How does this jibe with the Maine’s Department of Marine Resources’s alewife priority? ~ V. Paul Reynolds

Portland geese deformed by ‘unnaturally high-calorie diet’

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 10, 2024

Geese in Deering Oaks park were spotted with deformed wings on Monday, Portland’s Parks Department said Monday. Some geese are suffering from a condition called “angel wing,” which is a malformation of their wings caused by an “unnaturally high-calorie diet (bread),” the department said. The condition usually results in a twist in the last joint of a bird’s wing, causing feathers to protrude from its body, according to the Maine Audubon. The condition, which is fatal, prevents the geese from being able to complete their usual migration patterns. “You all can help by not feeding the birds in our parks,” the department said.

Keurig to pay $1.5 million over false statements on K-Cups’ recyclability

ASSOCIATED PRESS • September 10, 2024

Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. will pay $1.5 million to settle charges that it made inaccurate statements about the recyclability of its K-Cup single use beverage pods, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.