Blue-sky flooding in the Old Port is a preview of the future

MAINE PUBLIC • October 21, 2024

Despite sun and clear skies, in the old Port this weekend, some rolled up their pants or donned rain boots to wade through eight inches of water to grab lunch near Commercial Street on the Portland Pier. This weekend high tides were roughly one and a half to two feet higher than average. This part of Portland, and other salt marshes, beaches and areas along Maine's coast can expect to see more instances of 'blue sky flooding' this fall, and in the coming years. It's due in part to the effects of climate change, like changing current patterns from a warming ocean.

Regulators delay lobster size limits for six months

MAINE PUBLIC • October 21, 2024

Fisheries regulators have given the lobster industry a brief reprieve by delaying new size limits for six months. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission said increasing the minimum lobster size by fractions of an inch will help rebuild stocks affected by troubling declines in young lobsters. The commission's lobster board argue increasing the minimum catch size will let younger lobsters live longer and reproduce more. Board members voted overwhelmingly Monday to delay the rules during the commission's annual meeting. The restrictions were supposed to go into effect at the beginning of the year. But regulators hope that a delay will give the lobster industry time to adjust. It also gives extra space for Canadian regulators to add matching size restrictions.

Heat pumps were supposed to transform the world. But it’s not going as planned.

WASHINGTON POST • October 21, 2024

Adoption of heat pumps, one of the primary ways to cut emissions from buildings, has slowed in the United States and stalled in Europe, endangering the switch to clean energy. Heat pump investment in the United States has dropped by 4% in the past two years. Experts point to lags in construction, high interest rates, and general belt-tightening from inflation. In 13 European countries, heat pump sales dropped nearly in half in the first half of 2024, putting the European Union off-track for its climate goals. Heat pumps – essentially air conditioners that can also work in reverse, heating a space as well as cooling it – are crucial to making buildings more climate-friendly. Maine met one of its key climate plan goals two years early, installing 100,000 heat pumps by 2025.

New Sandpiper apartments bring eco-friendly living to Brunswick Landing

TIMES RECORD • October 21, 2024

The Sandpiper Residences, hailed by officials as the most eco-friendly apartment complex in Brunswick, is complete after years of planning and construction. The $18 million project, described as an “eco-house” and spearheaded by property developer Dave Holman and Jason Lord, came to fruition this summer and was celebrated last Friday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new building. The new complex adds 63 units — 13 of which are priced affordably — to Brunswick’s limited housing stock.

Frances Perkins Was the First Woman to Serve in a U.S. Presidential Cabinet. It’s No Coincidence She’s Having a Moment

TIME • October 21, 2024

In August 2024, the Biden Administration signaled plans to designate the Maine homestead of former Labor Secretary Frances Perkins — the first woman to serve in a presidential cabinet and a key architect of the New Deal — as a national monument. Perkins did little to cement herself in the historical record. She was more interested in her work and her family’s personal safety than in being remembered. Now, the rise of female politicians is helping to reinsert her in our historical memory in a way that is long overdue. During her 12-year tenure at the Department of Labor, Perkins became the longest-serving labor secretary, and a force behind some of the most significant New Deal legislation, including the National Labor Relations Act, the Social Security Act, and the Fair Labor Standards Act. Female lawmakers have supported a national monument honoring Perkins, and the excitement and buzz created by the potential for the first female president may push the proposal across the finish line.

Rumford ski area receives $1.2 million in grants for improvements

RUMFORD FALLS TIMES • October 21, 2024

Black Mountain of Maine has received a $1.2 million grant that will enable the ski area to make snow faster and hopefully lengthen their ski season, according Roger Arsenault, chairman of the board of directors. The mountain received $483,000 from Northern Borders Regional Commission to purchase 14 new snowmaking guns. The second grant was $775,000 from Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS). The ski area is also going to at least double the size of the snowmaking pond.

Millions watch UMaine grad’s videos debunking pseudoscience

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 21, 2024

Milo Rossi, who grew up outside of Boston and graduated from UMaine in 2022 with a degree in environmental science and anthropology, is now arguably the most popular archaeology content creator on social media, with more than 2 million followers. Rossi will give a free talk at his alma mater at 7 p.m. Tuesday, “Combating Archaeological Pseudoscience with Social Media,” at the Collins Center for the Arts. “Milo has combined a background in archaeology, a deep understanding of the difference between science and pseudoscience, and a compelling screen presence to become the most viewed real archaeologist today,” said Daniel Sandweiss, the UMaine anthropology and climate studies professor who taught Rossi. Rossi said. “There’s an oversaturated market for BS on social media. I’m trying to put the real information out there.”

Letter: Communication issues plague offshore wind project

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • October 20, 2024

As a member of the Offshore Wind Port Advisory Group (OSWPAG), MDOT told us we’d receive its alternatives analysis as soon as it was available. On Oct. 11, I learned indirectly that the alternatives analysis could be found at https://www.maine.gov/mdot/projects/searsport/windport/. Later that day, I learned that MDOT posted this extensive document, encompassing hundreds of pages with attachments, a week before. Thousands of people have expressed interest in this matter. Shame on MDOT if that public intere st isn’t overwhelmingly apparent to them. ~ Steve Miller, Islesboro

Scientist warns that increased shipping could turn Casco Bay into ‘bioinvasion hotspot’

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • October 20, 2024

A Maine scientist is raising the alarm that Casco Bay could become a “bioinvasion hotspot” after finding three new invasive species in three years. Thomas Trott, a marine ecologist who lives in Biddeford, in a recent study tied their arrival to an increase in international shipping. And while the three species in question don’t spell ecological disaster, Trott believes they’re a harbinger of damage that could befall the bay if more ships come to Portland and there aren’t better safeguards in place.

Column: The variety of species in Maine includes natives and those from away

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • October 20, 2024

The bird checklist for Maine currently stands at 475 species which includes resident birds who grace us with their presence all the year. Over 100 species are migratory breeding birds, moving from wintering areas to our south to nest here and then departing before winter sets in. Some species on the Maine list are irruptive species, northern species that move south to winter in Maine when their food at high latitudes is hard to find. The remainder are vagrants, birds that only occur rarely and unpredictably in Maine. There are also 107 species in Maine that have been sighted five or fewer times. The sighting of such a bird leads to an onrush of birders anxious to see one of these out-of-range birds. But how did they get here in the first place? ~ Herb Wilson

Column: Conservation organizations shift from protecting to connecting

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • October 20, 2024

In recent years, a movement has gained strength among Maine conservation organizations to learn the true, complicated history of colonialism in this region, to grapple with conservation’s role in it, and to incorporate those lessons into our work. This has meant learning to listen to Wabanaki voices on the power of Indigenous-led conservation. From preserving biodiversity to addressing climate change, the best, most durable conservation outcomes are only possible when we have strong relationships with people and communities. Indigenous communities have the longest connection to the lands and waters where we live and work. ~ Betsy Cook, Trust for Public Land; Kate Dempsey, The Nature Conservancy in Maine; Kate Stookey, Maine Coast Heritage Trust

Column: Moose management in Maine can be a thankless task

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • October 20, 2024

By most accounts (there are always a few malcontents), the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IFW) has done a commendable job of managing our most iconic big game animal, the Maine moose. However, no system is perfect and it’s a dynamic process. Some complaints are baseless or beyond the means of the agency to handle. Others have merit. The folks at IFW consider them all and do the best to address them. When you consider all that goes into managing Maine’s moose, or deer or turkeys, it’s a thankless task. ~ Bob Humphrey

Letter: Climate change contributors in plain sight in Portland

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • October 20, 2024

Last week I happened to be on the Portland waterfront for several days and each day I viewed as many as four cruise ships docked on the same day, with no fewer than two ships each day. All of these vessels ran their generators the entire time at the dock, while as many as 15 charter buses sat awaiting passengers, with their generators also running, and the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad stood by awaiting its riders with engines idling. Although I am not a tree hugger nor a tree mugger, I have a hard time believing that those who advocate for non-fossil fuel energy sources are unaware of this or just overlook an obvious problem. ~ Daniel Milligan, Portland

Maine Forestland Owners Receive New England Leopold Conservation Award

SAND COUNTY FOUNDATION • October 19, 2024

David Moskovitz and Bambi Jones of Whitefield, Maine have been selected as the recipients of the 2024 New England Leopold Conservation Award®. The award honors farmers and forestland owners who go above and beyond in the management of soil health, water quality, and wildlife habitat on working land. Moskovitz and Jones, own and operate Hidden Valley Farm, were presented with the award during a special presentation. They received $10,000 for being selected. Sand County Foundation and national sponsor American Farmland Trust will present Leopold Conservation Awards to landowners in 28 states this year. In New England the award is presented with New England Forestry Foundation and American Farmland Trust-New England.

The Maine roots of modern environmental policy

MAINE MONITOR • October 18, 2024

Unlike climate change, acid rain is a calamity that my generation largely hasn’t had to contend with, thanks to legislation passed in 1990. Last week, I was reminded of the distinctly Maine origins of that legislation by one of the architects themselves, former U.S. Sen. George J. Mitchell. At an event commemorating the 10-year anniversary of the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions at the University of Maine, Mitchell commended his mentor and predecessor, Rumford-born Sen. Edmund S. Muskie, and outlined the paths to their trailblazing environmental work.

Lobsters in the shallows are emerging from their caves

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 18, 2024

Maine’s coastal lobsters are finding new digs. The lobsters living in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Maine are trading in the rocky crevices they have always favored for a life spent out in the open foraging for food on the ocean’s muddy bottom or open ledge, according to a new study by University of Maine researchers. This discovery upends the traditional understanding of American lobster habitat.

As climate change hurts Maine farms and restaurants, stakeholders search for solutions

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 18, 2024

Restaurateurs, chefs, farmers and aquaculture professionals met with state and federal lawmakers Friday for a roundtable discussion on the economic impact that climate change is having on Maine’s independent restaurants and their supply chains. Organized by the James Beard Foundation, the event was held at Japanese-inspired restaurant Bar Futo in Portland as part of the foundation’s Climate Solutions for Restaurant Survival campaign, being held in cities around the country. Three takeaways:

1. Unpredictable weather patterns are making farming harder and less profitable than ever.

2. Restaurants are struggling to buy local, sustainable products in the face of rising operating costs.

3. Bolstering the state’s fisheries and aquaculture is critical for the state’s future economic viability.

Maine gets $65 million to improve solar and wind power connections to the grid

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 18, 2024

Maine is set to receive more than $65 million from Washington for “smart grid” technology to more quickly connect solar panels and wind turbines to the electricity systems of Central Maine Power Co. and Versant Power and boost renewable power generation. The Governor’s Energy Office said the collaboration between Maine, CMP and Versant is the first of its kind in the state and will involve adapting software and hardware to improve grid stability, regulate voltage and increase transmission capacity on power lines.

Bristol residents take a stand for clammers with conservation donation

TIMES RECORD • October 17, 2024

Public access to beaches and private owners’ right to exclude others from their property — are in constant tension. Not so for Bristol residents Michael and Margo Hope, who recently donated a 5-acre conservation easement to Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust, permanently protecting public access to clam flats on the east shore of Johns Bay. The easement ensures continued access to the waterfront for those with a town shellfish license and protects the industry, which plays a significant role in water quality.

Forest Society of Maine announces Beichner as next president/CEO

PISCATAQUIS OBSERVER • October 17, 2024

The Forest Society of Maine, America’s seventh-largest non-governmental conservation organization based on acres conserved, has selected Christopher Beichner as its next president/CEO. Beichner, starting in December, will succeed Karin Tilberg who is retiring after 14 years at FSM. Beichner comes to FSM after having served 12 years as the president and CEO of Allegheny Land Trust serving the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania region. He has 24 years of experience as a nonprofit executive and regional planner. He grew up helping his father run a sawmill.