The most comprehensive online source of conservation news and events in Maine and beyond, edited by Jym St. Pierre
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • December 10, 2024
A dog was rescued Monday after it fell through the ice in Clinton. The dog went through the ice off River Road, according to the Clinton Fire Department. River Road runs along the Kennebec River. Crews donned water rescue suits and went into the water to successfully save the dog.
MAINE PUBLIC • December 10, 2024
Maine’s plan for a specialized offshore wind port on Sears Island appears to be in jeopardy after multiple failed attempts to secure federal funding for the project. President-elect Donald Trump’s open hostility to offshore wind also clouds the project's immediate future along with the state’s ambition to lead the industry in the Gulf of Maine. Despite these obstacles, state officials said they are committed to the port, and insist floating offshore wind power is key to Maine's energy future and economic development.
SUN JOURNAL • December 10, 2024
Town officials on Tuesday were advising locals to keep pets and children away from discolored snow that began to appear after a mishap at the Nine Dragons paper mill. Town officials confirmed Tuesday afternoon that a malfunction at the mill resulted in a release of spent black liquor which caused precipitation of brown or tan colored snow. The snow is not toxic, officials said. But steer clear of it, anyhow, was their advice.
SUN JOURNAL • December 10, 2024
Town officials alerted the public Tuesday that the water district received a positive coliform bacteria result during its routine monthly sample in December. The bacteria is harmless, the alert noted, but used as an indicator. “The water district will introduce a low dosage of chlorine to the distribution system as a precautionary measure.”
MAINE PUBLIC • December 10, 2024
Laundry pods may not be biodegradable, green, nor clean. They’re coated with polyvinyl alcohol, a type of soft plastic. While it breaks down in water, that doesn't necessarily mean it disappears. Alexa McGovern may have a solution: replacing the water-soluble plastic with a plastic alternative made of kelp. She founded Dirigo Sea Farms a year ago to develop the kelp bio-refining process, and is working on a patent. Her small lab space in Blue Hill is filled with the briny smell of seaweed. Lab assistant Jack Tennant said the process involves turning the rubbery kelp into a plastic-like film. If all goes to plan, Dirigo Sea Farms' first batch of 10,000 kelp-based laundry pods will be ready for online sales by next spring.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • December 10, 2024
A University of New England professor of environmental studies is among a global team of scientists who have co-authored a groundbreaking study examining how climate change influences the ability of wetlands to store carbon. UNE’s Pam Morgan, Ph.D., is part of an international team of 110 scientists involved in the research. The researchers deployed over 19,000 tea bags — both green and rooibos — to analyze carbon decomposition rates in 180 wetlands worldwide. The findings reveal that warmer temperatures generally accelerate the decay of organic matter, leading to a reduced ability of wetlands to act as carbon sinks. However, the effects varied by wetland type, with freshwater and tidal marshes showing greater potential for carbon storage compared to other ecosystems.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • December 10, 2024
There have been many news stories recently about several Maine school districts that are having serious problems with their electric school buses. The buses were manufactured by Canadian company Lion Electric, a relative newcomer to the school bus industry. The news stories about Lion have unfortunately given people the impression that electric school buses are inherently unreliable and unsafe; however, it is important to know that Lion is not the only manufacturer of electric school buses, and the problems with Lion buses are not endemic to electric school buses in general. All of the “big three” American school bus manufacturers — Blue Bird Corp., IC Bus and Thomas Built Buses — offer electric versions of their buses. ~ Adrian Dowling, South Portland
MORNING SENTINEL • December 9, 2024
Officials are considering a ban on tree cutting, lawn mowing, the use of certain fertilizers and more near the town’s lakes as their water quality continues to decline. Belgrade’s Planning Board is discussing 12 ordinances proposed by the town’s Lakes and Natural Resources Committee that aim to restore water quality in the Belgrade Lakes Watershed.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • December 9, 2024
The ability to make snow has Maine’s ski areas optimistic about the winter season and confident they can bounce back from the heavy rain and warm temperatures predicted for later this week. Ski Maine Executive Director Dirk Gouwens said., “We really don’t need a lot of natural snow. We do need cold weather, obviously, in order to make (snow).” They might need to, according to the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center, which says this winter could bring warmer-than-average temperatures. Pandemic-driven surges in attendance, as well as the availability of energy-minded grants, has enabled many of Maine’s peaks to install new and more efficient equipment in the last few years, he said.
MAINE PUBLIC • December 9, 2024
Although last year saw low numbers of winter ticks on Maine's moose population, the state's moose biologist is expecting much higher numbers for the coming winter season. Lee Kantar said that's because the moose population has risen this year, and with more moose come more ticks. Trying to control the winter ticks is a challenge when there are so many variables biologists can't control. "We can put management practices into place like try to reduce the moose population, but at the same time, we had so much survival this past spring, of overwintering calves and probably better reproduction, that the moose population comes right back up," Kantar said.
MORNING SENTINEL • December 9, 2024
Maine Grains has secured hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants this year to support its purchase of a new equipment line that the company says will build its production capacity and reuse byproducts. The grain manufacturer, which operates its grist mill at the former county jail on Court Street, has received funding from three grants this year that total $700,000, the company said Monday. All three sources of funding are expected to be used toward the purchase of a German-made “specialized cereal extrusion equipment line,” which will be housed in a new, adjacent 80,000-square-foot building.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • December 9, 2024
Lyme disease cases again set a new record in Maine this year, as the tick-borne illness continues to spread and intensify, especially in the midcoast and Down East regions. Lyme rates in those regions are three times higher than the statewide average and have roughly tripled over the past decade. The number of Lyme infections statewide stood at 3,035 on Dec. 3. That exceeds the total for 2023, which was the highest year on record with 2,943 cases. More cases will be added to this year’s total.
KENNEBEC JOURNAL • December 9, 2024
The National Weather Service said heavy rain and snowmelt Wednesday could cause flooding in central Maine.
KENNEBEC JOURNAL • December 9, 2024
Maine’s snowmobile industry and the businesses that depend on the tourists it brings to the state are bracing for the uncertain snow levels and potentially warmer temperatures brought by climate change. The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center said Maine’s meteorological winter, which started Dec. 1 and runs until the end of February, will likely come with above-average temperatures and near-normal precipitation levels. But which kind of precipitation falls in those storms – and how much – can have significant impact on the state’s winter tourism industry, which last year attracted nearly 4.4 million visitors who snowmobiled, skied and fished as they spent more than $2 billion. Snowmobiling, which relies on natural snow, is particularly vulnerable.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • December 9, 2024
L.L.Bean is laying off between 50 and 75 employees at its corporate headquarters, or about 2% to 3% of its Maine-based staff, the outdoor clothing and equipment retailer said. Spokesman Jason Sulham said the Freeport-based company “continues to evaluate the fluctuating retail landscape and adapt our organizational design to enable long-term growth.”
FRIENDS OF BAXTER STATE PARK • December 9, 2024
Baxter State Park 2025 calendars are selling fast. Purchase benefits Baxter State Park and Friends of Baxter State Park.
TIMES RECORD • December 9, 2024
The Maine Coast Heritage Trust has announced the distribution of funds through the L.L.Bean Maine Land Trust Grant Program to tackle priority conservation projects for 2025, including:
• Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust, $10,000 to open public access at Hideaway Farm Preserve in Topsham.
• Kennebec Estuary Land Trust, $9,000 to rejuvenate Thorne Head Preserve in Bath.
• Androscoggin Land Trust, $8,000 for a Beyond Adaptive initiative at Camp Dustin.
• Falmouth Land Trust, $9,000 to reroute trails at Blackstrap Community Forest to address climate change impacts.
• Kennebunkport Conservation Trust, $10,000 to build a sensory garden at Kennebunk High School.
• Greater Lovell Land Trust, $10,000 for multi-use trail repairs at Kezar Corridor Lands.
TIMES RECORD • December 9, 2024
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection will resume testing this week for toxic “forever chemicals,” as part of an effort to determine whether a disastrous firefighting foam spill at the Brunswick Executive Airport on Aug. 19 contaminated nearby private drinking water wells. This round of testing comes months after the first sample batch in September showed concerning levels of PFAS in many wells, though these results are unlikely a result of the spill, given the slow rate of ground water movement. The sampling from September and this month are just two of the several planned tests in the wake of Maine’s worst toxic chemical spill in 30 years, in which 1,450 gallons of PFAS-containing aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) mixed with 50,000 gallons of water were released. The chemical family of PFAS can be harmful to human health.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • December 9, 2024
With the removal last month of a final piece of cast iron pipe installed in 1927, a $178 million, 14-year gas distribution replacement project in Portland and Westbrook came to an end. Swapping out 126 miles of cast iron and unprotected steel pipes with high-density plastic pipe and making other upgrades were among Unitil Corp.’s “largest and most aggressive capital improvement initiatives,” said the natural gas utility that owns and maintains the system. Some of the pipes were more than 100 years old. Fewer gas leaks and a drop in methane emissions are among the project’s benefits.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • December 9, 2024
Maine’s experiment to reduce winter tick populations in the western half of Zone 4 has one year left, but likely won’t be extended beyond that, according to the state’s moose biologist. Winter ticks have in the past killed large numbers of moose calves. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife decided to try reducing the herd in a small section of the state. But hunters and other moose enthusiasts have been critical of the state’s efforts, saying that bringing the herd down to low levels is dangerous and that the effort isn’t scientific enough.
