Letter: Decline of cross-country ski tells a bigger, sadder tale

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 13, 2025

Like other Nordic skiers, I am saddened by Smiling Hill Farm’s decision to close its ski business, as well as by the ongoing struggle of Harris Farm and other family operations affected by diminished snow levels. And I am angry at the reason we are in this situation: our societal inability to heed a quarter-century’s warnings from scientists about climate change. We have it within our power to change the trajectory of climate change, by the way we vote and the lifestyles we choose. We must make the commitment to do better. Much better. ~ Joe Hardy, Wells

Battery ownership question remains unresolved

MAINE MONITOR • January 12, 2025

Nearly two years after the Legislature began debating whether storing energy — in batteries, or reservoirs, or fuel cells — should be considered generation or distribution and whether utility companies should be allowed to have an ownership stake in it, the question remains unresolved. Utility companies (CMP and Versant) used to own both the means to generate electricity (like hydroelectric, coal, nuclear and natural gas plants) and the poles and wires that brought that electricity to homes and businesses. That changed in the 1990s, when the legislature forced companies to sell their generating assets and forbade them from acquiring new ones, separating the “generation” of electricity from its “transmission and distribution.” Both CMP and Versant have argued that energy storage should not be considered generation, and that they should therefore be able to own and control such projects.

Yarmouth approves plan to remove two Royal River dams

MAINE MONITOR • January 12, 2025

The Yarmouth town council voted unanimously this month to remove two town-owned dams on the Royal River and consider fish passage improvements at a stretch of rapids in between them, a historic vote more than two decades in the making. The decision follows a federal proposal released last spring and is the most authoritative step to removing the Bridge Street Dam and East Elm Street Dam since 2009, when the town first began studying how their removal could improve the Royal River’s health and fisheries. Removing the dams could restore sea-going fish populations to the Royal River’s headwaters after more than two centuries of impediment.

PFAS in Maine can travel from stream to ski trail through snowmaking

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • January 12, 2025

As winters grow warmer, ski resorts are increasingly relying on machine-made snow to keep their trails open and powder-loving customers happy. But what happens when the water used to make the snow contains forever chemicals? New research out of Colby College indicates that machine-made snow may be a little-known source of human exposure to PFAS, a group of persistent industrial chemicals that are harmful in even trace amounts.

Editorial: Yes, energy office should be a Cabinet department

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • January 12, 2025

It’s hard to name a more challenging, time-intensive and, lately, changeable policymaking brief than energy. The proposal, part of Gov. Janet Mills’ latest biennial budget, is reportedly revenue-neutral; a new, standalone energy department won’t require any more of an annual operating budget than the existing Governor’s Energy Office already has — a budget that has swelled quite a bit in recent years due to tens of millions of dollars in federal funding and grant support. The cabinet level is where this responsibility, growing in importance every year, should lie.

Opinion: Coastal Maine is not immune to devastating wildfire

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • January 12, 2025

Coastal Maine is not immune to the sort of devastation that is ravaging Los Angeles. We need only look to Acadia in 1947. Now is the time for us to assess our public and personal fire readiness: Should woodlands be thinned of deadwood? Do we have an open barrier between our structures and trees? Do we have a plan of escape? Will we be ready if the wildfire comes? ~ Geoffrey Bates, South Bristol

What these family YouTubers do for Maine’s small firewood industry

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 12, 2025

Old Town native Russ Willey Jr. often wakes up to the sound of his grandfather’s chainsaw running outside. That means it’s time to get to work in the woodyard and start recording videos. Willey, his grandfather Richard Cote Sr. and longtime friend Kevin Violette bring almost 3,000 YouTube spectators along with them to work at Willey’s Firewood. In southern Maine, Phil and Karen Allen film humorous, down-to-earth educational videos about their firewood business, delivery strategies, equipment and the occasional dangers, such as safety episodes. In two years, they’ve gained 153,000 subscribers. The two families are part of a small handful of Mainers making a mark in the community of firewood online companies, whose members call themselves “woodhounds,” around the country.

Column: What getting back to Outdoors basics really means

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 11, 2025

I began to wonder what my resolutions should be for the new year. I need to remember success isn’t just about hooking a fish or bringing home an animal. This year, I’ll try to keep our gear better organized. I’ll invest in some better-quality equipment, and sort through the unnecessary clutter. I’m ready to get back to a simpler approach. I need to spend far more time on the shooting range. I am going to fish more, including with my family and friends. I need to rekindle the excitement of pulling a 6-inch brook trout out of a tiny stream, and not be so focused on finding fish I can measure in pounds. Finally, I need to become more involved in the outdoors. I have taken from it for so many years, and it’s time to start giving back. ~ Chris Sargent

Column: Shiloh Pond Community Forest

DAILY BULLDOG • January 11, 2025

Shiloh Pond Community Forest is a 215-acre tract of pristine woodland, home to two pristine ponds, Shiloh and Little Shiloh, located north and west of in-town Kingfield. Thanks to the vision and extraordinary efforts by the people of Kingfield; and the technical assistance from the High Peaks Alliance and the Maine Trust for Public Land, and funding from the Maine Natural Resources Conservation Program, in 2024 this tract officially became the town’s first parcel of public wild land. A local Shiloh Pond Committee formed to oversee the property. A number of Kingfield businesses and individuals made significant financial or in-kind service donations to improve the access road, repair a bridge, clear and mark trails, and create signage. This is a story of heartening community initiative. ~ Doug Dunlap

Maine man gets first moose and bride-to-be the same day

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 11, 2025

With blood up to his elbows, Jared Lavers of New Gloucester dropped to one knee in the North Maine Woods beside his dead moose and asked his girlfriend of six years for her hand in marriage. It wasn’t exactly Prince Charming on a white horse, but Christine Messer thought it was perfect. She didn’t want fancy, she said, just something special. Lavers, 34, and Messer, 37, both love to hunt, which is why Messer said it meant a lot to her that he planned his proposal out the way he did.

Column: Please, stop feeding the deer

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 11, 2025

I will happily waste 30 minutes of my day watching the deer on my lawn. I own a lot of trail cameras so that I can get a glimpse into the woods when I am not out there. It’s fun and exciting and we all want to continue to have the opportunity to watch them. So, I beg of you to please stop feeding the deer and stop thinking that this is helping them. What this is really doing is killing the health of the overall herd and opening them up to a worst fate. ~ Erin Merrill

Denmark approves minor updates to strengthen water extraction ordinance amidst drought

MAINE MONITOR • January 11, 2025

In the last week of one of Maine’s driest falls on record, a meager turnout of just 19 Denmark residents unanimously voted to expand the town’s authority over bottled water behemoth Poland Spring and large-scale water extraction from local aquifers. The amendment approved at a Dec. 14 special town meeting gives Denmark powers to reduce or halt private water extraction when aquifer levels hit certain thresholds and to require large-scale extractors like Poland Spring to apply for new permits when their corporate ownership changes.

Column: Trump can’t reverse Biden’s energy policies soon enough

SUN JOURNAL • January 11, 2025

As President Biden prepares to shuffle off the stage, he has just banned new offshore drilling along an enormous swath of the U.S. coastline as part of “the most ambitious climate and conservation agenda in our country’s history.” If you are grateful that God gave the U.S. cheap and abundant energy, and want to keep it that way, Biden can’t leave soon enough. America is an oil and gas superpower. It should be unapologetic about it, and leverage every last drop for our economic and geopolitical advantage. Trump should enlist Congress to reverse the Biden ban. ~ Rich Lowry

Letter: Wind and solar are key to energy future

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 11, 2025

Up and down the East Coast, we face the same needs to meet a rising demand for electricity. Some voices in the incoming administration are arguing that wind and solar must be excluded from the electrical grid. No convincing reason is given for this argument, and such an exclusion would make it far more difficult to prevent power blackouts from demand outstripping electricity supply. With nuclear fusion more than 10 years in the future, and climate change a real thing, we would be foolish to put all our energy needs in the fossil fuel basket. Fossil fuel interests are of course arguing for exactly that, out of pure financial self-interest. ~ Chris Wiegard, Chester, Va.

Column: Amateur photographers pose risks to owl survival

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 10, 2025

This is turning into a better-than-average snowy owl year. Great photos taken in Maine are turning up on Facebook and on other social media. Some photos are so awesome, they are calendar-worthy. Normally, I would be worried about how much stress the owl endured to produce such breathtaking photos, but there are hopeful signs. Rare owls only come to Maine because they can’t find enough food up north. Getting flushed by a too-eager shutterbug doesn’t help. It may force the owl to expend what’s left of its energy reserves. It’s not just snowy owls. Two other Canadian owls draw the same crowds: the northern hawk-owl and great gray owl. ~ Bob Duchesne

You just lived through the hottest year on record — again

WASHINGTON POST • January 10, 2025

Scientists in Europe Friday confirmed that 2024 had been the hottest year on record — and the first to surpass a dangerous warming threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) that nations had pledged not to cross. But even as experts described the year as unprecedented, they acknowledged that it would ultimately become just one more marker in an upward warming trajectory causing havoc on a growing scale.

Large multifamily development proposed for Stetson Road in Auburn

SUN JOURNAL • January 10, 2025

The developer behind the Mt. Auburn Apartments is proposing a 180-unit multifamily development on Stetson Road. The proposal, which will be in front of the Planning Board on Tuesday, would place 22 duplexes and 34 quadplexes on the land between Stetson and North River roads, not far from Center Street.

Yarmouth approves Royal River dam removal to restore waterway and its inhabitants

FORECASTER • January 10, 2025

The Yarmouth Town Council voted unanimously in favor of a resolution to remove the dams on the Royal River after decades of study and deliberation on how to restore to their wild state sections of the river that runs into Casco Bay. Proponents argued the removal of two dams in Yarmouth would improve the river ecosystem by restoring aquatic habitat and increasing fish passage through the river.

Trout Unlimited to remove 200-year-old dam in Buckfield

SUN JOURNAL • January 10, 2025

The Select Board on Tuesday unanimously agreed to enter into a memo of understanding with Trout Unlimited to remove the Brush Shop Dam on the Nezinscot River, which is over 200 years old. Built in the early 1800s, the structure is near Tilton’s Market on Turner Street. Gene McKenna, the conservation chairman of the Merrymeeting Bay chapter, said the removal would benefit brook trout as they migrate to colder waters upstream. It would also allow the river to return to its natural state. He saw no danger of flooding downriver when the 10-foot dam is removed.

How will natural gas factor in to Maine’s cleaner energy future?

MAINE MORNING STAR • January 10, 2025

With only about 50,000 commercial and residential natural gas customers in Maine, there is a looming question about how much it will continue to contribute to the state’s energy mix. Public Advocate William Harwood and environmental advocates would like to see its use wind down in the coming years, but others say the resource is the stopgap needed for Maine to reach its clean energy goals. While the state waits for an analysis to help guide utilities into the future, there are generally two schools of thought on how natural gas factors into a more climate-friendly energy mix. Since it is cleaner than coal or oil, some view it as a bridge to more reliance on renewable energy sources as dirtier fossil fuels come offline. Others want to scale back its use, given that it still presents environmental risks.