Donald Trump’s Second Term Will Be Bad News for Endangered Ocean and Coastal Animals

THE REVELATOR • February 2, 2025

The re-election of Donald Trump has scientists and conservationists like me worried about the wildlife and wild places we’ve dedicated our lives to protecting. This is especially true for ocean and coastal natural resource management and endangered species conservation, given Trump’s ongoing rhetoric. He’s attacked climate science and supported a plan to dismantle the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. There are also reasons to be concerned about the scientists working to study and protect these species, who could find themselves out of work or actively persecuted.

Trump says Americans could feel ‘some pain’ from his new tariffs

ASSOCIATED PRESS • February 2, 2025

President Donald Trump said Sunday that Americans could feel “some pain” from the emerging trade war triggered by his tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China. The trade penalties that Trump signed Saturday at his Florida resort caused a mix of panic, anger and uncertainty, and threatened to rupture a decades-old partnership on trade in North America while further straining relations with China. Trump is placing a 25 percent tariff on Canadian goods, with a 10 percent tax on oil, natural gas and electricity. Canada is imposing 25percent tariffs on more than $155 billion on U.S. products. Despite Trump’s claim that the U.S does not need Canada, one-quarter of the oil that the America consumes per day is from its ally to the north. Mexico’s president also announced new tariffs. Outside analyses make clear that Trump’s tariffs would hurt the voters that he intended to help.

In Maine, questions follow federal funding freeze

MAINE MONITOR • February 2, 2025

Several programs appeared to be in jeopardy last week when the Trump administration abruptly announced a freeze on federal payments for grants and other programs. On Wednesday, the administration rescinded the order behind the freeze but said it stood by its intention to have agencies evaluate their programs to ensure they align with Donald Trump’s priorities. When the freeze memo came down, nonprofits across the state suddenly lost access to their funds, putting a wide array of programs, including environmental research, in jeopardy.

Opinion: Return of land to Penobscot Nation will make history

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • February 2, 2025

In the heart of Maine’s North Woods, a historic land transfer is unfolding that could reshape the relationship between Indigenous people and their ancestral lands. Last year, the nonprofit Trust for Public Land (TPL) announced that it would acquire 30,000 acres of land and return it to the Penobscot tribe. As an investor in nature and conservation projects, I know how rare this type of transaction is. This land transfer presents a chance to right historical wrongs and restore Indigenous stewardship to a significant portion of Maine’s wilderness. ~ John Ambler, Pollination, a climate and nature investment and advisory firm

Letter: Offshore wind development pause is short-sighted

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • February 2, 2025

On Jan. 20, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order that halts leases for offshore wind development in federal waters. One justification was to provide time to examine the impact on whales. What contributes to whale deaths is climate change. Offshore wind could help address climate change without bringing harm to marine life. If this administration is truly concerned about whale deaths, it would do better to increase wind development and focus on other ways to mitigate climate change. ~ Erica Bartlett, Portland

Aroostook snowmobile industry grapples with 2nd year of low snow

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 2, 2025

After last year’s dismal snowmobiling season, Aroostook County outdoors enthusiasts hoped for better this year. While it has certainly been colder the snow has been minimal. Lack of snow has been a big problem statewide, because businesses rely on winter visitors to spend money on lodging, gas, food and more. In the winter of 2022-23, snowmobiling contributed about $710 million to Maine’s economy, according to a University of Maine report released Friday. But that fell last year to about $582 million, due largely to scant snow. Nearly 10,000 fewer Mainers registered snowmobiles. If that trend continues — and experts on climate change say it will — it may take some out-of-the-box thinking to keep the seasonal economy going.

Here are some of the winter pleasures of Moosehead Lake

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 2, 2025

I’ve returned to Moosehead many times over the years, but recently I enjoyed an extended stay. I contemplated hiking in Little Moose Public Land or visiting Big Moose Ski Area, where I could downhill ski and cross-country ski on groomed trails. But in the end, I settled on hiking Mount Kineo. You have to take a boat to Kineo during the summer. But during the winter, when the lake ice is safe, you can walk or ski over to the mountain. And that’s what we did. On our last morning there, we clipped into our cross-country skis and struck out across the ice to visit Lily Bay State Park. I attempted to read the story stamped into the snow. Wildlife tracks dotted the forest floor — the cloven hoofprints of deer, the leaping pattern of squirrels and the tiny imprints left by mice and voles. ~ Aislinn Sarnacki

Experts warn Maine lobster industry may take a hit due to Trump's tariffs

WGME-TV13 • February 1, 2025

Mainers are bracing for the 25% percent tariffs that President Donald Trump plans to levy on Canada and Mexico on Saturday. We could soon be seeing higher prices on wood products, vehicles, and seafood. USM Economics Professor, Dr. Rachel Bouvier, says the rise in tariffs Trump plans to apply could have a detrimental impact on the Maine economy, as Canada is one of Maine's biggest trading partners. "We have trade worth about $7.5 billion dollars," said Bouvier. "Imposing these tariffs is not really going to help with the trade deficit. I think that's something that his advisors are trying to advise him on. But I don't know if that message is really getting through."

Column: Why do we see, or not see, certain animals

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 1, 2025

There is so much luck involved in spotting wildlife. A good place to start: Who is active and when? We only have a few species of mammals that are true hibernators and remain dormant throughout the winter. As much as we may love seeing wildlife in our backyards, we do want to keep them wild. ~ Doug Hitchcox, Maine Audubon

Gorham Connector gets more opposition than support in poll of residents

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 1, 2025

As public dissent rose last summer against the proposed Gorham Connector and the Maine Turnpike Authority decided to pause — but not drop — plans for the highway spur west of Portland, the agency commissioned a $23,000 poll to better gauge how residents felt about it. 45% of respondents said they oppose (12%) or strongly oppose (33%) the connector, while 40% said they support (20%) or strongly support (20%) building the road.

CMP spent $24.5 million on storm cleanups in Maine in 2024

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 1, 2025

Central Maine Power Co. spent $24.5 million to clean up and restore power following three storms last year, the utility told Maine regulators Thursday in an initial estimate that does not calculate the impact on ratepayers. Each of the storms, on Oct. 12 and Nov. 28, knocked out power to more than 120,000 customers, the utility said in its filing to the state Public Utilities Commission. A storm on Dec. 11 caused 91,000 outages, it said. CMP serves about 635,000 customers.

Letter: Electric buses not worth the investment

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 1, 2025

While “officials” make claims about air around the electric school buses and the environment in general, they do not make any factual claims about benefits to the global warming target: CO2. The officials are basking in the largesse of the federal government, deep-state effort to reengineer our culture to adopt electric vehicles, no matter their real value. Electric buses are only a possibility because the federal government is paying for most of them, while the debt is $36 trillion. This is an example of government overreach. It is ridiculous. The Maine Legislature has mandated that buses be electric by 2035. What the hell, add another $1 trillion to the debt for no good reason. ~ Brian Jones, Gorham

Bill proposed to block Sears Island wind port

MAINE MORNING STAR • January 31, 2025

State Rep. Reagan Paul, a Republican from Winterport, has proposed legislation that would prevent the state from building a planned facility on Sears Island to support a nascent offshore Gulf of Maine ocean wind power industry. The measure was floated as President Donald Trump froze further ocean wind development in federal waters. It follows funding roadblocks to the ambitious port project. The bill would extend an existing conservation easement over the entire 941-acre, state-owned island in Searsport. The land was divided in 2007 between a preservation area and a smaller parcel set aside for development. Paul opposes developing offshore wind power and argues it is too expensive and environmentally harmful.

Massive solar farm proposal alarms tiny Aroostook town

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 31, 2025

A solar developer faced community blowback during an informational session this week on a proposed 5,000-acre solar farm in the tiny northern Maine town of Hersey. “Just tell me now if this is something you want,” said Next Phase Energy Services President Dave Fowler during the meeting with Hersey residents. They responded that they don’t want the project, which could potentially become the state’s largest utility-scale solar project both by acreage and power generation.

Plans are underway for a bio-fuel plant to open in Millinocket

MAINE PUBLIC • January 31, 2025

A national biofuels company says it plans to site a new plant at the former Great Northern Paper mill in Millinocket. Castlerock Biofuels will convert logging residue from local forestry operations to into 20 million gallons of bio-oil per year, says company CEO John Murphy. Murphy says bio-crude from wood produces much lower emissions than traditional heating oil. He says the plant processing the wood will be powered by electricity from the nearby hydropower dam in Brookfield. The facility is expected to be operational by 2027. And according to Our Katahdin, a community development nonprofit, the new project should create 150 construction jobs, and once up and running, 80 full-time jobs in the area.

Jetport tree removal under scrutiny by South Portland officials

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 31, 2025

City officials are scrutinizing ongoing tree removal at Calvary Cemetery that’s intended to clear the runway approach to Portland International Jetport. The selective tree removal is required under Federal Aviation Administration regulations and has been approved by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, which owns the cemetery. South Portland Planning Director Milan Nevajda said Friday that city officials are reviewing the tree project to ensure the jetport hasn’t exceeded FAA requirements or a city permit issued several years ago.

Appeals court reinstates lobster fishing limits to preserve right whales

MAINE MORNING STAR • January 31, 2025

Conservation groups are praising a recent decision to reinstate protections for endangered North Atlantic right whales in a particularly precarious stretch of ocean off the coast of New England. The First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston decided Thursday to restrict lobster fishing, which in turn restores protections for endangered right whales. That decision overturned a district court verdict by reinstating a 2024 National Marine Fisheries Service rule that cordoned off a 200 square mile area of federal waters between February and April, when right whales are present.

New bills could allow towns to come together and take over abandoned dams

MAINE MONITOR • January 31, 2025

A coalition of lawmakers in Hancock County are working on a slate of bills that could allow Maine towns to band together and take ownership of abandoned dams. The timing of the legislation is pertinent. The owner of the former Verso Paper Mill in Bucksport, AIM Development USA, is in the process of forfeiting ownership of three dams in the Bucksport area, where hundreds of residents reside on the dams’ lakes and pond. If the Maine Department of Environmental Protection allows AIM to carry out forfeiture, it would result in the supervised dewatering of Toddy Pond, Silver Lake and Alamoosook Lake, turning lake water into mudflats, depriving Bucksport of its drinking water source and threatening the operations of a gas-fired power plant.

2 people rescue themselves after falling through ice on Moosehead Lake

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 31, 2025

John Soares and Matthew Soares of New Jersey were fishing around the Moody Islands but decided to go to the back side of Sugar Island to get out of the wind. John, who was driving the snowmobile, saw a pressure ridge between the point and the island and slowed down, remembering being told not to go near visible marker buoys on their sled. Just then, as they moved slowly, the sled broke through the ice. He hit the throttle to try to get out of it, but the sled sank. John got out of the cold water quickly. His passenger Matthew, who was fully in the water, panicked at first but managed to get out too. The men walked to the tree line and called 911.