Letter: Maine should stop coyote killing contests

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 19, 2025

I cannot even begin to comprehend how there are individuals in this state who take part in coyote killing contests, and that these barbaric events are allowed by the Maine Department of Inland Fishies and Game. I believe these contests are inhumane and serve absolutely no purpose other than to torture animals. I encourage everyone who cares about a healthy ecosystem, working towards eradicating Lyme disease and for the ethical treatment of all animals, to please contact your state representative and senator and let them know your thoughts on this matter. ~ Janie Whitney, Bar Harbor

Using community solar? Double check your electricity savings

MAINE PUBLIC • February 18, 2025

The Maine Office of the Public Advocate is urging rate-payers enrolled in community solar programs to double check their utility bills, after a small number of customers reported not seeing expected savings. Public Advocate Heather Sanborn said there's no current indication this is a widespread issue, and that problems with one solar provider involving delivery rates have been resolved — but that folks should double check out of an abundance of caution. Ratepayers who notice billing discrepancies are urged to contact the public advocate's office.

Maine farmers face high costs from USDA grant freeze

MAINE PUBLIC • February 18, 2025

The uncertainty fueled by the Trump administration’s wave of funding and hiring freezes is now being felt by Maine farmers. Those who have signed agreements with the U.S. Department of Agriculture are nervously awaiting word on whether they will get their promised funds, or be on the hook for thousands of dollars of projects that are already well underway. Maine Congresswoman Chellie Pingree said she is hearing from farmers worried about losing their livelihoods to these sudden expenses. "It's got my blood boiling, and I know it's got a lot of farmers in the state of Maine very concerned about how they're going to make ends meet," she said.

Acadia National Park loses staff under Donald Trump’s sweeping layoffs

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 18, 2025

President Donald Trump’s mass firing of federal workers has hit Acadia National Park. Eight full-time staff at the national park that mostly lies on Maine’s Mount Desert Island were laid off Friday amid the Trump administration firing more than 10,000 federal workers across multiple agencies, according to Friends of Acadia. The eight staff collected fees at entrances and helped maintain more than 150 miles of trails. Trump’s federal hiring freeze has also drawn concerns from Acadia supporters over whether it would affect seasonal positions. Acadia typically fills more than 100 seasonal positions each year to deal with the influx of visitors during the core tourism season. The park is perennially among the 10 most visited in the country.

Editorial: Trumping Our Public Lands

MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • February 18, 2025

Donald Trump’s pick to be Secretary of Interior is Doug Burgum. The former governor of North Dakota ran in the 2024 Republican presidential primary but dropped out and became a big Trump supporter. Burgum is being rewarded with overseeing the Department of Interior (DOI), which manages hundreds of millions of acres of your public lands. Trump and Burgum see not national treasures to be conserved but resources to be exploited. Like Trump, Burgum is a huge booster of oil and gas drilling. He is expected to reverse protections for our public lands, wound the Endangered Species Act, shrink or delete national monuments, and push drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. On Monday, he sent an email update about big news from DOI. There was no mention of the 2,300 Interior professionals who were fired last Friday. Instead, he trumpeted the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico. His hearing is February 20. He will be confirmed by the MAGA-dominated US Senate. How will Sen. Susan Collins vote?

Maine's fisheries regulator stepping down

MAINE PUBLIC • February 18, 2025

Patrick Keliher, Maine's longest-serving commissioner, is leaving his post as chief of the Department of Marine Resources following high-profile tensions with the state's lobster industry. Keliher first landed the DMR post in 2012 picked by Republican Gov. Paul LePage. The regulatory changes have often put Keliher in the position of trying to protect an industry that often argues that lobstermen are capable of regulating themselves. In January, those tensions came to a head when some lobstermen called Keliher a sell-out. He has expressed frustration with what he calls some in the industry's short-term thinking instead of prioritizing protecting the fishery.

New report charts a 10 year path forward for Maine's outdoor recreation economy

MAINE PUBLIC • February 18, 2025

A new report from the Maine Office of Outdoor Recreation and business charts a roadmap for growing the state's $3.4 billion outdoor recreation economy over the next decade, with a focus on education, accessibility, and workforce development. Stacey Keefer, executive director of the Maine Marine Trades Association, which contributed to the report, said one potential solution to workforce challenges is more education and publicity about outdoor jobs in the state. Jeff McCabe, director of the Maine Office of Outdoor Recreation, said increasingly severe weather due to climate change is posing a serious threat to the outdoor recreation economy, but that also creates an opening for more trail worker jobs needed to make the state's outdoor infrastructure more resilient.

Bar Harbor college 1st in country to eliminate the use of single-use plasticware

SPECTRUM NEWS • February 18, 2025

Bar Harbor’s College of the Atlantic will become the first campus in the country to eliminate disposable plastic food ware in their dining operations, according to the nonprofit Post-Landfill Action Network. A reusable to-go program launching at the college this winter replaces single-use plastic with stainless steel containers, mugs and sporks. According to College of the Atlantic, the effort will keep more than 50,000 pieces of plastic out of the waste stream.

Another earthquake recorded in Maine

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 18, 2025

Another earthquake was recorded in Maine, but this one was more than 250 miles from the quake that rocked southern Maine last month. The 2.5 magnitude earthquake at 8:56 p.m. Sunday was centered 21 miles northwest of Millinocket. Its recorded depth was about 6.6 miles. The impact was much less significant than the 3.8 magnitude earthquake on Jan. 27 that was felt as far north as Bangor and south as New York City. That quake was centered 6 miles southeast of York Harbor.

This toxic chemical is more common in Maine groceries than you think

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 18, 2025

The “BPA-free” labels on sports water bottles and groceries don’t tell consumers the whole story about the toxic chemical bisphenol A. Variations of the chemical that still pose a health risk may be used instead, and a widespread number of products still contain BPA and don’t disclose it. Health experts and toxic chemical researchers in Maine are calling for broader regulations on BPA after a new law in the European Union banned its use in any materials that come into contact with food for humans.

The voice of Maine sportsmen turns 50 this year

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 18, 2025

The Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine marks its 50th anniversary in 2025. SAM is currently joining forces with the Gun Owners of Maine and the National Shooting Sports Association to pursue a legal challenge to Maine’s 72- hour waiting period between gun purchases and possession.

Camden committee recommends removing downtown dam

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 17, 2025

After years of deliberations, a Camden committee has recommended that the town remove the downtown Montgomery Dam ahead of a vote on the matter next spring.The Megunticook River Citizens Advisory Committee voted 8-1 to approve a recommendation for fully removing the 254-year-old dam. The committee argued that fully removing the dam is the best option, including the increased flood risk that would come with keeping it and the hindrance it creates to marine species that would benefit from a free-flowing river.

A Valentine’s Day celebration of vital, overlooked eelgrass

TIMES RECORD • February 17, 2025

On Feb. 14, the Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education and the Collaborative for Bioregional Action Learning & Transformation (COBALT) held a workshop blending art, science and Indigenous wisdom: “For the Love of Eelgrass.” Befitting the holiday, attendees discussed seagrass meadows’ reproductive strategies and their crucial role in the health of Maine’s coast. This is especially important as more than 50% of native eelgrass has declined in recent years.

Interior Department Ignores Thousands Fired In Reviewing Its Week

NATIONAL PARKS TRAVELER • February 17, 2025

It was a great week at the Interior Department: the "Gulf of America" was crowned, grazing fees on public lands remained absurdly low, and U.S. Geological Survey staff helped rescue cold-stunned sea turtles in Florida. Those 2,300 Interior employees — including 1,000 from the National Park Service — whose Valentine's Day greeting were termination notices? Not a mention in Interior Secretary Doug Burgum's "This Week At Interior" email sent Friday to review what Interior was up to last week. The video was removed early Monday. The grazing fee — the amount charged ranchers for allowing their livestock to graze on U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lands — for 2025 is $1.35 per month per cow-calf combination. That's the lowest it can drop under the law. Grazing fees on private lands are much, much higher.

Greater Lovell Land Trust conserves nearly 2,700 acres in western Maine

CONWAY (NH) DAILY SUN • February 17, 2025

Greater Lovell Land Trust has expanded its Kezar River focus area by 1,411 acres, bringing the total conserved area to over 2,700 contiguous acres in Lovell and Sweden, Maine. The acquisition, made possible by the purchase of land from a local family deeply connected to the region’s forests, builds on the 1,315 acres GLLT conserved in 2022 and 2023. The lands include forest and seven miles of river and features steep bluffs, hilltop vistas, beaver ponds, and wetlands, creating habitat connectivity between the Saco River and White Mountains. The achievement marks the largest land purchase in GLLT’s history. A $1,035,000 grant from the Land for Maine’s Future Program early in fundraising was instrumental in realizing this project.

Maine’s congressional delegation wants more teenagers logging

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 17, 2025

A new federal bill would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to work for their parents’ logging businesses in a bid to generate interest in an industry challenged by staffing shortages and an aging workforce. The bill, sponsored by Maine’s four members of Congress, has crossed desks for over a decade, but it’s never taken off. This time around, though, there’s a renewed sense of urgency. A large chunk of Maine’s forestry workers are fast approaching retirement. And Maine’s loggers, foresters and elected officials believe that starting loggers at a younger age could be the antidote to an uncertain future.

Old but new – The Vienna Woods Conservation Area

DAILY BULLDOG • February 16, 2025

One of the newer hiking tracts in the foothills of Western Maine, open to the public, is the Vienna Woods Conservation Area in the town of Vienna. The 71-acre property is owned and managed for public use by the Kennebec Land Trust (KLT). The Vienna Woods tract contains a 1.6 mile loop trail that includes a look-out point from atop the 700’ elevation “Pinnacle.”  The winding hiking trail descends through woods populated by hemlock, red oak, popple, balsam fir, rock maple, beech, and ash, to a vernal pool at the lowest elevation on the property – 500’ elevation. Along the way the route passes by, and through, a series of intriguing, rugged rock outcrops that led to this angled rocky ridge being dubbed the “Devils Backbone” – a term still in use by local residents. With at least two run-off brooks, the pool, and the look-out point, the area is understood to have been in use by Native American people for thousands of years.

Dresden farm unveils innovative techniques for spring growing season

TIMES RECORD • February 17, 2025

Jan and Rob Johanson and their sons, Carl and Göran, run the third-generation operation at Dresden's Goranson Farm. Certified organic produce must be grown without synthetic pesticides and herbicides. You may wonder how they do it. The answer is innovation rooted in agroecology, which involves using nature’s assets and surrounding ecosystems to grow food. 

EPA visits Winthrop schools as part of electric bus investigation

KENNEBEC JOURNAL • February 17, 2025

A representative from the Environmental Protection Agency visited Winthrop schools in late January as part of an investigation into Lion Electric Co.’s electric buses. The four electric buses Winthrop has received from Lion have been plagued with problems since they arrived in Winthrop in late 2023. Lion Electric Co., a Quebec-based company that recently filed for credit protection, was the first to provide Maine with electric buses through a federal program designed to replace diesel buses with no-emission electric vehicles. In all, 30 school districts across Maine received a total of 72 electric buses through the EPA-run program. However, the Lion Electric buses, which now have been sent to nine of the districts, are the only buses to consistently have problems.

Follow Maine birds

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 17, 2025

Maine is truly for the birds, as evidenced by the array of photos shared on the Maine BirdsFacebook page. The page, which is private but easy to join, is meant to be an education-based group for sharing experiences about wild birds in Maine. “The intent of this group is to provide a space for members to share sightings, photos, videos and discussion about wild birds in Maine” is in the group’s description. Its 37,000 members understand the assignment. Even a cursory glance at the page will ruffle your feathers with photos of wild turkeys, cardinals, ducks, falcons, owls, bluebirds, hawks and hundreds of other types of birds.