The most comprehensive online source of conservation news and events in Maine and beyond, edited by Jym St. Pierre
Thank you for reading Maine Environmental News. Each year, we post thousands of news summaries, notices, and links related to important environmental issues from across the state (and beyond). If you find this service useful, you can help us continue to provide it by making a donation. Just click on the button below and contribute whatever you can afford. Thanks again for your generous support!
Sincerely,
Jym St. Pierre
Editor, Maine Environmental News
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 3, 2025
This is the last opportunity to preserve railroad access from Portland to the White Mountains and beyond. On Friday, April 4, at 10 a.m., the Legislature’s Transportation Committee will receive testimony on LD 676, which would fund removal of 31 miles of Mountain Division track from Sebago to Fryeburg. Track removal is counter to Maine’s efforts to preserve this rail corridor which include: three miles of newly constructed track, one newly constructed bridge and nine miles of rail with trail preserving the corridor for recreational and railroad use. Most importantly, two railroads have expressed interest in the Mountain Division that connects Portland with St. Johnsbury, Vermont. Rails with trails may be the best use of the Mountain Division. ~ Wayne Duffet, Portland
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 3, 2025
Maine and New Brunswick are not at war with one another. We are friends and neighbors. And until the Trump administration initiated a trade war with Canada, we had no reason to fear a disruption in our electricity supply from New Brunswick. Yet here we are. The New Brunswick provincial government is seriously considering shutting off the flow of electricity from New Brunswick into northern Maine. In the event New Brunswick stops the flow of electricity into Maine, there is not enough generating capacity in Northern Maine to keep all the lights on; preserve all our food; keep all our heating systems energized; keep our stores open; keep our businesses running; and keep our citizens employed. ~ G. Melvin Hovey, retired Maine Public Service Company executive
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 3, 2025
Snowmobile and ATV trails that were so devastated by the 500-year storms more than a year ago could be repaired with money from the $30 million bond voters approved in November. The clubs just have to apply for the money by Sept. 26. The state has had money to build, repair and maintain trails through two major federal programs for decades, but this is the first non-conservation-related state bond to support just outdoor recreation infrastructure in Maine.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 2, 2025
The proposed 0 Layfette Street solar project near the Holy Cross Cemetery does not meet the requirements for a Yarmouth zoning special exemption, according to legal counsel, meaning the project can’t proceed without zoning changes. On Feb. 28, the Planning Board heard a proposal from New Leaf Energy for a solar panel farm next to the Holy Cross Cemetery on land leased from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland. The 12-acre undeveloped parcel for the project is located near the Riverside Cemetery and Royal River. The developers estimate the solar project would produce 3 million kilowatt hours of energy annually. Residents of the area widely opposed the project at its introduction.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 2, 2025
Mill Creek Park will play host to South Portland’s first Earth Day Resource Fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 26. The city holds a flurry of smaller-scale events and initiatives to celebrate Earth Day, such as the South Portland Land Trust’s volunteer cleanups of open spaces, and city departments providing activities like crafts and scavenger hunts. Chris Payne, founder and owner of Dirigo Science Connection, thought a resource fair would be a great way to bring the community together for a larger event that would be both entertaining and educational.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 2, 2025
President Donald Trump criticized U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and three other Republican senators in an early Wednesday social media post for not backing his plan to impose new tariffs on Canada. Trump has said he will enact sweeping new tariffs Wednesday, which he dubbed “Liberation Day,” on imports from other countries, including 25 percent tariffs on Canadian imports and 10 percent tariffs on Canadian energy products. “They are playing with the lives of the American people, and right into the hands of the Radical Left Democrats and Drug Cartels,” Trump said.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 1, 2025
A federal judge has decided not to revoke permits for the controversial New England Clean Energy Connect corridor, effectively ending a long-running legal battle — but not until more than a third of the project had already been completed. Chief U.S. District Judge Lance Walker on Monday ruled in favor of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Department of Energy, after several environmental groups sued the federal agencies over their environmental analysis of the $1.5 billion 145-mile transmission corridor to bring Canadian hydropower to the New England grid.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 1, 2025
The Maine Forest Service expanded its emerald ash quarantine zones to include all towns on Mount Desert Island. The quarantine follows the discovery of a “well-established” population of emerald ash borers, an extremely invasive wood-boring beetle that kills nearly all species of ash trees in Maine.
TIMES RECORD • April 1, 2025
The Town of Brunswick has partnered up with Mere Point Oyster Co., Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust and others for the fourth annual Coastal Cleanup event on Saturday, April 5. Cleanup will be from 10 a.m. to noon alongside Paul’s Marina, Merrymeeting Shellfish Co., Smith’s Boatyard and Flight Deck Brewing in celebration of Earth Day. All ages are welcome to volunteer. The event will include scavenger hunts and a shell-decorating station so children will have fun while making a positive impact on the environment.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 1, 2025
A bill that will go to public hearing in Augusta on Wednesday would prohibit coyote killing contests in the state if enacted. LD1293, An Act to Prohibit Coyote-killing Contests in Maine, targets a longtime practice in the state in which private rod and gun clubs or other nonprofits will award prizes or honors or otherwise compensate hunters who kill coyotes to support popular game animals such as deer. Animal rights advocates see the control programs and contests as exploitative, cruel and unsportsmanlike.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 31, 2025
Four towns in western Hancock County say they are on a tight timeline to find a way to take over two dams built decades ago to supply the defunct Bucksport paper mill. The salvage company that bought the former mill is asking the state to let it abandon the dams, potentially releasing the water from them, using a 30-year-old Maine law that’s never been tested. Now, representatives from Blue Hill, Orland, Penobscot and Surry want to form two quasi-municipal agencies to take over ownership and maintenance of the aging, hazardous dams on Alamoosook Lake and Toddy Pond.
MAINE MORNING STAR • March 31, 2025
While the struggle for low-income residents to afford their power bill is not new, Rep. Sophie Warren believes that the transition to clean energy needs to prioritize such economic justice issues to ensure no one is left behind in the state’s efforts to address climate change. Last session, she introduced a bill that sought to bolster support for low-income residents to access energy efficiency and weatherization programs. Although that bill died, part of what Warren had hoped to achieve eventually came to fruition when the Maine Climate Council for the first time included in updated Climate Action Plan strategies to lower the energy burden on Maine residents. Though Warren applauds that work, she introduced LD 1037 to go a step further by requiring the climate council to include in its annual report to lawmakers specific recommendations for how to reduce the portion of Mainers’ income that is being spent on electricity and home heating fuels.
TIMES RECORD • March 31, 2025
The second annual Tides of Change fundraiser brought hundreds of people from across southern Maine to Freeport to support Maine Coast Heritage Trust’s (MCHT) efforts to mitigate the damaging effects of climate change. Kate Stookey, president and CEO of the Topsham-based MCHT, said the Tides of Change fundraiser on March 27 at Maine Beer Company brought in over $92,000, surpassing last year’s event, which pulled in about $75,000. Fundraisers like Tides of Change bring awareness to MCHT’s work, such as conserving Maine’s coastlines and natural areas with programs like The Rivers Initiative and The Marshes for Tomorrow Initiative and efforts to secure land for conservation through its Land Trust Program.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 31, 2025
Despite a judge's orders and the Trump administration's promise to release the funding, farmers across the country, including in Maine, are still waiting for millions in federal reimbursements for agricultural conservation projects. Maine Sen. Angus King joined with Senate Democrats on Monday to introduce legislation that would force the Trump administration to release federal agricultural funding that has been withheld from farmers with signed contracts.
TIMES RECORD • March 31, 2025
Rep. Allison Hepler, D-Woolwich, introduced legislation on March 25 that would restore free admission to state parks and historic sites for the immediate family members of veterans and active military personnel. Hepler said, “Veterans make up nearly 10% of Maine’s population, the fifth-highest percentage in the nation with more than 105,000 living here. My bill aims to extend admission to the family members of our veterans as a small way to also recognize their sacrifices, so they too can freely access and enjoy our state parks and historic sites.”
THE GUARDIAN • March 31, 2025
The world is running out of time to halt deforestation and forest degradation. Yet instead of stepping up, the United States is dismantling forest protections and undermining global progress – highlighting the dangers of global forest policy that fails to hold the wealthiest, most powerful countries accountable. It is a system built on the false assumption that the global north behaves responsibly, while scrutiny is reserved for tropical countries. But the latest actions by the US highlight just how dangerous and unbalanced this paradigm is. Trump’s latest action clearly shows the current model needs to change. ~ Jennifer Skene, Natural Resources Defense Council
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 31, 2025
Maine will move forward with an effort to control spruce budworm infestations near the Canadian border, but the failure to get emergency state funding will limit the acreage that can be sprayed with insecticide this spring. The state has enough money to spray about 85% of the land on the verge of a spruce budworm outbreak.
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 31, 2025
LD 186, “An Act to Clarify the Public Utilities Commission’s Authority to Establish Time of Use Pricing for Standard Offer Service,” would allow the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to implement time of use (TOU) pricing, which involves charging different rates for electricity usage during peak and off-peak hours. While this may seem like a fair approach to managing energy consumption, it disproportionately affects retirees, family caregivers and those who work from home. ~ André Chassé, AARP Maine’s volunteer state president
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 29, 2025
In State v. Ray, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court recently vacated a trial court decision against an experienced cyclist, who was wrongly ticketed by a law enforcement officer for allegedly violating the statute. As the court made clear in its decision, “because the statute leaves it entirely up to a cyclist to determine how far to the right it is safe to ride, it becomes unenforceable against a cyclist who claims it would have been unsafe to have ridden farther to the right.” This holding was a powerful affirmation of something we at the Bicycle Coalition of Maine have said for years: cyclists deserve the right to make safety-based decisions about where and how they ride. ~ Andrew Zarro, Bicycle Coalition of Maine.