Maine Environmental News

News Items

Opinion: Maine’s solar policy is more costly than expected. Lawmakers can lessen this cost.
Bangor Daily News - Tuesday, November 20, 2018
Our company has been installing gross meters and working alongside other solar companies, the Maine Public Utilities Commission and the utilities to determine how to best implement new gross metering rules. The costs of installing additional meters appear to be three to four times the initial estimates, and the benefits are roughly 30 percent less than assumed. For specific commercial applications, the benefits received by ratepayers were overstated by a factor of 40 in the initial estimates. As we prepare for a shift in leadership in the Blaine House, we have the opportunity for a new path forward. Maine will benefit most when we use our differences in perspectives and expertise to implement energy development in a manner that provides the greatest value to the state. ~ Vaughan Woodruff, Insource Renewables, Pittsfield

5-year-old Troy hunter bags his first deer
Bangor Daily News - Tuesday, November 20, 2018
Bill Brosseau says his son, Max, loves anything about hunting and fishing. Maine eliminated its minimum age for hunting — 10 years old — back in 2016. Since then, parents have been allowed to decide when they think their children are ready to head afield. And on Thursday, 5-year-old Max proved that he was plenty ready. “I picked him up from childcare at about 3 p.m. after he had just finished his day in kindergarten and we headed home to get ready,” Bill Brosseau wrote. Max and his dad made it to their hunting blind and at 4:10 p.m. a doe came out into the field. “I put the rifle in the tripod and handed it to Max....I told him that when he was ready, he could shoot. He simply said ‘Ok, I got this,’ and after a short pause, BOOM!”

Signs of the times: Brunswick artist recycles election posters
Forecaster - Monday, November 19, 2018
Artist Roland Ricard started experimenting when he saw leftover campaign signs along local roads. “My goal,” he said, “was to try to reclaim these signs. They could be anything – signs for trails, parties, or playgrounds. You can even take off the wire frame and hang them inside on your wall.” So what does he charge for his political-signs-turned-art? Ricard’s passion is for the environment and he just wants to see the signs turn into something positive.

My recommendations for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
George Smith BDN Outdoor News Blog - Monday, November 19, 2018
We have too many turkeys. Eliminate the fee. The fisheries division should be reorganized to match the wildlife division, with species specialists and a teamwork approach. Lots of moose are being killed every winter by ticks. Set up feeding stations to bring the moose in and spray them to kill the ticks. In southern Maine and along the coast concern over Lyme disease has caused people to be unhappy to see lots of deer in their neighborhoods. Let hunters shoot more deer. It is critical that DIF&W work with the industry to market hunting, fishing, and other outdoor activities in Maine. Public funding for DIFW should be the top priority in the next legislative session for all of Maine’s groups representing hunters, anglers, conservationists, and environmentalists.

Boil-water order issued in North Jay
Sun Journal - Monday, November 19, 2018
The North Jay Water District issued a boil-water order Monday after a waterline break affecting customers on East Dixfield Road/Route 17 and Jerry Street. Once the break has been repaired the district is required to bring samples to a laboratory in Augusta to be tested for E. coli and coliform bacteria.

Lake Auburn water is still safe to drink, but smelly, official says
Sun Journal - Monday, November 19, 2018
Something’s in the water in the Twin Cities; residents have been getting a strange taste and smell from their taps. Sid Hazelton, Auburn Water and Sewer superintendent, said the tiny, smelly culprit is Synura, a type of freshwater algae blooming in Lake Auburn, the source of Twin Cities public water. Hazelton said the water is perfectly safe to drink and meets all drinking water standards.

Maine scallop fishery, a conservation success story, to start for the winter
Associated Press - Monday, November 19, 2018
Maine scallop fishermen set a 20-year high with last year’s harvest – and now they’re gearing up for the start of what they hope is an even better season. The state’s rebuilt fishery for scallops, which runs from November to April, is getting started for the winter in the coming days. Many in the state’s seafood industry consider Maine scallops a conservation success story, as the fishery collapsed in the mid-2000s and slowly rebuilt to the point where fishermen last year collected the highest total since 1997.

Cacoulidis family sells waterfront land once envisioned as site for hotel and conference center
Portland Press Herald - Monday, November 19, 2018
A Portland development company has purchased 30 acres of prime waterfront property that the Cacoulidis family has been trying to redevelop for two decades. L+R Northpoint, a holding company of PK Realty Management, purchased the former shipyard land where the late John Cacoulidis once proposed building a $900 million hotel and convention center that would have included a cable-car system across Portland Harbor. The family company has no firm plans for the property, which is located next to Bug Light Park and was part of a marine industrial complex where Liberty ships were built during World War II.

Opinion: My wife was killed by a hunter in the Maine woods 30 years ago. Please learn from her case.
Bangor Daily News - Monday, November 19, 2018
Nov. 15 marked the 30th anniversary of the shooting death of my wife, Karen Wood, in Hermon. At the time of her death, Karen and I, along with our 1-year-old twins, were new to Maine. The circumstances surrounding her death were well publicized throughout the country. Karen was shot by a “hunter” who presumably mistook her for a deer while she stood within our yard 130 feet from the house. It would take a special grand jury empaneled one year after her death to indict the “hunter” for manslaughter and another year to try him on this charge. His acquittal by a jury of his community peers was viewed as either justice or a travesty. I plea to all hunters to follow the basic tenets of safe hunting, principle among them “to be certain of your target and the area behind it.” ~ Kevin Wood

Maine schools to get help improving recycling programs
Associated Press - Monday, November 19, 2018
Ecomaine, a nonprofit group, is providing more than $20,000 in grants to 13 recipients in the state. The group says the grants involve a suite of programs intended to keep waste from ending up in landfills. One of the grants is going to Chelsea Elementary School for a “recycling field trip” and reusable coffee pods for teachers. Another will help replace paper towel dispensers with hand dryers at Portland High School. Still another will support a composting program at the Boys & Girls Club of Southern Maine.

Letter: Supporting Mere Point Oyster Co.
Times Record - Monday, November 19, 2018
The natural resources of the coast of Maine and Maquoit Bay have been an important source of food since the Native Americans began harvesting the waters a thousand years ago, thus it is appropriate to continue to use the bay as a food source. Since demand for oysters has increased and the natural supply of oysters has diminished, in large measure because of changes in habitat from global warming and invasive species, aquaculture has evolved. The Mere Point Oyster project is an appropriate means to meet the increased demand. I support the application of Mere Point Oyster Company for a standard aquaculture lease in Maquoit Bay. ~ John P. Cotton, Brunswick

Record growth for bald eagles in northern New England
Associated Press - Sunday, November 18, 2018
Bald eagles are in the midst of record population growth in northern New England, where America’s national bird could soon find itself removed from all state endangered lists. The eagle was once completely gone from Vermont and New Hampshire and down to just 21 pairs in Maine. But wildlife officials and conservationists in the three states said the bird is repopulating fast, to the point where it has become a threat to rarer species in some areas. Wildlife officials attributed the bird’s comeback to habitat and environmental protection measures, such as the ban on the pesticide DDT, a change that made it easier for birds of prey like eagles to reproduce successfully.

John Ford Sr., retired game warden who wrote ‘Suddenly, the Cider,’ dies at 71
Morning Sentinel - Sunday, November 18, 2018
A retired game warden who wrote a book about his experiences patrolling the Maine woods died Saturday after battling cancer. In addition to his service as a warden, John Ford Sr., served two terms as Waldo County sheriff and was a wildlife artist and an award-winning newspaper columnist. Ford’s memoir, “Suddenly, the Cider Didn’t Taste So Good: Adventures of a Game Warden in Maine,” was a collection of true tales, both humorous and serious, from the trenches of law enforcement.

Opinion: Indigenous Issues and the Newly-Elected Governor, Janet Mills
Other - Sunday, November 18, 2018
Newly-elected Governor Janet Mills is known for her work in opposition to Indigenous issues during her time as Attorney General. Three of the most pressing issues are presented in the following essay, along with steps in moving forward. ~ Dawn Neptune Adams

Opinion: Fly fishing is a dying art in Maine
Bangor Daily News - Sunday, November 18, 2018
I’m 27, and was born and raised in Maine. I have been fishing my entire life and fly fishing for a decade. I became obsessed, tying my own flies, making my own rods and climbing the furthest reaches of headwater streams to find native trout. Now, I find myself wondering, where are my peers? Learning through experience is unique and can’t be replicated. In order to restore the interest within the art of fly fishing, it is up to my generation to introduce and allow future generations to learn on their own. Half of the fun of fly fishing is observing, failing, adjusting and succeeding. If you remove failure, how will anyone become hooked? ~ Gregory LaBonte teaches and coordinates biology labs at the University of New England

How to start your own mealworm farm
Bangor Daily News - Sunday, November 18, 2018
Sometimes the best way to save a buck on feed is to make it yourself. A do-it-yourself mealworm farm is a cheap and easy way to make treats for your farm fowl from the comfort of your own home. Mealworm cuisine is an adventurous experiment, though some still squirm at the thought of eating worms. Even if you don’t plan to add mealworms to your diet, your chickens will thank you for the locally sourced treats.

Great stories of logging in the Maine Woods
George Smith BDN Outdoor News Blog - Sunday, November 18, 2018
It took a lot of wood to make Great Northern in Millinocket the largest paper mill in the world. And in his new book, "Logging Towboats and Boom Jumpers," published by North Country Press, Roger Moody gives us an interesting account of how O.A. Harkness built a specialized inland navy to get all that wood to the mill.

With boots firmly planted in Japan, L.L. Bean kicks up growth
Maine Sunday Telegram - Sunday, November 18, 2018
L.L. Bean opened its 28th Japanese store in eastern Tokyo last month, even as it beefed up new deals to sell its products at more Japanese retail stores. Sales continue to increase each year. Here's the inside story of the Freeport company's improbable and sustained success in one of the world's toughest retail markets for outsiders.

CMP warned of ‘working off the same playbook’ that stymied New Hampshire energy project
Maine Sunday Telegram - Sunday, November 18, 2018
Experts outside of Maine who are watching Avangrid/CMP struggle see parallels between what happened in New Hampshire and what’s unfolding in Maine. They wonder what lessons Avangrid/CMP learned from the experience of Northern Pass. And looking at a bigger picture, they wonder whether any major overhead transmission project can gain enough support these days to be built in New England.

To keep old growth out of new shirts, fashion turns to technology
Bloomberg News - Sunday, November 18, 2018
More than 150 million trees are cleared every year, shipped around the world, then pulped and processed into viscose – aka rayon, the cheap, silk-ish fabric most mass-market brands can’t survive without. It’s nearly impossible to know whether it originated in American tree farms or Indonesian old growth forests. Unless someone’s paying attention. So several brands spent the last year helping the Canadian nonprofit Canopy build a website called Forest Mapper that uses satellite imagery and conservation research to identify the forests that scientists say need to be left alone.

Get busy with botany at Bowdoin College Museum of Art
Maine Sunday Telegram - Sunday, November 18, 2018
It’s Sunday, don’t you feel like seeing some art, especially an exhibit with a sustainable twist? Pop over to the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, which is showing select works by two artist-botanists who captured plant life in all its stunning glory, Kate Furbish and Edwin Hale Lincoln. The exhibit is meant to highlight the growing interest in botany as the American industrial age was taking off.

The incredible edible world of David Spahr
Maine Sunday Telegram - Sunday, November 18, 2018
David Spahr, author of “Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms of New England and Eastern Canada: A Photographic Guidebook to Finding and Using Key Species,” is the state’s authority on local edible mushrooms. For the self-taught Spahr, the Maine landscape is a giant potential pantry.

Anna McGinn is headed to her fifth international climate change meeting
Maine Sunday Telegram - Sunday, November 18, 2018
UMaine graduate student Anna McGinn is gearing up for her fifth trip to the United Nations’ climate change negotiations, the annual gathering of world leaders that in 2015 led to the Paris Accord, a global agreement on taking measures to combat climate change. This time, the meetings are in Poland. But before McGinn heads overseas, she’s bringing simulations of the meeting to students throughout Maine and hoping to bring some of them along virtually. We talked to McGinn about how she is helping Maine students channel the needs of both far-flung countries and their own.

Strange and quirky hunting stories from Registered Maine Guides
Maine Sunday Telegram - Sunday, November 18, 2018
Hunting season is not just about spending time in the woods, tracking deer and trying to bring home wild game meat. It’s about stories. And probably nobody has as many quirky or ridiculous stories of the woods as Registered Maine Guides. “Stories are part of what clients are paying for,” said Registered Maine Guide Mike Andreotti of Thornehead Guide Service. We contacted a dozen guides for stories and found this to be true. Here are a few of them.

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