http://www.nrcm.org/rss.asp Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) bdimond@nrcm.orgFri, 09 May 2008 08:52:53 EDTFuzzyRSS 1.0.1 http://www.nrcm.org/news_detail.asp?news=2374ORONO, Maine — The University of Maine and a state energy efficiency program have acquired two devices used to measure wind speed and determine whether an area is a good location for a wind turbine.The Maine Public Utilities Commission’s Efficiency Maine Program and UM representatives announced at a news conference Wednesday that they will begin accepting applications from schools, tow...bdimond@nrcm.orgThu, 01 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.nrcm.org/news_detail.asp?news=2375In its 1969 "Report on the Wildlands," a research committee of the Maine Legislature wrote these stirring words: "Maine has always been proud of its wildlands -- the Big Woods, land of Indian and trapper, of white pine tall enough for masts on His Majesty's ships, of mountain lion, moose, and eagle. Much of the wildness was still there when Thoreau went in by birchbark c...bdimond@nrcm.orgSun, 04 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.nrcm.org/news_detail.asp?news=2380AUBURN - Backyard landscapers don't need chemicals to get a green lawn, but they may have to give up some of their assumptions."Turf grass is not native to Maine," said Megan Wooster of the Androscoggin Valley Soil and Water Conservation District. "There are grasses that are native, but they are bigger and broader than turf grass - and clover is native. But people don't ...bdimond@nrcm.orgMon, 05 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.nrcm.org/news_detail.asp?news=2379DIXFIELD - Kristin Chambers was surprised that Dirigo Middle School didn't have a recycling program when she arrived as a student teacher in March.Chambers decided to do something about it.The seventh-grade science teacher, whose mentor teacher is David Buck, got all her seventh-graders on board, plus some students from Jon Longley's special education classes, to launch a recycling program in time...bdimond@nrcm.orgMon, 05 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.nrcm.org/news_detail.asp?news=2378AUGUSTA (AP) - Environmental health advocates say Maine's new law to restrict lead in toys makes the state a national leader.As of July 2009, the law will ban the sale of children's products in Maine that contain more than 90 parts per million lead. Current federal regulations only bar the sale of products if lead paint has more than 600 parts per million.Advocates say the new law has the highest ...bdimond@nrcm.orgTue, 06 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.nrcm.org/news_detail.asp?news=2377There’s something about the Fort Halifax Dam, on the Sebasticook River in Winslow, that’s not quite right. Maybe it’s the shape — the dam is a shallow V pointing upstream, the only dam of that design in Maine. Maybe it’s the lack of a lake behind the twenty-nine-foot-tall concrete structure — the impoundment is long and narrow and decidedly riverish.Maybe it&#82...bdimond@nrcm.orgTue, 06 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.nrcm.org/news_detail.asp?news=2376President George Bush has finally responded to worldwide recognition of his failure to confront global warming. The new climate policy he has announced -- which delays serious pollution reductions until 2025 -- was quickly derided by critics as mere lip service, rather than a real plan to combat climate change. The critics are wrong. It's actually far worse than that. Bush's climate "poli...bdimond@nrcm.orgTue, 06 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.nrcm.org/news_detail.asp?news=2381Decades ago, a full mailbox meant you had a lot of friends and family who wanted to keep in touch. Today, it means your address is logged into the credit card industry’s data base.According to www.41pounds.org, a nonprofit environmental Web site dedicated to combating the scourge of junk mail, 100 million trees are cut each year to produce the paper for those credit card, insurance and other...bdimond@nrcm.orgWed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.nrcm.org/news_detail.asp?news=2383University of Maine at Machias Green Council president Ryan Martin recently signed up his fledgling club for a project called RecycleMania as a way to build awareness.Martin said even he was surprised when UMM beat out four other Maine colleges in the 10-week program in which campuses compete in recycling projects."We honestly had no hopes of winning," he said. "Our main...bdimond@nrcm.orgFri, 09 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.nrcm.org/news_detail.asp?news=2382YORK — This week, the York Land Trust's Hilton-Winn property became a classroom for the fifth-graders at York Middle School --a living laboratory designed to teach them about the value of nature and being outdoors.The students searched for signs to identify vernal pools, such as spotted-salamander egg masses. Students Amanda Lillie and Emma Cusack, both 11, were responsible for documenting t...bdimond@nrcm.orgFri, 09 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT