by Abigail Curtis, BDN staff Bangor Daily News news story BELFAST, Maine — Maine seabirds – including the iconic Atlantic puffin – may be in trouble. Researchers are concerned about starving chicks and dead birds that washed up this winter off Cape Cod and Scotland. Lately, the razorbill, a species related to puffins, has been Read More
Maine House Passes Bill to Revise Mining Law in Attempt to Protect Water, Taxpayers
by Jen Lynds, BDN staff Bangor Daily News news story AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine House on Wednesday afternoon approved a bill that officials said would help protect water from pollution caused by mineral mining while also protecting taxpayers from footing the bill for mine cleanup costs. LD 1302, An Act to Amend the Maine Read More
Maine House Passes Mining Bill with Environmental Safeguards
Opponents said the measure is too stringent and would hurt job creation in Aroostook County by Tom Bell, staff writer Portland Press Herald news story AUGUSTA — A bill that adds environmental safeguards to the state’s mining law won initial support in the Maine House on Wednesday. The House voted 91 to 49 to pass Read More
Return of Alewives on St. Croix River Celebrated
by John Holyoke, BDN staff Bangor Daily News news story BAILEYVILLE, Maine — For nearly 20 years, conservationists and, at times, state natural resource agencies, have sought to open the St. Croix River watershed to alewives. Those river herring had their passage at dam fishways officially blocked in 1995 due to concerns that their presence Read More
New Effort Seeks to Block Tar Sands Oil Export from South Portland
A citizens group says they will try to change a zoning law to prevent Canadian tar sands oil from being pumped through the city and prohibit building new infrastructure to process it. by Matt Byrne, staff writer Portland Press Herald news update SOUTH PORTLAND—A citizen group opposed to the prospect of Canadian tar sands oil Read More
Maine Senate Rejects Added Water Safeguards at Mines
A single vote sinks a bill that advocates said would protect water quality but opponents said would hamper job creation. by Michael Shepherd, State House Reporter & Tom Bell, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news update AUGUSTA — A bill that would add environmental safeguards to Maine mining laws was rejected by a single vote Read More
Return of Alewives to St. Croix River Celebrated
by Susan Sharon MPBN news story There was a homecoming celebration on the St. Croix River in Baileyville today — for an ecologically and culturally significant species of fish. Alewives were almost completely driven out of the waterway that borders Maine and Canada, where fishing guides have long viewed the native fish as a threat Read More
Celebrating Herring Homecoming on St. Croix River
Federal officials pledge continuing support to help restore one of largest alewife runs in the nation News Release Baileyville, Maine — Today, Tribal and federal Trustees joined with state and nongovernmental partners and Canadian officials to celebrate the reopening of the Grand Falls Dam fish ladder, which has been closed for more than two decades, Read More
Starvation Stressing Maine Puffin Colonies
Scientists blame shifting fish populations as ocean temperatures rise. by Clarke Canfield, Associated Press Portland Press Herald news story PORTLAND — The Atlantic puffin population is at risk in the United States, and there are signs the seabirds are in distress in other parts of the world. In the Gulf of Maine, the comical-looking seabirds Read More
