As I sat down to write this post, I had other topics in mind, public lands, trail networks, or adventuring locally this summer, all things that I have more of a background in. Yet looking out at a sunset dimmed by the haze of the wildfires raging on the West Coast, it’s hard to not Read More
Solar Projects Will Advance a Clean, Affordable Energy Future for Maine
In late September 2020 the Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) approved 17 Maine-based renewable energy projects that are expected to generate more than 535 MW of electricity, support 450 construction and 30 permanent jobs, and reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions by more than 500,000 tons per year. The PUC’s action was the largest procurement Read More
Celebrating 30 Years of the Caribou-Speckled Wilderness
September 28, 2020, is the 30th anniversary of the Maine Wilderness Act, which was signed into law by President George H. W. Bush and designated 12,000 acres of the White Mountain National Forest as the Caribou-Speckled Mountain Wilderness. The Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) is proud of the role we played decades ago in Read More
My Maine This Week: Ted Anderson
“I’ve been hoping to see a Sandhill Crane (a species I’d never seen) for years now, but have never timed it right. One recent afternoon I was able to photograph a pair, with a juvenile, near the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village fields in New Gloucester. The sight and calls of these birds had me humming Read More
Two Weeks at Baxter State Park: A Conversation with Visiting Artist Jill Osgood
This is the first in a two-part blog series that explores the intersection of art and environmental protection with interviews featuring the 2020 visiting artists for Baxter State Park and the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. Read our interview with Allagash visiting artist Michael Vermette. Those who have visited Baxter State Park know it is an inspiring Read More
On 50th Anniversary of Unanimous Clean Air Vote, A Call for Bipartisan Climate Action
NRCM news release Augusta, ME (September 22, 2020) — On the 50th anniversary of a unanimous 1970 U.S. Senate vote to pass the Clean Air Act, Maine Independent Senator Angus King today joined clean air, public health, and climate experts at an event co-hosted by the Natural Resources Council of Maine to call for that Read More
Critter Chatter — Critter Release
Due to unexpected circumstances, I’m not able to prepare a new column for September. I feel it is appropriate, however, to submit an article written by the late Carleen Cote, which was published in September 2005 and is as applicable today as it was 15 years ago: Ah, sweet September! This is the month for Read More
My Maine This Week: Ann Flewelling
Longtime NRCM member Ann Flewelling of Sedgwick, Maine, shares two of her recent photos, one from Aroostook County and one of Mt. Katahdin at Baxter State Park. The first photo is of “a dramatic storm event emanating from Square Lake toward [her] shore on Cross Lake [in Aroostook County] in late August,” writes Ann. Ann’s Read More
News & Noteworthy — July – September 2020
Read the latest news stories and opinion pieces related to the environment, including Maine’s air, land, water, and wildlife. September 2020 The Portland Press Herald celebrates the signing of the Great American Outdoors Act earlier this year, but says the work doesn’t end there. Poland Spring Bottling Company and the University of Maine have teamed up Read More
