Each month, we highlight news stories and opinion pieces related to Maine’s land, air, water, and wildlife. News & Noteworthy is updated weekly with the latest news related to the nature of Maine, including the work of staff at the Natural Resources Council of Maine.
September 15, 2023
Today, NRCM Climate & Clean Energy Director Jack Shapiro and Rebecca Boulos, the executive director of the Maine Public Health Association, co-author an op-ed in the Portland Press Herald about the opportunity Maine has to help our climate and our health by passing strong clean car and truck standards.
Also today, the Land Use Planning Commission announced the addition of one public hearing in Bangor (the other hearings will be in Millinocket) about the proposed rezoning of land in the Katahdin region on which Wolfden Resources would like to create a zinc mine. Learn more about our work opposing this proposal and how you can get involved.
The Auburn City Council will vote soon on a plan to bring back some curbside recycling after the city scrapped that program earlier this year.
The Confluence Collective is a group hoping to help diversify flyfishing, reaching out to women, people of color, and the LGBTQIA+ community. Learn more about their Outcast Campout weekend and more in this Maine Public story.
September 8, 2023
Let’s start out this week as we like to do…with some good news! A new community forest project in Rumford will be moving ahead thanks to some federal funds. This new forest will provide great outdoor recreation opportunities not too far from the downtown area.
We will keep going with good news: Wild Atlantic salmon are back in Maine’s rivers with their highest numbers in more than a decade. This is great news for this endangered fish. NRCM wants to see those numbers increase, which is why NRCM and our partners continue to work to have four dams on the Kennebec River removed.
It was announced recently that hearings on the controversial mining proposal at Pickett Mountain near Baxter State Park and the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument will be held in Millinocket on October 16 and 17. If you can’t attend the hearings in person, you can still send your comments to the Land Use Planning Commission here. Learn more about this project and why NRCM opposes it at nrcm.org/programs/waters/metal-mining-pollution-maine.
And finally this week, we want to say “Congratulations” to former NRCM staffer Eliza Donoghue, who was recently named the new executive director of the Maine Renewable Energy Association.
