On January 20, 2011, NRCM sponsored a Roundtable on Maine People and the Environment at which 29 speakers presented to Governor LePage their views on why a clean and healthy environment is important for their job, our economy, the quality of life of Maine people, and our state’s future. The bios, transcripts of remarks, and a video clip of each speaker are provided below.
To read written remarks by each presenter, please click on their name.
To watch video of each presenter, please click on their photo.
Opening remarks by Pete Didisheim, NRCM Advocacy Director
 | Ray “Bucky” Owen worked as a professor at the University of Maine at Orono for over thirty years, chairing the Wildlife Department for a decade. In 1993, Governor McKernan nominated Bucky to head the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, a position he also held in the Administration of Governor King. Watch video. |
 | CD Armstrong is President of Deering Lumber, Inc., a full service lumber and building supply retailer with lumberyards in Biddeford and Kennebunk, in business since 1866. Armstrong also volunteers service as Chairman of the Friends of Scarborough Marsh and as Vice Chair for the Maine Chapter of the Nature Conservancy. Watch video. |
 | William P. Bennett is President and Chief Operating Officer of Oakhurst Dairy, the only truly local major dairy in Northern New England and Eastern Massachusetts. For more than 30 years, Bill has managed every aspect of day-to-day operations and developed strategies for continuous improvement of quality and efficiency. Watch video. |
 | Chief Brenda Commander is the tribal chief of the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians. Throughout her tenure, Brenda has helped create new programs while working with others to secure grant funding for housing, health and domestic violence services. Watch video. |
 | Chad Coffin is president of the Maine Clammers Association, a non-profit organization founded by Maine’s wild clammers, whose goal it is to maintain and improve the quality of Maine’s tidal and ocean waters.Watch video. |
 | Joan Benoit Samuelson is the only American woman to have ever won an Olympic gold medal in the marathon, “taking the gold” in the 1984 summer games in Los Angeles. She is a pioneer of women’s marathoning. She won the 1979 and 1983 Boston Marathons, and has qualified for every Olympic Trial since 1984. Watch video. |
 | Garrett Conover and his business partner Alexandra Conover Bennett have been professional canoe and snowshoe guides for 28 years. Garrett is a registered Maine Guide who has specialized in traditional wilderness traveling techniques of the boreal north woods. Watch video. |
 | John Cooney is the Vice President of Finance and Development at Reed & Reed, Inc., based in Woolwich and founded in 1928. Reed & Reed has a long history of successful public and private construction projects throughout New England. Watch video. |
 | Megan Rice is a mother from China, Maine. Megan’s daughters are Kate (4) and Elizabeth (16 months). Before becoming a mother, Megan worked with Maine organizations that try to reduce the burden of tobacco addiction and substance abuse on Maine families. Watch video. |
 | Harry Dwyer has been in the logging and forestry business for 30 years. A licensed forester, certified master logger, licensed wood scaler and certified logging professional, Harry owns Ghost Dancer Forestry in Fayette, Maine. Harry was awarded the Maine Forest Service’s Outstanding Forest Stewardship Award in 2001. Watch video. |
 | Maroulla S. Gleaton, M.D. is an ophthalmologist with a practice in Augusta. She is a leader in the state’s medical community, currently serving on the executive committee of the Maine Medical Association. Through the MMA, Maine Health Access Foundation, and the Family Medicine Institute, she has developed a deep understanding of the challenges that families and physicians face in accessing or providing quality healthcare. Watch video. |
 | Ken Olson is retired President and CEO of Friends of Acadia. He previously served as Executive Director of The Nature Conservancy of Connecticut, President of American Rivers (Washington, DC), Director of Special Projects at The Conservation Fund (Arlington, VA) and, early in his career, head of the Appalachian Mountain Club Hut System in NH’s White Mountain National Forest. Watch video. |
 | Corson “Corky” Ellis is Chairman and Founder of Kepware Technologies, which he started in 1995. Kepware is located in Portland’s historic Old Port, and employs 50 people as the world’s leading company for communications and related products for use in the automation marketplace. Watch video. |
 | Horace “Hoddy” Hildreth, Jr. is chairman of Diversified Communications, a former Republican state senator and candidate for Congress, and son of the late Gov. Horace Hildreth Sr. When serving in the Maine Legislature, Hoddy drafted and sponsored some of the state’s most significant environmental laws. Watch video. |
 | Martin Grohman is GAF’s first Director of Sustainability where he is responsible for communicating and developing sustainability for the entire $3B company. He joined GAF with the purchase of Correct Building Products which he co-founded and grew to $30M in sales. Watch video. |
 | Glen Libby is the President of the Midcoast Fishermen’s Cooperative, Chairman of the Midcoast Fishermen’s Association and President of the Port Clyde Community Groundfish sector, all based in Port Clyde Maine. He serves on the New England Fisheries Management Council and the Maine Marine Resources Advisory Council and is a lifelong fisherman.Watch video. |
 | Marilyn Meyerhans and her husband Steve own Lakeside Orchards in Manchester, and they also own and manage The Apple Farm in Fairfield, Maine. The orchard grows 30 varieties of apples, and three varieties of pears and crabapples. Watch video. |
 | Stephen Rich is the CEO of WBRC Architects and Engineers. He was the project director of an addition to the Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center, which was the first LEED certified building on the campus of the University of Maine at Orono. Watch video. |
 | Ernie Hilton is an 11th generation Mainer who grew up in Starks and has practiced as an attorney and civil engineer in Madison since 1984. He served on the Maine Board of Environmental Protection for nine years, and was Chair his last year, in 2008. Watch video. |
 | Ruth McLaughlin is co-owner, with her husband Dan, of Blair Hill Inn in Greenville, which has been featured in many magazines, including Travel + Leisure, Yankee, Food & Wine, Ladies Home Journal, and Outside. During the busy season, the inn and restaurant employ as many as 15 local people. Ruth has served on the C.A. Dean Memorial Hospital Board of Directors for over ten years and as the Board Chair for six years. Watch video. |
 | Patrice McCarron is Executive Director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association and has extensive knowledge of the lobster industry. She has served as Executive Director of the Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation, worked on fisheries issues for the New England Aquarium and was Director of the Marine Environmental Research Institute’s Resource Center. Watch video. |
 | Ashley Richards was a custom homebuilder and remodeler with Richards & Company before becoming an energy auditor and insulation contractor with WarmTech Solutions. He is currently president of the Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Maine. Watch video. |
 | Alice Percy and her husband Rufus own Treble Ridge Farm in Whitefield. It is a diversified, organic farm with a farrow-to-finish hog operation. Alice is a graduate of Colby College, with a degree in Environmental Science. She is especially interested in an ecosystems approach to agriculture, in expanding the availability of local grains to local livestock farmers, and in integrating fuel and food production through oilseeds. Watch video. |
 | Jeff Reardon is an avid sportsman, hunting and fishing whenever he can. He serves as the Maine Brook Trout Project Director for Trout Unlimited. Jeff grew up in Maine, left the state to get a biology degree at Williams College, and returned in 1994—as soon as he could find a job here.Watch video. |
 | Thomas Tietenberg is the Mitchell Family Professor of Economics, Emeritus at Colby College. The author of over 100 publications, Tom is a former President and current Fellow of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists. Watch video. |
 | Father Richard Senghas is a Roman Catholic priest, Director of the Office of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the Diocese, and former Pastor of St. Rose of Lima Church in Jay. He was an orthopedic surgeon until the death of his wife, after which he entered the seminary for preparation for the priesthood. Watch video. |
 | Deirdre Birbeck is a senior at Unity College, where she is pursuing a double major in Agriculture, Food and Sustainability and Landscape Horticulture. She grew up in Lincolnville, attended Camden Regional High School, and has worked on farms every summer since high school. Watch video. |
 | Mark Berry is Executive Director of Downeast Lakes Land Trust in Grand Lake Stream. He oversees forest conservation projects, education programs, and the management of the 33,708-acre Farm Cove Community Forest for wildlife habitat, public recreation, and a sustainable timber economy. Watch video. |
Response from Governor Paul LePage
Closing Comments
The Rev. Martha Kirkpatrick is the Rector of St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Belfast, Maine. She is also the Missioner for Environmental Stewardship for the Episcopal Diocese of Maine. From 1999 to 2003 she was the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection under Governor Angus King, and was previously the Bureau Director for the DEP’s Bureau of Land and Water Quality. Watch video.
Lead Sponsor: Natural Resources Council of Maine
Event Cosponsors: Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine * Appalachian Mountain Club * Atlantic Salmon Federation * Bicycle Coalition of Maine * Conservation Law Foundation * Environmental Health Strategy Center * Environment Maine * ENE (Environment Northeast) * Friends of Casco Bay * Maine Audubon * Maine Center for Economic Policy * Maine Conservation Voters Education Fund * Maine Council of Churches * Maine Council of Trout Unlimited * Maine Interfaith Power and Light * Maine League of Conservation Voters * Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners * Maine Partners for Cool Communities * Maine People’s Alliance * Maine Rivers * Physicians for Social Responsibility * RESTORE: The North Woods * Sierra Club – Maine Chapter * The Wilderness Society * Toxics Action Center
