Each species has an important ecological role to play in the web of life. Diverse ecosystems are more resilient to change, and collectively, the planet’s array of plants and animals provide valuable services, helping clean our air and water, cycle nutrients, prevent erosion, provide food and fiber, offer recreational opportunities and places of solace, and Read More
endangered species
Creature Feature: Piping Plover
Piping Plover Scientific name: Charadrius melodus Cool fact: A Piping Plover parent will attempt to lure a potential predator away from its nest by feigning a broken wing. A small, pale-brown bird that nests on sandy beaches, the Piping Plover, along with its sand-colored eggs and chicks, can be difficult to see. Thus camouflaged, they Read More
Why Biodiversity Matters to Maine and the World
Spotting a Canada lynx is an exciting, once-in-a-lifetime moment for many in Maine’s North Woods. As is watching a wild Atlantic salmon swim upstream to spawn or a Piping Plover trot across a sandy beach. These inspiring animals have something in common not only because they wow us when we have the opportunity to see Read More
An Afternoon to Honor Nathaniel Reed
Nathaniel Reed was a nationally known environmental champion who helped turn the Endangered Species Act into law and shepherded many other environmental laws while serving as an assistant secretary of the Department of Interior in the 1970s. He lived in and loved Florida, but also had a summer home in Winter Harbor and loved Maine Read More
Creature Feature: Rusty Patched Bumble Bee
Rusty Patched Bumble Bee Bombus affinis Cool Fact: Bumble bee queens hatch in the fall and spend the winter a few inches below the snow. In the shortening days of late August and September, the bumble bees are ever-present in the garden. Deliberate in their flight, they hover and land on the oregano, arugula, butterflyweed, Read More
Endangered Species Act Stripped of Key Provisions in Trump Administration Proposal
by Darryl Fears Washington Post news story The proposal [to change the Endangered Species Act], announced jointly by the Interior and Commerce departments, which are charged with protecting endangered wildlife, would end the practice of extending similar protections to species regardless of whether they are listed as endangered or threatened. If the proposal is approved, Read More
Last of Their Kind in the Year of the Bird
Like many of you, we mourned the loss of the last male northern white rhino on Earth. His name was Sudan. Though he was named for the country where he was born, Sudan had spent most of his life in a zoo in the Czech Republic. While Sudan lived out his life thousands of miles Read More
An Endangered Species of Sturgeon May Be Making a Comeback
By Patrick Whittle, The Associated Press Washington Post news story An endangered species of sturgeon has rediscovered habitat that could be a key to improving the fish’s reproduction, University of Maine scientists say. The shortnose sturgeon, listed as endangered for nearly 50 years, has returned to the portion of the Penobscot River that is beyond Read More
Newly Accessible Habitat Attracts Endangered Species of Sturgeon
UMaine scientists hope the fish will spawn next spring now that a dam is gone from the Penobscot River. by Patrick Whittle, The Associated Press An endangered species of sturgeon has rediscovered long-inaccessible habitat that could be a key to improving the fish’s reproduction, University of Maine scientists said. The shortnose sturgeon, listed endangered for Read More
