By Juliet Eilperin and Brady Dennis, staff writers Washington Post news story President Obama designated a large swath of Maine’s North Woods as a new national monument Wednesday, creating what is likely to be the last large new national park ever established on the East Coast. In a statement, the White House said the move Read More
Protecting Wildlife
Windham Middle School Students Observe the Birds!
Check out the next installment of Windham Middle School’s Bird Blog! Each student in their three observation groups has been making careful observations at Windham’s new bird feeder stations! Tayshawn~ This week we have not seen any birds but we have been looking at the bird cams. We saw a lot of Hairy and Downy Read More
Celebrating Birds and Birders
By Jeff and Allison Wells Boothbay Register column On Saturday morning, May 16, we led a bird walk at Acadia National Park, a special Natural Resources Council of Maine event planned to honor the park’s centennial, and to celebrate International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD). IMBD was created to highlight the fact that birds know no Read More
A May Daydream
By Jeff and Allison Wells Boothbay Register column Now that the season has crept into May, the trickle of migrant birds returning north is gaining strength and moving closer to the wave that will arrive by mid-May. Already, birders from across Maine are reporting their first-of-year rose-breasted grosbeaks and black-throated green warblers and great-crested flycatchers. Read More
Falmouth Protects Falmouth
Congratulations to the Town of Falmouth for recently adopting an ordinance that establishes a five-cent fee on single-use plastic and paper bags! Beginning April 1st, 2016, any business with a facility of more than 10,000 square feet will need to charge the fee for single-use shopping bags. The Falmouth ordinance does several important things, not Read More
Big Changes are Occurring in One of the Fastest-warming Spots on Earth
by Colin Woodard, staff writer Portland Press Herald news story Sandwiched on a narrow sandbar between Yarmouth’s harbor and the open Gulf of Maine, the fishermen of Yarmouth Bar have long struggled to keep the sea at bay. Nineteenth-century storms threatened to sweep the whole place away, leaving Yarmouth proper’s harbor more open to the Read More
Lobster Population Shifting North as Ocean Temps Warm
The dropping numbers in Connecticut and Rhode Island have put many lobstermen out of business. By Patrick Whitte The Associated Press news story The lobster population has crashed to the lowest levels on record in southern New England while climbing to heights never before seen in the cold waters off Maine and other northern reaches Read More
Colorado Spill Just a Drop in U.S. Mine-woes Bucket
Despite decades of effort, only a fraction of about 500,000 abandoned mines has been dealt with. The Associated Press Portland Press Herald news story SILVERTON, Colorado — It will take many years and many millions of dollars simply to manage and not even remove the toxic wastewater from an abandoned mine that unleashed a 100-mile-long Read More
Poll: Sportsmen Support New Clean Water Protections
By Tom Porter MPBN news story AUGUSTA, Maine – Environmental advocates in Maine are welcoming the results of a new national survey showing widespread support among sportsmen for the revised Clean Water Act. In May, the U.S Environmental Protection Agency finalized the act’s Clean Water Rule, extending its protections to the smaller streams and wetlands Read More