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
Puffin Chicks In Gulf Of Maine’s Largest Colony Starve To Death At Record Rate
By Colin Woodard, staff writer Portland Press Herald news story Machias Seal Island, home of the largest puffin colony in the Gulf of Maine, has had the worst breeding season ever recorded, with the vast majority of chicks starving to death in their burrows. The disaster followed a sudden drop in the puffins’ food supply Read More
Bath Middle School Students Present Their Green Crab Findings
Summer is almost here, and NRCM “Engaging Maine Middle School Students in Protecting the Nature of Maine” Grant Awardees are presenting their final projects to NRCM members and staff. Check out this update from NRCM Communications Intern Britta Clark, who visited Bath Middle School and learned about their work with green crabs in Maine: This Read More
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
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
Loon Dies From Avian Malaria, Heightening Climate Concerns
By Nora Flaherty MPBN news story PORTLAND, Maine – The death of a loon from avian malaria on a lake straddling Oxford County, Maine, and New Hampshire is raising concerns about climate change and illnesses transmitted through insect bites. The bird, a Common Loon, died last summer on Umbagog Lake. It’s the first confirmed death Read More
Bill to Loosen Maine’s Mining Rules Overwhelmingly Rejected in House
By A.J. Higgins MPBN news story AUGUSTA, Maine – A proposal to loosen mining regulations in Maine has suffered a setback in Augusta. The Maine House overwhelmingly rejected the measure, which first emerged three years ago, after a Canadian corporation expressed interest in developing mining operations on land it owns at Bald Mountain in Aroostook Read More
Climate Change Threatens 1 in 13 Species, Study Says
The extinction rate doesn’t mean all of those species will be gone; some will just be on an irreversible decline. By Seth Borenstein, The Associated Press Associated Press news story WASHINGTON — Global warming will eventually push 1 out of every 13 species on Earth into extinction, a new study projects. It won’t quite be Read More
Canadians Oppose Closure of St. Croix River Basin to Alewives
By Tom Porter MPBN news story The Canadian government has joined the fray over a controversial proposal to prevent the passage of alewives into the St. Croix River near the international border. Ottawa wants unrestricted alewife passage, something which conservationists support, but which the recreational fishing lobby says could have devastating effects on the local Read More