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“This court decision affirms our belief that good land-use planning, conservation easements on working forests and expansion of the eco-economy in the Piscataquis and Somerset counties can be founded on common ground. I commend Plum Creek, conservation groups engaged in the easement, LURC, the forest industry and the Greenville community on their achievement.
Hemlock woolly adelgid is an invasive forest insect that threatens the vitality of Maine’s forest and ornamental hemlock trees. It is known to be established in southern coastal Maine forests as far east as Bristol. It has been found on planted trees along the coast to the eastern border with Canada.
Beech Ridge Motor Speedway champion Bill Rogers topped off his career-best racing season in Maine’s state capital recently. Governor Paul LePage personally congratulated Rogers on winning the 2011 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series state championship. The two were joined by Rogers’ wife Kim in the Governor’s Cabinet Room of the Maine State House in Augusta on February 21.
Today, the Natural Resources Council of Maine released an analysis of documents that reveal how a recent Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) report was substantially influenced by representatives of out-of-state companies that opposed enactment of Maine’s product stewardship laws[1] in the first place, are working to defeat similar laws in other states, and who received easy and preferential access to top DEP officials in the new LePage Administration.
Greetings, I hope you can join us in Portland Thursday February 9, 7:00 p.m. to learn about this major emerging environmental threat to the greater Portland area. Please do let me know if you think you may be there to report on this, and if you have questions or need more information. Thank you. Best wishes, Judy
Free public talk in Portland Thursday February 9, 7:00 p.m.
The Maine Coastal Program at the State Planning Office announces the award of $291,000 in grants for eight projects along the Maine coast. The grants will help enhance public access to the shore, reduce clam flat closures, and improve water quality. The grants are made possible from Maine’s federal coastal management award from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). All of the projects include collaboration among partnerships and each grantee will provide a minimum of 25% in matching funds or services.
The Maine Forest Service, under the Maine Department of Conservation, this week finished up its bark-peeling project to look for evidence of the highly dangerous invasive insect, emerald ash borer (EAB). The results were just what MFS entomologists were hoping for. After participating in two workshops on Jan. 17 and Jan. 24 and peeling 52 logs down to the cambium, or living layer, the volunteers found no tell-tale signs of the harmful EAB that is threatening Maine’s forests, MFS officials said.
Welcome to Hirundo Wildlife Refuge. Hirundo is a 2,400 acre nature preserve, spanning Pushaw and Dead Streams, Lac D’Or (lake), vast wetlands, including domed bog and maple and juniper swamps, and mixed hardwood and evergreen forests. Only 10 miles from the University of Maine, Orono Campus, visitors paddle canoes free of charge and watch playful river otters, breeding Wood Ducks, Bald Eagles, and Osprey in the tranquil beauty. While hiking, snowshoeing, and cross country skiing, one might encounter moose, deer, red and gray fox, muskrat, beaver, otter, black bear, bobcat, fisher, and ermine.
Among other shortcomings in the legislation, FMM sees its passage as a de facto mandate for an unsustainable buildup of wind turbines and costly transmission systems on Maine’s mountains. O’Neil asserted that “markets would not support any wind power at all if not for a complicated brew of incentives, grants, mandates, tax breaks, surcharges, and other government created gimmicks. This is just one more gimmick, and it’s a huge one.”
Ash-tree owners from central Maine, who earlier this year created tree traps to look for emerald ash borer (EAB), will bring wood samples to the workshops to be peeled by volunteers and examined for signs of the dangerous insect, said Colleen Teerling, Maine Forest Service entomologist. “We’re going to work with them to peel the tree bolts,” Teerling said. “We’ll teach them to do it properly and how to search for emerald ash borer.”
More than two million dollars will help public and non-profit groups restore and protect high priority wetlands and other natural resources across Maine.The Maine Natural Resource Conservation Program – which is administered by The Nature Conservancy in collaboration with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – announced awards totaling $2.4 million to help restore, enhance or preserve wetlands and other important habitats at 17 project sites.
Today, Governor Paul LePage nominated Patrick C. Keliher to serve as Commissioner of the Department of Marine Resources (DMR). Keliher, of South Gardiner, has served as Deputy Commissioner and Director, Bureau of Sea Run Fisheries and Habitat within DMR since 2007. He has served, most recently as Acting Commissioner, and has been serving in this capacity since July.
The annual awards program from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection will honor entities whose innovation has resulted in measurable environmental and economic benefits.
Musician and Music Venue Events for May, and Beyond – Keep Checking Back
Theater, Social and Public Events for May 2012 and Beyond – Updated Regularly!
Maine’s Office of Securities Issues Advisory to Warn Consumers about “Crowdfunding” Investments
Sam Whitman Band, w/ Megan Murphy, and The Golden Prize at Johnson Hall 5/19/12
Work by Cony High School Art Students on view at in Augusta Until July 7, 2012
Disc Golf Event to Benefit Issinryu Karate Academy in Randolph on May 20, 2012
REMINDER: Artists invited to an Art Critique with Abbott Meader at The Harlow on May 20, 2012
Maine Historical Society News for the Week of May 16, 2012
Natural Inclination Show at Monkee Tree to Benefit Natural Resources Council
Francine Reed on May 19th, Portland String Quartet on 22nd at Boothbay Opera House
