By Nick Sambides Jr., BDN Staff Bangor Daily News news story KATAHDIN WOODS AND WATERS NATIONAL MONUMENT, Maine — Amid an ongoing federal review and contention over the signs advertising it, Maine’s national monument opened fully for its first full year on Thursday with a handful of visitors more interested in nature than politics. About Read More
Federal Issues
Our advocates, members, supporters, and partners work to defend our hard-earned environmental safeguards and to ensure Maine’s elected officials in Washington, DC, stand up for Maine’s environment. Decisions made there have lasting effects on Maine’s clean water, fresh air, healthy forests, thriving wildlife, and on the health of Maine people, our economy, and our way of life.
The Natural Resources Council of Maine identifies and addresses the issues at play in our nation’s capital that have the largest impacts here at home.
Find out the latest on federal issues affecting our state's land, air, water, and wildlife.
Maine Environmental Advocates Decry Trump’s Proposed EPA Cuts
by A.J. Higgins Maine Public news story Sweeping budget cuts proposed by President Trump would slash Environmental Protection Agency programs that reduce pollution in Maine, save lives and strengthen communities, according to the Natural Resources Council of Maine. Lisa Pohlmann, executive director of the group, told reporters at a Brewer press conference today that Maine’s Read More
Lawmakers Draft Letters to Interior Secretary Defending National Monuments
by Susan Sharon Maine Public news story Democratic U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine’s 1st District and 85 of her colleagues have sent a letter to the interior secretary warning him that only Congress has the “Constitutional authority to revoke or shrink a national monument.” Independent U.S. Sen. Angus King of Maine has also written Read More
Unprecedented EPA Budget Cuts Would Harm the Health of Maine’s Environment, Economy, and People
News Release Brewer, Maine — The White House this week released a budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2018 that would slash Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) programs that reduce pollution in Maine, save the lives of Maine people, and strengthen our communities and economy. The proposal singles out EPA for the deepest cuts of any federal Read More
Maine Environmental Advocates Warn of “Crippling” Cuts in Trump Budget
One describes the range of cuts as a ‘full-on attack’ on a natural resource-dependent state. by Colin Woodard, staff writer Portland Press Herald news story President Donald Trump has not backed off on a wide range of federal budget cuts and program eliminations that critics have for months warned would devastate Maine’s economy and environment. Read More
NRCM Public Comments on Department of Interior Review of National Monuments
Monument Review, MS-1530 U.S. Department of the Interior 1849 C Street NW Washington, DC 20240 Submitted to the public record on May 23, 2017 The Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) is a statewide, member-supported conservation organization established in 1959 and located in Augusta, Maine. We have 20,000 members and supporters located in all sixteen Read More
LePage Refuses to Put Up Road Signs for North Woods National Monument
By Nick Sambides Jr., BDN Staff Bangor Daily News news story Gov. Paul LePage is refusing to put signs along state roads showing the way to Maine’s national monument, pending the outcome of a federal review, state officials said Friday. The governor won’t allow official signs for Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument to be Read More
“Spiteful and Petty”: Maine Governor Bans Signs to Obama-designated Monument
As Trump administration reviews 27 national monuments, conservationists fear a federally mandated effort to strip public lands of environmental protections by Edward Helmore The Guardian news story A decision by the Republican governor of Maine, Paul LePage, to ban signs to Katahdin Woods and Waters, a national monument designated by Barack Obama, has been described Read More
‘Everything Changed’ — Millinocket-Area Businesses Tout Benefits of National Monument
By A.J. Higgins Maine Public news story The Trump administration has vowed to review some of the national monument designations carried out in the Obama years, which could include Maine’s Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. Gov. Paul LePage says the monument, and its potential to become a national park, pose a real threat to Read More
