Senator Saviello, Representative Welsh, and members of the Environment and Natural Resources Committee: My name is Nick Bennett, and I am the Staff Scientist for the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM). NRCM is Maine’s largest environmental advocacy group with over 16,000 members and supporters. NRCM opposes the Committee’s proposed amendments to LD 750 because: Read More
Protecting Maine's Wildlife
Maine is home to a wide variety of wildlife, and, for some species, Maine makes up a vast majority of their range or provides essential habitat that can’t be found elsewhere. NRCM works to protect Maine’s wildlife by advocating for policies that ensure they have healthy habitat and abundant resources to thrive.
Maine’s Other Amazing Tide: Migrating Birds
Maine is famous for its tides, gently coming and going across mudflats and estuaries and pushing back and forth over the rocky coast. But there’s another tide, one that would likely appear just as dramatic, if you could see it. It’s the great spring movement of North America’s migratory birds.
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
Maine Lawmakers Reject Bill to Bar Alewives from Upper St. Croix River
Guides and sporting camp owners in the Grand Lake Stream area want to block alewives, for fear that the sea-run fish will harm the important smallmouth bass fishery. By Kevin Miller, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story AUGUSTA – A legislative committee voted unanimously Wednesday to reject a bill that would have once again Read More
Latest Dispute Over Alewives in St. Croix River May Lead to Independent Review
The LePage administration is proposing a working group to examine the scientific arguments over the fish. By Kevin Miller, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story AUGUSTA — The LePage administration wants to create a working group to examine the scientific arguments over alewives in the St. Croix River as a way to defuse the Read More
Grand Lake Stream Guides Seek to Restrict Alewives from Upper St. Croix
By Johanna S. Billings, BDN Staff Bangor Daily News news story GRAND LAKE STREAM, Maine — The decades-old debate over the introduction of alewives in the St. Croix River watershed is heating up again. Sport fishing guides and camp owners from the area are seeking to cut off alewife access to the upper St. Croix 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
NRCM Testimony in Opposition to LD 817, An Act Regarding Aerial Pesticide Spray Projects
Good afternoon, Senator Edgecomb, Representative Hickman and members of the committee. My name is Cathy Johnson. I am a resident of Alna and the North Woods Project Director for the Natural Resources Council of Maine. I am speaking today on behalf of NRCM’s 16,000 members and supporters in opposition to LD 817. This bill makes a number of Read More
Bouncing Back: Maine Landowners Work to Save Cottontail Rabbits
By Aislinn Sarnacki, BDN Staff Bangor Daily News news story Once abundant in farming communities, the New England cottontail rabbit has all but disappeared from Maine in the past few decades. Today, biologists estimate that 250 to 300 cottontails remain in the state, and they’re secluded to small pockets of shrublands south of Portland. “It’s Read More