by Don Eno, Reporter St. John Valley Times news story ST. JOHN VALLEY, Maine – More than 51,000 acres of land around the Fish River Chain of Lakes in the St. John Valley could be rezoned if the Maine Land Use Planning Commission approves a plan submitted Wednesday, Dec. 24, by J.D. Irving subsidiaries – 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.
Monarch Butterfly Eyed for Possible US Endangered Species Protection
By Laura Zuckerman, Reuters Bangor Daily News news story Monarch butterflies may warrant U.S. Endangered Species Act protection because of farm-related habitat loss blamed for sharp declines in cross-country migrations of the orange-and-black insects, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Monday. Monarch populations are estimated to have fallen by as much as 90 percent Read More
Maine’s Piping Plover Chicks Have Best Year in Decade
Nearly 100 of the endangered shorebirds survive and fly, possibly because of stepped-up monitoring and tighter protections on beaches. By Kevin Miller, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story Nearly 100 endangered piping plover chicks hatched and took flight on Maine beaches in 2014, more than any other year during the past decade, despite threats Read More
Setting Rivers Free: As Dams are Torn Down, Nature is Quickly Recovering
By Doug Struck, Contributor Christian Science Monitor cover story BENTON FALLS, Maine — “Look underneath you,” commands Nate Gray, a burly biologist for the state of Maine. He reaches down to the grate floor of a steel cage perched on a dam straddling the Sebasticook River, and pulls back a board revealing the roiling river Read More
Bowdoin Biologist Investigates Tadpole Die-off
Nat Wheelwright says 200,000 died in less than a day last year. ‘It was like a nuclear bomb went off.’ by Chelsea Diana, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story More than 200,000 wood frog tadpoles died within 21 hours last year at a pond in Nat Wheelwright’s backyard in Brunswick, in what may be Read More
At the Maine Moose Permit Lottery
by NRCM member Alice Bolstridge The headline of a recent Bangor Daily News article reads “Maine to reduce moose hunt permits by 25 percent because winter ticks have taken toll on herd.” I had no idea that ticks have already had such a toll on Maine’s moose. I had heard about declining moose populations in New Read More
15th Anniversary of Edwards Dam Removal: Benefits to People and Wildlife Keep Flowing
Record-breaking numbers of alewives, eagles News Release Alewives return to Kennebec (chart) C-SPAN story about Edwards Dam, including interview with NRCM’s Pete Didisheim Brief history timeline of Edwards Dam More about the Edwards Dam removal and Kennebec River restoration The health of the Kennebec River is making great strides just fifteen years after the breach Read More
Humans Changed Behavior, and Alewives are Rebounding in Kennebec, Penobscot, St. Croix
By Lisa Pohlmann, Special to the BDN Bangor Daily News op-ed For the last few weeks sea-run fish known as alewives have been heading up Maine’s rivers to lay their eggs. Their journey is a breathtaking force of nature to behold, as they fight strong currents, heading upstream in droves. While probably hundreds of millions Read More
Report: Mining Tar Sands Threatens Migratory Birds
Written by Lisa Neff Wisconsin Gazette news story Destructive mining and drilling practices in the heart of Canada’s boreal forest are putting millions of America’s migratory birds at risk and have already resulted in potentially hundreds of thousands of fatalities, according to a report from the National Wildlife Federation and the Natural Resources Council of Maine. Read More