By Sally H. Reed Bangor Daily News op-ed Regarding the Plum Creek proposal, a lot of publicity has focused on the land protection part of the plan and not enough on the resort and residential development aspect. We have been summer residents of Greenville for over 40 years and love the area. We want to Read More
Maine Environmental News
Maine environmental news often comes quickly and with little warning. Stay up to date on Maine environment news.
From issues such as climate change, healthy waters, Maine forests and wildlife, and sustainability—and environmental policy that could impact them—you’ll find NRCM’s up-to-the-minute news releases to see our perspective on the most pressing issues facing Maine’s land, air, waters, and wildlife. This includes findings relating to our role as Maine’s watchdog of activities of state environmental agencies—we stand ready to blow the whistle when regulations are not enforced.
You can also find our news “round up,” News & Noteworthy, which puts the spotlight on media stories that do a particularly good job capturing current news about Maine's environment. We hope you find this part of our website helpful and informative!
Getting Down to Specifics with Plum Creek
Kennebec Journal editorial The Plum Creek Timber Co. bought more than 900,000 acres of Maine land in 1998. Since then, it has done two major things: logged much of the land, and filed an application for the largest real estate development ever proposed for Maine. That proposal asks to rezone 421,000 acres of Maine’s North Read More
Plum Creek Words, Actions Disconnected by Forestry Record
Sun Journal editorial Last week, the Natural Resources Council of Maine publicized stunning documents detailing forestry mismanagement and violations by Plum Creek. The Seattle-based company was assailed for aggressive logging that imperiled wildlife habitats, specifically deer wintering areas, across its sprawling land holdings in Maine. Individually, the violations seem minor. But as NRCM correctly notes, Read More
Plum Creek’s Violations Suggest More Oversight Needed
Portland Press Herald editorial There’s a lot to be said for Maine’s cooperative approach to managing natural resources in the North Woods. Most of the state’s 10.4 million acres of unorganized territories are privately owned. Given that fact and the realities of politics, laws and regulations are always going to yield lowest-common- denominator-type protections at Read More
Group Turns Up Heat on Plum Creek
By Kevin Miller Bangor Daily News news story AUGUSTA – An environmental group is ratcheting up the heat on Plum Creek Timber Co. in a report released Wednesday that details fines against the company, permit problems and logging in areas important to deer survival during winter. The Natural Resources Council of Maine said the report Read More
Investigation Exposes Plum Creek Violations
Largest Fine for Logging Law Violations in Maine History and Widespread Damage to Deer Wintering Habitat NRCM news release Documents gathered using Maine’s Freedom of Access Act (FOAA) disclose that this year Plum Creek was charged a $57,000 fine — the largest fine ever assessed in history for breaking Maine’s timber harvesting laws. Other documents Read More
Allagash Wilderness Waterway Deserves Stronger Protection
By Dean and Sheila Bennett Maine Sunday Telegram op-ed On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the creation of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, it is important to recognize and appreciate what the voters of Maine did in November 1966 when they approved a bond issue to develop the maximum wilderness character of the land Read More
Progress on the Allagash
Bangor Daily News editorial When environmentalists and residents of northern Maine agree on anything related to the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, it is a momentous occasion. That’s why proposals, which are the same in principle but differ in detail, to create a commission to oversee and make management decisions for the waterway offer a positive way Read More
A Place for Conservation
Bangor Daily News editorial Plum Creek’s private agreement to conserve more than 340,000 acres in the Moosehead Lake region should remain separate from the state’s consideration of the company’s application to develop house lots and resorts on other land it owns in the region. The company’s $35 million agreement with The Nature Conservancy, Forest Society Read More