Our nation’s chemical safety policy is seriously broken. The law currently allows chemical manufacturers to use their products in consumer goods without first demonstrating that these chemicals are safe. The toxins can leach out and have been found in Maine homes, air, water, wildlife—and people. These chemicals have been tied to hormonal disruptions, behavioral and Read More
Success Stories
Throughout NRCM's more than 60 years of work to protect the nature of Maine, we have worked with thousands of people who love our state and want to keep our beautiful, clean, and healthy environment here for generations to come.
NRCM has had some big victories for Maine's environment, which were won in partnership with people who spoke out, wrote to elected officials, testified, and worked to protect special places like Moosehead Lake, Casco Bay, and the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. Read about some of our successes since NRCM was founded in 1959.
Leading the Way in e-Waste Recycling
In 2003, NRCM took on the task of resolving the developing crisis of discarded and highly toxic electronic waste, or “e-waste.” Maine was not the first state to discover it had an e-waste problem but took the lead in finding a workable solution. “Our investigation showed that e-waste was being stockpiled in people’s homes and Read More
Restoring Maine’s Mightiest River—the Penobscot
For more than 60 years, the Natural Resources Council of Maine has led efforts to protect and restore thousands of miles of Maine’s rivers, for the benefit of people, fish, and wildlife throughout the Gulf of Maine. In 1999, working with the Penobscot Indian Nation and other conservation groups, during three long years of negotiations Read More
Getting Wyman Station to Clean Up Its Act
Gazing out across the waters of Casco Bay, a layer of gray soot was almost impossible to miss. It covered boats, moorings, marinas, and was an ominous presence throughout neighborhoods on Cousins Island and beyond. Air pollution, moving on prevailing winds, spewed across the mid-coast to Penobscot Bay, Acadia National Park, and even to Downeast Read More
Return of the Kennebec
More than a decade ago local, state, and federal officials, including then–U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, joined staff, board, and members of the Natural Resources Council of Maine and hundreds of other Mainers on the banks of the Kennebec River to witness a landmark occasion: removal of the Edwards Dam in Augusta. Read More
Caribou-Speckled Wilderness
In late September, 1990, the United States Congress enacted legislation designating more than 11,000 acres of Maine’s White Mountain National Forest as a permanent Wilderness Area. The Maine Wilderness Act of 1990, which created the Caribou-Speckled Mountain Wilderness Area, was the result of more than seven years of hard work on the part of NRCM Read More
Land for Maine’s Future
The Land for Maine’s Future program was established in 1987 when voters, in response to concerns over the loss of critical natural areas, approved funding to purchase and protect lands important to the history and traditions of the state of Maine. Since then, the program has completed projects in all 16 Maine counties, protecting more Read More
Stopping the “Big A” Dam on the Penobscot’s West Branch
In what was one of Maine’s most contested environmental battles, the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM), along with other Penobscot Coalition members, successfully defeated the Big A Dam project. In March of 1984, Great Northern Paper (GNP) submitted a proposal to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to construct a $100-million concrete dam 15 Read More
Pittston Oil Refinery
Through the Head Harbor Passage, among the legendary swirling tides, powerful currents, and whirlpools of Passamaquoddy Bay sits Eastport, Maine. It was here in 1973 that a New York-based conglomerate, the Pittston Company, sought to construct a massive marine terminal and crude oil refinery. The proposed development would have included a 250,000 barrel-per-day refinery, a Read More
