Join us on a tour, and see for yourself whether this rugged escape can – as some imagine – become a lucrative tourist destination. By Tux Turkel, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story TOWNSHIP 3, RANGE 7 – Few hikers cross the summit of 1,964-foot Deasey Mountain, a remote peak east of Baxter State Read More
Penobscot River
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
NRCM Deeply Disappointed in BEP Vote on Thomaston Cement Plant
Statement of Dylan Voorhees, Clean Energy Project Director, Natural Resources Council of Maine NRCM news release NRCM is deeply disappointed in today’s Board of Environmental Protection vote, which would allow the Dragon Cement Company in Thomaston to increase its emissions of toxic mercury by 70%, reversing nearly two decades of work by Maine to reduce Read More
Birding on Proposed National Park Land
by Jeff and Allison Wells Boothbay Register column Over the weekend we had the opportunity to lead a birding expedition to an area north of Millinocket known by many as the proposed national park lands. It was exciting to be birding an area that currently little known by birders — we felt like birding pioneers! Read More
Kennebec River Rebounds After Edwards Dam Removal
by Danielle Waugh WCSH-6 TV news story AUGUSTA, Maine (NEWS CENTER) — It’s been 15 years since the removal of the Edwards Dam, and the water and wildlife of the Kennebec River has changed dramatically. On July 1, 1999, the 900-foot dam breached, restoring a free-flowing Kennebec River for the first time in 160 years. Read More
How Unlikely Partners Came Together on a Maine River
Decades of dam building had decimated migratory fish populations that had long sustained local wildlife and people on the Penobscot River. After years of contentious battles, local stakeholders struck a deal. Today, for the first time in 200 years, river life is rebounding. And the power company has not lost any hydropower generation. By Laura Read More
Matagamon to Medway – Four Days on the East Branch of the Penobscot River: July 4-7, 2013
The East Branch of the Penobscot River is one of Maine’s best kept paddling secrets. The river descends through spectacular scenery in a remote region east of Baxter State Park with imposing waterfalls and demanding rapids, interspersed with flat stretches of prime wildlife habitat. Much of the land along the river is owned by Elliotsville Read More
State Plan Changes after Delay in Reporting Mercury in Lobster
Portland Press Herald news story by Scott Dolan, staff writer State Toxicologist Andrew Smith received an urgent message in 2011: A team of independent scientists had discovered dangerously high levels of mercury in black ducks in a marsh near the mouth of the Penobscot River. But what Smith didn’t know was that the same scientists Read More
Contamination of Maine Lobster Shows Value of Regulations
Kennebec Journal editorial The lobster fishery has been the one bright spot in Maine’s seafood industry for years — at least until last week. On Feb. 18, the state Department of Marine Resources ordered a two-year shutdown of lobster and crab harvesting in a 7-square-mile region at the mouth of the Penobscot River. Mercury contamination Read More