An annual rite of the Penobscot River sporting world brought a Maine angler and the year’s first Atlantic salmon to the president’s doorstep. By Catherine Schmitt Boston Globe news story ON MAY 25, 1992, Claude and Rosemae Westfall drove their Buick south on Maine’s I-95. Claude was dressed sharply if atypically in a green suit Read More
Clean & Free-flowing Waters
Thanks largely to the Clean Water Act, Maine’s great rivers are much cleaner than they were 40 years ago, but we still have a long way to go to restore many of them. NRCM continues to make clean water a high priority. NRCM was founded by a group of Mainers working to protect the Allagash River, which was designated as the nation's first Wild & Scenic River. Today, it is known as the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. In partnership with others, we also opened up part of the Kennebec River with the removal of the Edwards Dam, and we reopened 2,000 miles of habitat in the Penobscot River Watershed for Atlantic salmon and other sea-run fish.
Digging for Dollars: Proposed New Mining Rules Clear Committee
by Adrienne DiPiazza WABI-TV news story When many people think of mining in the state of Maine they remember environmental disasters of the past, before regulations were put in place. The initiative to bring mining back to Maine has not come without strong opposition from many lawmakers and environmental groups.. Thursday the Environmental and Natural Read More
Mining Rules for Maine: Weeks of Negotiations Fail to Forge Consensus
By Mal Leary Maine Public news story AUGUSTA, Maine – Maine Lawmakers have worked for weeks on an effort to overhaul the state’s mining regulations. But it was mostly opponents that showed up at an unusual second public hearing on the same legislation. And it appears that the committee is still divided on the issue, Read More
Debate Heated as Panel Tries to Craft Compromise Mining Bill
The DEP praises tweaks to the agency’s original proposal, but critics suggest lawmakers are caving in to outside pressure. by Kevin Miller, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story AUGUSTA — The heated public debate about mining in Maine resumed Monday as lawmakers attempt to craft a compromise on a bill that could open the Read More
NRCM Testimony in Opposition to Proposed Committee Amendments, LD 750
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
Will Legislators Take Mining ‘Jobs’ Bait This Time Around?
By Dennis Chinoy, Special to the BDN Bangor Daily News op-ed In December 2012, three lawyers from the legal firm Pierce Atwood published a somewhat self-congratulatory article in a mining journal. “About Face: How a mine moved toward operating in Maine” described how the authors helped craft a bill mandating relaxed mining regulations on behalf Read More
Maine Lawmakers Pass Lakes Protection Bill Similar to One LePage Vetoed
By Christopher Cousins, BDN Staff Bangor Daily News news story AUGUSTA, Maine — A bill designed to protect Maine lakes by banning the use of fertilizers containing phosphorus or nitrogen near shorelines is headed to Gov. Paul LePage after near-unanimous support in the House and Senate. LePage vetoed a bill with similar setbacks last year 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
