NRCM Blog

Weathering the Storm and a Dip in the Icy Atlantic

Having survived (can I say “enjoyed?”) NRCM’s New Year’s Eve day Polar Bear Dip & Dash and welcoming in the New Year with a sunrise walk with the dog through the Spurwink Marsh, I feel like I am entering 2012 with a good reserve of energy and optimism. Looks like we will all need lots of both. Before I go further, let me thank all those runners and dippers who joined us for the Dip and Dash (that's me in the middle, with NRCM Board Treasurer Chris Bond and Executive Director Lisa Pohlmann). Record numbers and lots of enthusiasm—put it on your calendar for December 31, 2012, bring an old pair of sneakers, and the rest is easy.

No sooner had I submitted a letter-to-the-editor of the Portland Press Herald praising the EPA and our Congressional delegation for finally enacting strong controls on mercury than our governor’s administration garners front-page attention by stating it costs $6,000 to keep a pound of mercury out of our environment. This mercury, if not reclaimed, could end up in our land, or water, or head to be burned in an incinerator and become airborne.

Our long-standing commitment to the North Woods faces another key test January 10th when the Superior Court hears oral arguments on our Plum Creek appeal. Remember, we appealed the initial LURC decision based on two key areas. First, was the issue of “paid mitigation,” an oxymoron if there ever was one. Plum Creek was reimbursed for conservation that they were required to provide to offset the damage that would result if the company’s  massive Moosehead development becomes reality. Second was the impropriety of LURC commissioners voting to approve Plum Creek’s revamped development application without proper and required public input. We won our appeal, and this most recent court appearance is the appeal of that decision. Our attorney, Russ Pierce, has done great work throughout this process and will be representing us.

I’d like to end with a sincere thanks to you all for your loyalty to and generous financial support of NRCM. You have helped us weather the “perfect storm” of challenges, continued economic recession, a transition at the senior leadership position, and a hostile state administration and Legislature. To have faced those challenges and emerged in our current strong position is really a testament to your commitment to protecting the nature of the state we love. Full speed ahead.

Tony Owens, MD
NRCM Board President

Blue Christmas…but hope for a “green” New Year

My family has a lot of holiday traditions: decorating the tree while listening to carols, making gingerbread cookies, going to visit my great aunt and uncle – bringing them some of Mom’s homemade Christmas bread and my aunt giving us her delicious homemade Chex mix. But, my favorite tradition started several years ago (before there were CD players in vehicles) on a ride home from my grandmother’s house.

My mom is an Elvis fan. Always has been. Always will be. So, we would get excited whenever Elvis’ “Blue Christmas” came on the radio. My mom, who is not a “singer,” would start belting out Elvis’ part, and my sister and I would sing the “ooh, ooh, ooh” back up parts. We wouldn’t win any singing contests, but we would giggle with delight as we headed home singing as if we WERE Elvis and his back-up singers. And to complete the tradition, my elderly stepfather would quietly reach up and turn off his hearing aid. And a Merry Christmas was had by all.

So, while we wait and hope for a “Blue Christmas” – my hopes for the New Year are that it is not blue, but instead “green.” Last January, a lot of us felt “blue,” because the governor and his Administration proposed rollbacks to important, long-standing laws that protect our clean air, healthy waters and wildlife, and vibrant forests. Governor LePage wanted to eliminate Maine’s wildly successful bottle recycling bill. End the ban on billboards on Maine roadsides. Reduce protections to important wildlife habitat on shorelands, in wetlands, and vernal pools. And the list goes on and on.

Luckily, NRCM and our members, supporters, friends, and the public spoke out loudly and often to legislators, the governor’s office, committees and state agencies saying that Maine’s environment should be protected and not open for the business of destroying it for the sake of polluting companies who don’t care about Maine’s natural resources.

Well, it’s nearly 2012 and the start of a new legislative session. We defeated most rollback bills last year, but we can be sure that more are on the way. That’s why we can’t sit back and wait for others to do the work of protecting Maine’s air, water, wildlife, and forests. We need to start contacting our legislators today to urge them to support bills that reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, protect Maine’s 10.4-million-acre North Woods, protect Maine’s wildlife, and reduce toxic pollution from consumer products.

If you haven’t yet signed up for NRCM’s Action Network, please do so today. Visit http://supporters.nrcm.org/Action_Network_signup and sign up to receive emails about projects that interest you. You will then receive emails when your voice is most needed to protect the Maine we know and love, now and for future generations.

Happy Holidays!

Beth Dimond
NRCM Public Affairs Coordinator

Speaking Up for Maine’s Waterfowl

I wanted to share my experience testifying at the Board of Environmental Protection hearing last week. The hearing was to get public input on proposed changes in the manner in which permits are issued for development in “moderate” value inland waterfowl and wading bird habitat (IWWH). The premise was that the current process was cumbersome, expensive, and too unpredictable, although as was pointed out every application since 2007 has been approved!  The proposed change would allow the “permit by rule” process to be used, obviating the need for a more extensive permitting process. Such a change could allow subdivisions up to 14 houses, major commercial development, as well as single-family homes. NRCM took a position that streamlining the process for single-family homes made sense, but that more substantial development should certainly have a more in depth review.

Following a brief introduction by the board chair and an overview by the DEP staff, testimony began. The chair decided to have those neither for nor against go first, followed by those in favor of the proposed changes, and finally those opposed. For most hearings, especially those with a larger group of people interested in testifying, there is a signup sheet. Unless you want to be there for the entire hearing, signing up is the best way to make sure you have a timely opportunity to speak.

Unless you have technical expertise, try to keep your remarks brief, personalized and focused. It is a good idea to bring a handout, usually 20 copies, of your remarks, especially if you are referring to any graphics. Be prepared to answer questions about your testimony and avoid any hyperbole, which could weaken the credibility of your remarks. (Link to my testimony attached.)

The hearing went well, and you will be pleased but not surprised to know that our staff scientist, Nick Bennett, did an outstanding job. There were many technical features to this regulation, and Nick clearly and concisely outlined the history of how we got where we are and explained the rationale behind NRCM’s opposition to the current proposal, and finally our suggestion to amend it.

There were several citizens testifying who felt aggrieved by the current regulation, and Nick pointed out that their situation was the result of municipal ordinances which in some cases are more restrictive than state regulations and that their frustration was misplaced.

The second half of the legislative biennium will convene soon, and we all will have opportunity to testify on many issues. I hope as many of you as possible will take advantage of this and make your feelings and suggestions known. There is no more powerful way to have an impact.

Finally, I hope as many of you as possible will join me and our fellow board members in generously supporting NRCM in your year-end giving.  Thanks, and Happy Holidays.

Tony Owens, MD
President, NRCM Board of Directors

Returning to Sea - by David Wilkins

Editor’s Note: Alewives are river herring, a term that also includes their close relatives the blueback herring and American shad. Alewives spend most of their life at sea. In early to mid-May, alewives leave the ocean, enter Maine's coastal rivers, and make their way upstream to spawning habitat in lakes and ponds, sometimes traveling more than 100 miles. In the summer and fall, the juveniles head back out to sea. Alewives are an important food source for bass, tuna, cod, haddock, halibut, rainbow trout, Bald Eagles, Osprey, otter, and many other wildlife. Historically, millions of alewives made their arrival, but by the twentieth century, fishing, dams, and pollution had taken their toll on sea-run fish, including alewives. Restoring populations of alewives and other herring may help other species in coastal ecosystems and are an important for the fisheries in the Gulf of Maine. NRCM has led efforts in key victories for sea-run fish, including alewives, including in the Kennebec River, where our work resulted in removal of the Edwards Dam in Augusta in 1999. This past spring, 2.8 million returned to the river. But alewife runs still face challenges in other Maine rivers and streams. Find out more about what NRCM is doing to help Maine’s watersheds and the wildlife that depend upon them.

I’ve often wondered if the alewife’s defense may be their numbers and speed. The surviving offspring of these fish will stay together for their entire lives and may be joined by schools of other alewives and other species during their sojourn at sea. It is expected or hoped that as many as one percent of these fish will return to spawn in 2015.

The future for alewife is not a certainty and should not be assumed. Three principle problems plague these incredible fish. Access to spawning grounds, pollution or degraded water quality, and overfishing (primarily as by-catch in the offshore herring/mackerel fishery), are responsible for steep declines in their numbers in the last 20 or so years.

The run in Muscongus Brook and into Webber Pond was extirpated by 1970 or so as a result of the installation of a road culvert. Spawning adults could no longer gain entry into, nor pass through the length of this unnatural structure to reach the lake. The simple installation of a road culvert sadly ended this population, after having reproduced here for more than 10,000 years. 

The remains of mill dams also create spawning access problems here, although much stone removal work has been done in the last 10 years. Our Muscongus Brook alewife population continues today with the seasonal installation of a fish ladder at the culvert, and state stocking of spawning adults in the pond. We began stocking the pond in 2003, and returning adults arrived in June of 2007. They have continued each year since. Returning rates vary from about 2,000 to 5,000 fish each year. Given time and culvert removal, a restored Webber Pond may see 100,000 fish in the run.

Watch an 18-second video of the alewives swimming out to sea.

At high tide tonight I watched thousands of young alewife pour from the tea-colored fresh water into green salty Muscongus Harbor. A school had formed as far as I could see out toward the bay. This was their first taste of salt water, as they are an ocean fish, born from fresh water. This is in itself amazing. A loon dressed in its new winter plumage dove in the distance. A Herring Gull, waiting for my departure, watched me from a rock. Like seemingly endless sand in an hourglass, these small fish drained into the sea, oblivious to the gauntlet ahead. I try to remind myself that those that return will be survivors and the most fit to pass on their genes. I told myself that these special fish are here to feed everything, for the good of all wildlife. However, these thoughts did not quite feel like consolation enough to this worried parent watching them head out to sea.

David Wilkins is a sailor, boat builder, and naturalist living in Bremen, Maine. He studied wildlife biology at University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Fly-fishing, fish watching, and bird watching are some of his pastimes. Early exposure to declining commercial fisheries has led David to become a staunch fisheries conservationist today.

For more about the alewife, read our Creature Feature.

Watch NRCM’s short video about the alewife run on the Sebasticook River (a tributary of the Kennebec).

Watch our short video celebrating the 10th anniversary of removal of the Edwards Dam.

All photographs in this post by and courtesy of David Wilkins. They may not be used without his permission.

New Web Feature: Updates from the State House

With so much happening at the Legislature on bills that will affect Maine’s environment, we know that it’s hard to keep track of important developments. That’s why NRCM has   launched a new feature on our website that provides fresh updates and news. We encourage you to check out this new feature, which will report both the good news and bad news on our efforts to stop rollbacks of laws that protect Maine’s land, air, and water. 

Just yesterday, for example, the DEP Commissioner Darryl Brown testified in strong support of a bill that would dramatically weaken regulation of development. The bill was developed by the Maine Realtors and Developers Association (MEREDA), which gave an award last year to Darryl Brown. Also up yesterday was a bill that would undermine DEP’s regulation of “overboard discharge systems,” which pose a threat to coastal water quality and clam flats. The Maine Clammers Association slammed the bill as a threat to their ability to provide a living for their families. Further information like this is featured in the updates posted from yesterday.

This new State House Updates feature is a companion to our legislative tracking page, which provides a list of bills were working on, along with position memos describing NRCM’s views and links to testimony delivered by NRCM staff.

Together, these web features should help you stay up-to-date on the latest developments from Augusta – where the pace of activity is intense, and NRCM staff are at work every day trying to stop the rollbacks of Maine’s environmental laws.

Pete Didisheim
Advocacy Director 

 

Winter Thoughts on the Recent Duck Season

By Nick Bennett, NRCM Staff Scientist & Watersheds Project Director  (and avid duck hunter!)

Duck season has been over for six weeks, and I am finally recovering from my post-season depression.  I think most hunters know what I am talking about.  For three months, I knew exactly what I would be doing with every second of free time, and even car trips for work or other tasks had an additional sense of purpose: scouting.  My eyes often wandered from the road looking for ducks and always hoping for a new spot to hunt (of course, I don’t recommend this method of scouting while driving, but I can’t help it).

Waterfowl hunting provides me with so many ways to enjoy the glory of Maine, from the warm, September days of early goose season ponds in Central Maine through bitter, dark December mornings in Casco Bay.  There is nothing quite like the power of life that duck hunting allows me to see.  One early morning in October, I got up around 4 am to pouring rain and wind, not the most fun to hunt in, and at least in my experience, not great weather for ducks (many say the snottier the weather, the better the hunting, but I wonder about this).  I went to a small pond near where I live in Hallowell, and my partner for the morning, who rarely if ever hunts in the rain, didn’t show.  His loss.

When first light came, the rain stopped, the wind picked up, and the sky filled with ducks.  This particular pond is very small, less than a mile long and half a mile wide.  It’s just a guess, but I think there were four hundred ducks over the pond, and they stayed there a long time.  I had many hurtling into my decoys.  I shot worse than any other day last season, getting only one duck for 30 rounds of Hevishot shells. (Duck hunters must use non-toxic shot.  Many use steel, but I prefer Hevishot, which is a tungsten-iron mixture and denser than steel, making it more effective.  It’s also expensive at $2-3 per round!) I think that the ducks — swarming almost like hornets from a disturbed nest — had me completely in awe and totally flummoxed.  They fly in large flocks to distract avian predators, and it works on the human kind as well.  Needless to say, my lab, Percy, was not happy with me and was flummoxed himself as to why so much noise resulted in so few opportunities for him to retrieve.

Seeing ducks is always great, and there is nothing like watching these aerobatic natural fighter jets scream towards you and set their wings.  But even more impressive is the duck swarm — when hundreds of ducks fly in ever rising circles like angry hornets or bees.  Although we all see ducks so commonly that they barely catch our attention, I doubt many have seen the swarm.  I only saw this twice last season, first at the small pond near my house, and then in December on a flat calm, warm day in Maquoit Bay near Brunswick. 

“Flat, calm, and warm” are definitely not good words for duck hunters to hear.  Ducks often move when they need to feed, which they need to do more when it’s cold, or when they want to get out of the wind.  “Flat, calm and warm” means ducks are happy where they are and don’t fly toward hunters’ decoys.  On this particular day, most observers would conclude there were, in fact, very few ducks in Maquoit Bay at all.  I knew differently, and a boat that traversed the far shore from my blind proved the point.  As the boat went by, the ducks swarmed. 

This time, there were thousands of birds in the swarm, slowly circling and filling the sky.  Many had come in the past few days, which had been very cold and finally froze up inland ponds and streams.  Some will still be in Maine waters now and others will have long since flown south.  I was lucky to glimpse a big piece of this huge annual migration.  I wonder how many people around Maquoit Bay get to see the duck swarm and are aware of the massive scale of the migration happening right under their noses.  Not many, I suspect, and most are probably duck hunters.

As I think about last season and readjust to life without duck hunting, I worry a bit about the future.  How many of the ducks I saw this year will be affected by the BP oil spill?  Here in Maine, there are proposals in the Legislature that could harm duck habitat and hunters’ ability to hunt.  One proposal would reduce the shoreland zone from 250 feet to 75 feet along lakes, rivers, wetlands, and the coast.  Other proposals would reduce the buffer around vernal pools, which Wood Ducks use for nesting, and around areas that Inland Fisheries and Wildlife considers especially important habitat for waterfowl. This will allow more development to encroach on places where ducks nest and roost, potentially reducing duck numbers.  Most duck hunting is done from shore and to hunt legally, one must be 300 feet from houses.  If development is pushed closer to the shores of our waters and wetlands, there will be fewer and fewer places for duck hunters to hunt. 

Duck hunting is my true outdoor passion, and a huge part of what makes Maine a wonderful place for me to live.  I don’t want that to change, and I hope there are many other duck hunters out there to help make this point loud and clear to legislators who want to role back protection of the places ducks live and hunters hunt. To stay informed about this legislation and actions you can take to protect Maine's environment, join the Natural Resources Council of Maine's Action Network http://supporters.nrcm.org/Action_Network.

 

Join Us February 14 in Augusta: Notes from the Auburn Hearing

The Regulatory Fairness hearings being held around the state by the Legislative Regulatory Reform Committee are bringing out large numbers of Maine citizens and business owners who want to see Maine’s environmental standards strengthened, not weakened. During the hearings there have been specific suggestions to improve the implementation of particular laws, but generally, little to no call for complete repeal of any laws. 

I attended the Auburn hearing on February 3 that was covered by the Lewiston Sun http://www.sunjournal.com/city/story/981130. During the time I was there, most people spoke about the importance of protecting Maine’s natural resources and the quality of life they provide. Buzz Lamb, a retired computer industry businessman from New Gloucester and NRCM board member, spoke from more than 40 years experience working with industries throughout Maine, including forest products, wholesale, retail, manufacturing, transportation, and health care industries. He challenged the premise put forward by the LePage Administration that regulation was killing jobs, noting instead that the real causes of job loss in Maine have been the rise of big box stores that eliminated healthy downtown retail districts; consolidations in wholesale distribution, banking, insurance and other industries that moved headquarters and jobs out-of-state; global labor rates that drew shoe and textile manufacturing jobs overseas, and the resulting decline of many other supporting jobs in the community. He said, “I find blaming Maine’s business environment on environmental regulation to be very misguided. In fact, it makes me question whether or not the governor’s team has done an adequate job in problem determination.” 

Buzz argued against the environmental rollbacks proposed by the LePage administration and some current legislators, saying that they will increase long-term costs to both business and government due to the rise in cost associated with toxics clean up, public health, and sprawl. He specifically discussed the legislative proposal to weaken shoreland zoning laws. As the owner of approximately 3000 feet of farm and woodland affected by shoreland zoning, he said the proposal of a 75 foot setback (instead of the present 250 feet) could not be proposed “with a straight face.” He said that 75 feet does not even begin to address the run off issues facing our lakes and streams during spring run off and heavy rains. “Once eutrophication (the introduction of artificial substances to a fresh water system) begins, it is difficult to stop and eventually feeds itself. The long term costs of watershed deterioration will be very high, including clean up costs, land value decline, expensive filtration equipment for public water supplies, and flood damage from faster run off.” He does not find being a good shoreland steward “onerous or difficult.” See Buzz’s full testimony here. 

Comments like these from Buzz Lamb about actual experience with our environmental standards in Maine have been delivered by hundreds of people throughout the hearing process. We hope the Legislature will listen and submit real solutions to real problems, rather than gut environmental laws that continue to serve Maine citizens well. 

If you have not contacted your legislator yet to express your concerns about the proposed environmental rollbacks, I encourage you to do so today. You can learn more at our website, where you can also find contact information for your legislator, at http://www.nrcm.org/stop_environmental_rollbacks.asp.

You can also join us for the final hearing in Augusta in Room 208, Cross State Office Building, Capitol Street, on Monday, February 14 between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. to say a few words to the committee. Join us at noon for a rally to protect Maine’s environment in the Hall of Flags at the State House. Hope to see you there!

-Lisa Pohlmann, NRCM Executive Director

Maine People and the Environment: Report from the Roundtable

More than 500 citizens from across the state poured into the Augusta Civic Center on January 20th to participate in the first public meeting with Governor LePage about the importance of environmental protection to Maine's economic and public health. A panel of 28 businesses, sportsmen, health professionals, religious leaders, and youth discussed how the laws that have cleaned up once heavily polluted rivers, have kept Maine's woods and fish stocks intact, have kept our landscapes protected and relatively pristine, and have cleaned up our air - and saved us money -- by conserving energy, are necessary and welcome to those who have chosen to set up businesses in Maine, have worked the land for generations, or visit here to enjoy our quality of life.

NRCM is proud to have sponsored this event with numerous partner organizations and to have seen so many members from the NRCM family across the state in attendance. We have shown once again that the people of Maine are deeply committed to environmental protections and are willing to stand up and fight for them. Please see the extensive news coverage here: http://www.nrcm.org/news.asp

We will soon be posting the remarks of the panelists, as well as video of the event, but today's snow slowed us down a bit. Check our website next week (www.nrcm.org) for more from the Roundtable.

Here are some of the remarks from the panelists, who we thank so much for participating in this event:

William Bennett, Pres. & CEO, of Oakhurst: "After all the cows that produce Oakhurst milk literally eat drink and breathe the Maine environment so it's in everyone's best interest to keep Maine's environment clean, safe and healthy."

Unity College student Deirdre Birbeck also had a chance to speak directly to the Governor. "It seems to me that my generation's future jobs will depend on careful stewarding of our natural resources."
 
“If our coastal waters are not clean, it is impossible for all commercial fishermen, not just clammers, to market the Maine brand,” said Chad Coffin, president of the Maine Clammers Association.

“Regulations aren’t perfect, and some may need fixing,” said Harry Dwyer, a licensed forester and logger who owns Ghost Dance Forestry in Fayette. “But regulations are not the enemy. They are an important tool” to protect resources for future generations.

Horace “Hoddy” Hildreth, a former Republican state senator who is chairman of Diversified Communications, a company with 200 employees, said many of the laws protecting Maine’s air, land and water were enacted by Republican-controlled legislatures responding to the industrial abuses of the 1960s and 1970s.

“Their implementation has from time to time caused frustration and even outrage,” Hildreth said. “But I submit to you that working on the regulations to make sure they are responsive to the plain intent of the statutes is a better way to go than gutting or repealing the laws.”

Corky Ellis, founder and Chairman of Kepware, a software company in Portland, says they could have moved to North Carolina or Texas with lower taxes and minimal environmental regulations, but they wanted to live in Maine. "Please bear in mind that many businesses like ours are here in Maine precisely because of the protected beauty and the conservation efforts of the past."

And MPBN's news story quoted Ernie Hilton, former chair of the Maine Board of Environmental Protection (read and listen to the full MPBN news story here):

Ernie Hilton is a lifelong Republican, an attorney and civil engineer from Madison who previously chaired Maine's Board of Environmental Protection, and whose wife chairs the Land Use Regulation Commission, or LURC.

Hilton says he's worried Maine's quality of place may be threatened as the new administration and Legislature look to relax environmental permitting and reuglations and do away with agencies such as LURC, which governs zoning and planning in Maine's North Woods.

"I'm concerned when I see, as I did yesterday, a list of some of the statutes which are pending before the Legislature dealing with shoreland zoning and with LURC, and it strikes me as being a race to the bottom approach to our environment," Hilton said.

Hilton says it's not environmental rules or regulations that are the biggest impediments to job creation in Maine but rather the high cost of health care. He points out that over the last eight years more than 10,000 permits by rule were issued for small projects, and $5 billion dollars worth of major projects permitted by the Department of Environmental Protection alone.

 
 

Governor-elect Excludes Enviros from Recent Forum

Did you see this front-page story on 12/1/10’s Portland Press Herald and other newspapers?

“Business Leaders Target Red Tape: Advocates for the environment, consumers, public health take no part in meeting”

http://www.kjonline.com/news/businessleaderstargetred-tape_2010-11-30.html

The piece describes how Gov.-elect Paul LePage is asking businesses and industry groups to help him reduce the regulations they believe hinder economic development. Twenty-eight representatives of these groups met with LePage and listed regulations they described as burdensome—issues related to the environment, civil rights, public health, child labor laws and tax policy. Unfortunately, environmental groups, public health advocates, and consumer advocates were not invited to the forum. NRCM Advocacy Director Pete Didisheim was interviewed for the story. "There are many voices that need to be he heard," said Didisheim. "This is not a balanced and fair approach to the policy process."

It does, however, provide insight into the direction the LePage Administration is likely headed regarded his view of protections put in place to protect Maine families and the state’s natural resource-based economy. You can read the full article here.

To stay informed about issues like these that put Maine’s environment at risk, and to hear about ways you can help make a difference, join NRCM’s Action Network.

"Choosing Maine's Next Governor" - watch gubernatorial candidate forum video

On Thursday October 21st, more than 300 citizens flocked to the University of Southern Maine's Portland campus to hear four of Maine’s gubernatorial candidates discuss how they would approach issues like clean air and water, climate change and energy, land conservation and wildlife, and a sustainable economy. The forum was moderated by Susan Sharon of MPBN, hosted by NRCM and more than 20 other groups, and online at, media.usm.maine.edu/~itms/video/Panel/Panel.html.