NRCM Blog

Timing, Commitment, and the Need to Stay Involved

“Timing is everything” or so the expression goes. I’m not sure where this bit of wisdom originated from, but it rings true today. Allow me to reflect once more on the Polar Dip and Dash from New Year’s Eve 2011 and how lucky I was with timing. On the day of the Dip and Dash, it was a balmy 30+ degrees. Now, two weeks later as I type this, it is -2 degrees outside. I feel very lucky with my timing! Even if the temperature had been hovering below 0, I was committed to going in no matter what. There is no turning back once the gun has sounded and you’re facing the ocean!

Enough with metaphors, but timing and commitment remain relevant and are resonating right now. NRCM’s first board meeting of 2012 took place on January 17, and one of our big agenda items was to finalize and approve our strategic plan. This document, produced by the staff and board after hours of productive meetings, began last summer. The final document will be our compass now through 2014. All staff departments and the board have set goals, strategies to achieve them, and benchmarks to measure our success. As supporters of NRCM, you should be proud, as these goals are ambitious but achievable if we all pitch in and take our personal commitment up a notch (or two).

Speaking of pitching in, I had the pleasure of collecting signatures for the Clean Energy ballot initiative. NRCM is part of a coalition that has made it a priority to get this initiative onto the November 2012 state ballot and then working hard to ensure its passage.  The governor has already come out against it, asking Maine citizens not to sign the petition. However, Maine people think for themselves, as my experience collecting signatures proved, with 100% of those I asked eager to sign on. In fact, many were dismayed that the renewable portfolio mix for 2020 was only 20%.

Remember in my December blog, how I discussed testifying at the BEP hearing on “moderate value” wading and shorebird habitat? Compelling testimony given that day by NRCM’s Nick Bennett encouraged BEP to seek further comment by wildlife biologists, and the outcome was a win for the environment, Maine’s wildlife, and all who appreciate the importance of protecting this valuable habitat. Strong work, Nick. 

The last bit of news is from Maine Superior Court. I attended the appeal of the court’s previous decision to remand back to LURC its decision on Plum Creek. Although the arguments can sound arcane to those of us not fluent in “legalese,” our attorney Russ Pierce again made a clear, logical case for sustaining the Superior Court’s initial decision. The court’s final answer is expected sometime this summer.

Finally, I want to alert you to an important date, Tuesday, Feb. 28th, which is NRCM Citizen Action Day. This is your chance to be briefed first-hand by NRCM’s experts, get a primer in citizen lobbying, and head to the State House for some persuasive conversation with your legislators.  It is a privilege and honor to serve you and our great state. I hope to meet as many of you there as possible.

Learn more:

Maine Citizens for Clean Energy Expects Lower Electricity Costs with Ballot Initiative

Maine High Court Hears Arguments in Plum Creek Development Case

NRCM Polar Dip and Dash Slideshow

Tony Owens, MD
NRCM Board President

Mean Mr. Grinch Thwarted this Holiday Season

On a recent blustery winter day, I found myself skulking and slinking around Portland’s Monument Square dressed as Dr. Seuss’ the Grinch. Sporting a three-piece, pinstriped suit and hauling bags of dirty coal over my shoulder, I spread holiday fear wherever I went. But why, you ask? I have never considered myself a Grinch by any means, especially during the holiday season. I love all that this time of year offers, especially here in Maine. I enjoy the powdery snow that blankets our rolling hills, skating on frozen ponds, and breathing the crisp, clean air. So why the Grinch outfit, you ask?

I was acting in a fun street theater performance co-sponsored by NRCM applauding new standards that will clean up Maine’s air! Thanks to new standards issued by the EPA regulating air emission of mercury, arsenic, nickel, selenium, and cyanide from the nation’s dirtiest power plants, Mainers can all breathe a bit easier this holiday season! The new Mercury and Air Toxics Standard will slash domestic mercury air emissions by 90 percent by requiring all power plants to utilize existing pollution abatement technology.

To raise awareness about this important new public health safeguard, we pitted the Grinch (think dirty coal-fired power plants) against Santa Claus (think EPA) in a street theater performance. As Santa stuffed Maine’s Christmas stocking with presents representing clean air, safe children, and healthy wildlife, the Grinch tried to put dirty coal in Maine’s stocking. Thanks to the EPA’s new rules, I think we all know how that turned out.

The EPA estimates that the Mercury and Air Toxics Standard will prevent 11,000 premature deaths and 4,700 heart attacks a year in the United States. The standards will also help America’s children grow up healthier – preventing 130,000 cases of childhood asthma symptoms. This is especially good news for Maine which is downwind from so many coal-fired power plants and has one of the highest rates of childhood asthma in the country. This is why Maine has been dubbed the “tailpipe state” of the nation.

Power plants are responsible for half of the mercury and over 75 percent of the acid gas emissions in the United States.  Today, more than half of all domestic coal-fired power plants already utilize pollution control technologies. Once implemented, these new standards will ensure the remaining plants – about 40 percent of all domestic coal-fired power plants - take similar steps to clean up their act. This will save lives, prevent diseases, protect our children’s healthy, and reduce mercury pollution in our lakes, rivers, and streams.

NRCM is pleased that the Obama administration made good on its promise for clean, healthy air this holiday season. We urge Maine Senators Snowe and Collins not to be Grinches and to protect the health of Maine families by voting against all efforts to delay air pollution rules in Congress.

-Todd Martin, NRCM Outreach Coordinator

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.

Inside Interior Secretary Salazar's National Park Meeting

Posted by Cathy Johnson, NRCM's North Woods Project Director

Last Thursday was a big day for the future of Maine’s North Woods. 

In the afternoon, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Salazar addressed a crowd of about 300 at the high school auditorium in Millinocket. The topic was Roxanne Quimby’s proposal for a national park on the 70,000 acres she owns along the East Branch of the Penobscot River.  

Out in the parking lot, before the meeting, the park opponents were holding signs and passing out stickers.  They put on a real show of force.

In the auditorium, after Sec. Salazar arrived, the Millinocket Town officials, a local county commissioner and the local state senator continued the anti-park assault, with loud aggressive comments, including challenging Salazar with “Who invited you here?”  (I later heard someone refer to them as “the rude boys.”)

Sec. Salazar took it all in stride.  “I invited myself,” he said and proceeded to run a civilized discussion about the possibility of a feasibility study and a national park.  Alternating supporting and opposing speakers, he ensured that both perspectives were well represented.  After hearing from a number of folks supporting the feasibility study because they wanted more information about the impacts of the proposed park, he challenged the “rude boys” back:  “What is it about getting more information that you don’t like?”  

And to find out what the “silent majority” was thinking, at the end he called on three people who had not raised their hands to speak.

 The Katahdin Region Chamber of Commerce and the Millinocket Downtown Revitalization Committee have both supported a feasibility study.  Local business supporters had filled the first three rows with friendly faces, although only one business supporter spoke. 

 Coming out of that meeting, I thought, it was, perhaps, a draw between supporters and opponents, although the supporters definitely got the edge for civility.

 But the evening was only beginning. 

 The Medway Selectmen, who had already endorsed a feasibility study, had scheduled a town meeting and referendum vote on the issue by all the town residents for 7:00 pm.  Roxanne Quimby was present and the Moderator let both local residents and out-of-towners speak and ask questions.

The opponents to the park were again out in force; the local senator strode to the lectern to denounce the park idea and any feasibility study.

But many residents asked real questions and were apparently satisfied with the answers because when the question was called, supporters trounced the opponents 46 – 6.  There was a palpable sense of deflation from the opponents, who quickly packed up their stickers, signs and clipboards and slunk out the door.  Meanwhile, the supporters were pleased but trying to figure out what the next step is.

It is hard to overstate the importance of the Medway vote.  This is the first time residents in a northern Maine community have voted to support a feasibility study for a national park.  After decades during which the debate about a national park has been dominated and stifled by opponents, the supporters have finally made space for a reasoned discussion of the issue. 

A vote for a feasibility study is not an endorsement of a national park.  But it signals that, finally, the debate will take place based on facts, rather than fears and ideology.  Stay tuned. The conversation is just beginning!

Birds & Berries on LMF's Kennebunk Plains

by Allison Childs Wells, NRCM Senior Director of Public Affairs

Looking for a beautiful natural area to bring the family to this summer? Maine’s beaches are wonderful, and our mountains are spectacular. But how about some place you might not think of, some place unique and incredibly special, some place that also is a good reminder of why the Land for Maine’s Future program is such a treasure for all who love Maine?

In July, I visited one of my favorite Maine places, the Kennebunk Plains. This place is special to me for many reasons. For one, I have a long history with it. In the mid-80s, my husband spent many summers there first as a research assistant then as a Cornell Ph.D. candidate. When I wasn’t writing my own master’s thesis, chances were good that I was traipsing around the Plains, as it’s often called, helping out as a field assistant—spot-mapping, conducting point counts, and otherwise living and breathing the plants and animals of the Kennebunk Plains. Which brings me to another reason this place is so special.

The plants and animals that call it home. The Kennebunk Plains is a rare, and the largest, sand plain grassland in New England. This 3,200-acre area spans Route 99 and McGuire Road in Kennebunk and is host to rare flowers like the white-topped aster, upright bindweed, and, this time of year, the world’s largest stand of the extremely rare northern blazing star, which turns the vast acres purple. Along with these rare flowers come an abundance of butterflies and other fascinating insects—the beautiful metallic green tiger beetles and steely robber flies, and crickets and grasshoppers galore—and with those come birds, birds, birds.

Being a lifelong birder, it’s the birds that I love best about the Kennebunk Plains. Although most have stopped singing by now in order to feed and raise their broods, you may still hear the “wolf whistle” of the Upland Sandpiper, a bird on Maine’s endangered species list, and if you’re lucky, maybe the “chip-chip bzzzzz” of the state-endangered Grasshopper Sparrow. Prairie Warbler, Boblink, Vesper and Savannah sparrows—these are just a few of the other species you can find here, and that doesn’t include rarities we’ve found there over the years, like Sandhill Crane (long before they began breeding in Maine), Western Meadowlark, Golden Eagle, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (at the adjoining Wells Barrens), and even a bird that typically spends its entire life at sea, Pomarine Jaeger! This year, a pair of Clay-colored Sparrows was confirmed breeding there—a bird that had for many years been a vagrant to Maine. The Plains is also one of few places where you can with some certainly find Whip-poor-wills singing in the evenings.

These highlights alone are worth a visit, but the list of the Kennebunk Plains’ special qualities goes on and on. Winding through the acres is a maze of dirt roads that make the area a nice place to walk, jog, ride bikes, or horseback ride (and in winter, bring your cross-country skies!)

If you decide to go this time of year, bring your binoculars, but also bring a few bowls with you, because the fields are sweet with delicious Maine blueberries. In fact, back when we were doing our research there, the Plains was owned and managed by a commercial blueberry company. Which brings me to perhaps the most important reason why this place is so special.

It could have been a golf course. Or yet another housing development. But it’s not. There was talk back then that the company was fielding offers from developers who saw this place as easy land to clear and develop, blind to the magnificent plants and animals found here. Thankfully, others valued what make it so special—the Kennebunk and Great Works land trusts; the Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, and Wells water districts, Town of Kennebunk, and other groups. They saw the tremendous ecological value of the Kennebunk Plains and stepped in. Thanks to their determination, the Kennebunk Plains was among the first projects to receive Land for Maine’s Future funds, the popular matching funds program that provides funding for lands important for the public good. The Natural Resources Council of Maine has, will continue to work, very hard for funding for this important program. The Kennebunk Plain is one example of why.

A friend of mine who lives in Kennebunk (and has been updating her Facebook page regularly with posts about her berry picking at the Plains) says the berries are still plentiful. So go, bring your bowls and binoculars, and enjoy this spectacular place!

(For more background about the Kennebunk Plains, including a short video of singing Whip-poor-wills, visit Allison's Mama Bird blog at MaineTodayMedia's website. Vist NRCM's Land for Maine's Future web pages at http://www.nrcm.org/issue_landprotection.asp.)

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 

 

Plum Creek update: our day in court

Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011, NRCM finally got its day in court on our appeal of the Land Use Regulation Commission's (LURC) approval of Plum Creek’s Concept Plan for three resorts including 2,000 house lots in the Moosehead Lake region. The hearing was held in the old courthouse in Portland. NRCM was represented by our wonderful and committed lawyer, Russ Pierce, of Norman, Hansen and DeTroy. FEN and RESTORE were represented by their lawyers Phil Worden and Lynn Williams.

Of course, there was a long line up of lawyers on the other side – the Assistant Attorney General, Jerry Reid, representing LURC, and lawyers representing Plum Creek, the Piscataquis County Economic Development Commission, The Nature Conservancy and Forest Society in Maine. Altogether, there were three lawyers on our side and seven on their side. 

The Judge, Justice Thomas Humphrey, was very well prepared. He clearly had read the briefs and LURC’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan and LURC’s procedural rules. He had lots of questions for the lawyers. 

While there are a number of issues included in the appeal and the briefs, the hearing focused primarily on two issues: 1) whether NRCM and FEN/Restore had “standing” to appeal, and 2) whether LURC had followed the right process in approving the Concept Plan.

The State had challenged NRCM’s standing (or legal right) to appeal in spite of the fact that LURC had granted us intervenor status and we had participated in every phase of the Plum Creek process. Frankly, we were outraged at the State’s challenge since the law on this issue is quite settled. The law says that if our members use and enjoy the region and will be harmed by the approval, NRCM has standing to appeal. We filed five affidavits from five members showing clearly that they use the region and will be harmed by the decision.  Fortunately, when the Judge started questioning the State’s lawyer, he quickly folded his cards, essentially abandoning his argument. I am very optimistic that the Judge will rule in our favor on this question.

On the question of whether LURC had followed the right procedure, the debate was more complicated. The Judge was trying to figure out whether the Plum Creek process was a rulemaking process or an “adjudicatory” process because different procedural rules apply to each. LURC had shifted gears after the public hearings and tried to transform what had started as an adjudicatory process into a “prospective planning” rulemaking process so that they could rewrite Plum Creek’s plan. 

After much back and forth, our lawyer Russ Pierce summed it up best. He said that it doesn’t matter what name you put on the process, the fact is that after following the written process (Chapter 5 process - used by LURC for 35 years to evaluate these types of applications) all the way through the public hearings, LURC abandoned that process and adopted a new, unwritten “ad hoc” process. The new “ad hoc” process deprived the public of the opportunity to fully explore the new proposals (paid for conservation, a new resort at Moose Bay, etc.) that then became part of the approved plan. 

When the State’s lawyer asserted that the whole proceeding was basically a prospective planning process allowing LURC to follow whatever process it wanted, our lawyers pointed out that prospective planning considers all the land in a region, not just the land of one owner.

The Judge made no decisions yesterday, but was clearly listening carefully, and I am cautiously hopeful. If he rules in our favor on both questions, LURC’s approval of Plum Creek’s plan would be vacated and the case would likely be sent back to LURC for further proceedings. If the Judge rules against us, we will strongly consider appealing to the Law Court. We could hear from the Judge any time in the next few months. Stay tuned!

- Cathy Johnson, NRCM North Woods Project Director and Senior Staff Attorney

To learn more about our work to protect the Moosehead Lake region, visit our website.

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.