Forest cover declining across New England – Bangor Daily News
[There is a note at the bottom of this story that indicates there might be updates to this story. I’m guessing the BDN will localize it and expand the information. At least, that’s what they should do. — KM]
Posted in Environment, Maine, Outdoors
Tagged conservation, ecological research, forest, global warming, Harvard Forest, Harvard University, Maine, New England
PORTLAND – Two young college friends, one of them a longtime summer resident of Peaks Island, died after setting out for a short kayak trip Sunday and apparently falling into the cold and choppy waters of Casco Bay.
Irina McEntee, 18, and Carissa Ireland, 20, were found about 9 a.m. Monday by Coast Guard helicopter and boat crews about three miles off Cape Elizabeth and seven miles south of the kayakers’ original destination, Ram Island.
The women, both wearing life jackets, shorts and light shirts, were severely hypothermic and unresponsive and had no apparent vital signs when they were pulled from the 48-degree water, the Coast Guard said.
A helicopter crew rushed them to Maine Medical Center, where doctors tried to resuscitate them before pronouncing the women dead about 9:30 a.m., according to a hospital spokesman.
Forty-eight degrees “is very, very cold,” said Coast Guard Cmdr. Brian Downey. “Survivability is very short in that type of water condition.”
Click on the link for the rest of this story by John Richardson in the Portland Press Herald.
Posted in Environment, Maine, Outdoors
Tagged Baxter Peak, Baxter State Park, Cathedral Trail, hikers, hiking, Mount Katahdin, Saddle Trail, Tableland, trails, treeless alpine tundra
Posted in Environment, Maine, Outdoors
Tagged bull moose, Cumberland County, Maine, Oak Hill Road, Standish, traffic fatality
Acorn Productions hosts Shakespeare Festival
this weekend and next at Riverbank Park
If you fell asleep in English class when your teacher made you read “Macbeth,” well, fie upon thee.
Away, I say.
Get thee hence to Westbrook’s Riverbank Park, where methinks you’ll find redemption at the Westbrook Shakespeare Festival. This weekend and next, the Naked Shakespeare company, presented by Acorn Productions, will hold outdoor performances of “As You Like It” and “Romeo and Juliet” in the park.
But soft! There is more, my liege.
The plays are free (verily, donations will be accepted), and will include a musical prologue featuring a guitar and mandolin playing music contemporary to Shakespeare.
The audience is welcome to bring a picnic or buy a boxed dinner from Blue Burrito, which is preparing food especially for the event. Other local restaurants, including Portland Pie Co. and the Frog and Turtle, will be offering specials afterward.
Click on the link for the rest of this story by Meredith Goad in the Portland Press Herald.
Posted in Disaster, Economy, Energy, Environment, Maine, Outdoors
Tagged Aquaholics Surf Shop, BP America, British Petroleum, Casco Bay, Gulf of Mexico, Mainers, offshore oil drilling, oil spill, Sierra Club
LEWISTON — For two days after he returned from Haiti, Peter Geiger had trouble talking about his experience.
It was too emotional. Too intense. Simply too difficult to put into words.
“It was overwhelming,” he said.
Geiger had spent days as part of a rubble brigade, passing one bucket of debris after another down a line of volunteers working in 100-degree heat to clear a collapsed building that once housed a church and school. He had walked through the streets of a neighborhood built on trash, its water tainted brown. He had handed out soccer balls to children whose last play area was a sewer.
“Until you’re physically down there and you see it, smell it, hear it, it’s hard to describe,” Geiger said. “I knew it would be an emotional experience, but I didn’t realize, particularly until I came back, how emotionally I was affected by it. I’ve always been passionate about helping people, but this is a whole other level of need.”
Click on the link for the rest of today’s story by Lindsay Tice in the Lewiston Sun Journal. The story is accompanied by photos and video.
Posted in Disaster, Environment, Maine, Outdoors
Tagged aid, disaster, earthquake, Haiti, Haitians, humanitarian, Mainers, mission trip, relief, South Lewiston Baptist Church, volunteers
The long-awaited climate change bill is due to be unveiled in the U.S. Senate today. But a summary of the bill circulated in the media yesterday.
The Associated Press reported that under the new bill, coastal states could veto offshore drilling plans of nearby states, if they can prove negative impacts from an accident.
This clause is undoubtedly part of last-minute changes made in response to the ongoing oil spill in the Gulf.
Click on the lick for the rest of this story on SustainableBusiness.com.
Posted in Economy, Energy, Environment, Outdoors, Politics and government
Tagged bill, BP, British Petroleum, climate change, drilling plans, Energy, Environment, government, Gulf of Mexico, legislation, offshore drilling, oil spill, politics, poll
Today’s DownEast.com trivia question is fun. It is about “unorganized territory” or UT. I used to camp, fish, and canoe in some of that UT. It is essentially and specifically and eternally Maine.
What is “unorganized territory” and how much of it does Maine have?
Answer:
The UT is land outside the boundaries of organized towns or cities, and is predominately found in the sparsely populated North Woods. The UT includes 16,250 square miles, or some 10.4 million acres, of the state’s 30,862 square miles, more than half the state.
Posted in Environment, Maine trivia, Outdoors
Tagged camp, canoe, fish, Maine, North Woods, unorganized territory
Posted in Environment, Food and Drink, Maine, Outdoors
Tagged crustacean, Hollywood Slots, lobster, lobster picking
Group holds contest for worst Maine road – Bangor Daily News
Contest entries may be submitted by e-mail to FixMaineRoads@mbtaonline.org; through the website www.FixMaineRoads.org; or at the Facebook page www.facebook.com/FixMaineRoads. For information, call 622-0526.
Posted in Disaster, Energy, Environment, Maine, Outdoors
Tagged BP, British Petrolium, Gulf of Mexico, Maine Responder, oil spill, Portland Harbor
Posted in Disaster, Energy, Environment, Outdoors, Politics and government
Tagged absorbent, British Petroleum, Deepwater Horizon, Environment, Gulf Coast, hair, Matter of Trust, oil spill, wildlife
[A moose usually wins in a vehicle vs. moose crash. Especially, when the crash involves a motorcyclist not wearing a helmet. — KM]
Motorcyclist in hospital after hitting moose – Bangor Daily News.
Letters From Away 