Environment and Outdoors

A new report indicates that what are being called "tried-and-true industry tactics" have been used by opponents of an ordinance aimed at keeping tar sands oil out of Maine.  

Environment Maine released it's report as the South Portland City Council prepares to vote on a new ordinance that would prevent tar sands oil from being loaded onto tanker ships in Casco Bay.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) _ State forestry and entomology experts say a fungal disease affecting white pines is growing worse.

William Ostrofsky, forest pathologist for the Maine Forest Service, said Wednesday that white pine needle disease, possibly exacerbated by above-average rainfall, has reached epidemic proportions in Maine, mostly in southwestern and central-western parts of the state.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) _ Canadian fishery officials are searching for a badly injured North Atlantic right whale that appears to be entangled in fishing lines.

North Atlantic right whales are severely endangered, with the population believed to be about 400. Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada began an aerial search for the injured whale on Tuesday.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials spotted the whale on Sunday entangled in multiple fishing lines and in poor condition.

WASHINGTON (AP)     Sen. Angus King of Maine says the melting polar ice cap represents an opportunity for U.S. security, economic and diplomatic interests.

 AUGUSTA, Maine (AP)    Environmentalists say the removal of the Edwards Dam in Augusta and Fort Halifax Dam in Winslow has allowed river herring populations to prosper in the Kennebec River.

Marine scientists and representatives from the state gathered along the waterfront in Portland on Friday to announce a sixteen member panel, chosen to tackle what they say is a growing problem for shellfish producers: ocean acidification. 

Following Portland's recently passed plastics ordinance, the town of Kennebunk may be the next to impose a fee on the ubiquitous plastic shopping bags provided by retailers.   But Kennebunk would be taking a slightly different approach.  On advice from the Board of Selectman, the town's Energy Efficiency Committee will draft language for a non-binding resolution that could go to voters in the fall, if approved by the board.

PORTLAND, Maine — U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, environmentalists and fishermen will gather on Portland's waterfront to discuss the impact of ocean acidification on the Gulf of Maine.

Pingree and others will hold a news conference at 1:30 p.m. Friday behind the Pierce Atwood building off of Commercial Street. Pingree backs a bill in Congress she says would require the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to identify communities that have a "high economic dependency" on ocean resources and how ocean acidification would affect them.

Federal fisheries regulators have announced measures intended to reduce the number of large whales getting entangled in fishing gear along the Atlantic seaboard.

In the Northeast, the measures include increasing the number of lobster traps hooked to each trawl line that fishing vessels release into the water. The aim is to reduce the number of vertical lines in places where whales are most abundant, and fishing activity is highest.

Other areas, including the mid-Atlantic and the Southeast, face different whale-protecting requirements.