Aroostook County

Michael Parisio, a forest entomologist with the Maine Forest Service, says defoliated trees are on the Quebec border near St. Aurelie.

Warm winter temperatures and a lack of snow are causing problems for organizers behind some of Maine’s public winter events- even in Aroostook County, where snow is usually reliable this time of year.

As parents in Maine and across the country struggle to find and keep childcare, those challenges are amplified in rural areas like Aroostook county, where its particularly hard to hire and retain staff, and keep fees affordable for parents, all in a time of significant inflation.

More than 6,300 acres in Aroostook County are now home to a new Wildlife Management Area. It includes important habitat for Atlantic salmon and deer. It can be used by hunters, anglers, and paddlers.

The Aroostook County Action Program said it's fielding a growing number of calls from families who need help to avoid losing service, including many households who have never asked for help before.

The billion-dollar powerline known as the Aroostook Renewable Gateway would run from Glenwood Plantation to Coopers Mills. In addition to linking the grids, it would send power south from the proposed 1,000-megawatt King Pine wind farm northwest of Houlton.

The analysis from Aroostook Partnership and county commissioners details exactly what areas in the county are unserved or underserved. It also mapped more than 36,000 homes and performed broadband speed tests to look for coverage gaps.

The Conservation Fund is serving as a bridge between landowner Herb Haynes and the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

To address the shrinking workforce in the County, a group of business and education leaders is pursuing a plan to attract families to the area. And more specifically, refugee families. But one of the challenges is finding families who want to move to northern Maine.

Research from the New England Forestry Foundation suggests there is potential to sequester and store even more carbon with improved forest management, conservation and expanded markets for wood — but it would take more investment to achieve.