Maine

“'I harvest twice [the ash] I am going to use...I do that because I know that we can’t stop them.' Jeremy believes that brown ash will be gone in 15 years, and he hopes that he’ll have stockpiled as much as a decade’s worth of material by then. 'It’s thousands of years of native technology gone—gone.'”

“Nearly two years after the Veazie Dam’s removal—and three years after deconstruction of the equally large Great Works Dam just upriver—alewives, American shad and other species are returning in numbers not seen in decades, if not generations. The nearly 590,000 alewives or river herring counted this spring at the Milford fish lift—now the first dam on the Penobscot— is more than triple last year’s run of 187,438 fish and represents a 45-fold increase from the 2013 numbers...Biologists say that for the first time in decades, they are hearing from Bangor-area fishermen trying to figure out the best way to catch shad, the largest type of herring known for its savory meat.”

"For more than a century, the Veazie Dam has prevented 11 species of sea-run fish from reaching more than 1,000 miles of their native habitat. Now those fish — including the endangered Atlantic salmon, American shad, river herring, endangered shortnose sturgeon, threatened Atlantic sturgeon, striped bass, rainbow smelt and tomcod — are closer than ever to being able to return to their native waters to feed, spawn and boost the larger ecosystem."

Chief Kirk Francis of the Penobscot Nation heralds the removal of the Veazie Dam: “To the Penobscot, this river is our very soul. It’s a place where we truly hold hands with our history and our ancestors. With each step of this project, we feel that much closer to [the river], and realizing our people’s dream of this river in its natural state, providing for and nurturing our people in many ways, as it has always done.”

An infestation of the hemlock wooly adelgid, an invasive insect, appears in Harpswell Maine. According to Allison Kanoti, Maine Forest Service Entomologist, "There's never been a jump this big in a natural spread. It's not surprising, but it's discouraging." The insect has "already infested more than 10,000 acres in southern coastal areas."

“The removal of Edwards Dam became a pivotal moment in the history of the environmental movement and river restoration in the United States. It was the first functioning hydroelectric dam to be removed — and the first time the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ever voted, against the wishes of a dam owner, not to relicense a dam.”

“They're on our license plates and in our hearts. The wild and beautiful loon, our symbol of conservation and unspoiled wilderness, shares a powerful bond with Maine's people. Together, they face a common enemy - mercury. Pollution from mercury, a natural element that modern industry has transformed into a serious environmental and health risk, is literally raining down on Maine's lakes, ponds, rivers and streams. Wildlife biologists are finding growing evidence that loons, weakened by mercury, are having trouble reproducing and fighting off disease.”

“This Act represents one of the last opportunities to preserve a piece of Maine’s vanishing wilderness. Caribou-Speckled’s undisturbed beauty, the spectacular views from the summits of the area’s many peaks, the dozens of waterfalls, gorges, and cascading brooks, the extensive mature forest stands and the area’s diverse plant and animal life will make it an important addition to the National Wilderness Preservation System.”

The Green Lake National Fish Hatchery begins producing salmon, augmenting river-specific strains of Atlantic Salmon returns to Gulf of Maine rivers...“Three out of every four Atlantic salmon returning to U.S. waters come from the Green Lake National Fish Hatchery. Indeed, bringing Atlantic salmon back to the Penobscot River has been the most successful salmon restoration program in New England.”

"'The Allagash Wilderness Waterway was established by legislative action in 1966 to "Preserve, protect, and develop the natural beauty, character and habitat or a unique area"'...This area had long been famous for its fishing and canoe trips, and it was felt that unsupervised use might increase to the point of degrading the habitat... 'The Allagash is not a wilderness in the sense of being untouched by man. It is a wilderness in the sense that those who visit it can enjoy basic living under natural conditions in direct contrast to modern man's daily environment.' Use can vary from boating on chamberlain Lake to floating the entire 92 miles of the waterway by canoe."

“The bill being considered will provide an orderly approach to air pollution control and is very essential... Polluted air, like polluted water, is costly to our economy as well as a hazard to our health…Polluted air is not contained in a specific area but is carried from one political jurisdiction to another. It does not know State lines or city limits. Providing air of good quality to all of our people is a challenge and an obligation for Government operations on all levels."

“By the nineteen-sixties, the Androscoggin had in fact become one of the most polluted rivers in the United States and, as such, played a crucial role in bringing about major environmental regulation in the nineteen-seventies. One summer—in a drought year—the water level of the river dropped and the concentration of sulphur solvents became sufficiently intense that it began to blacken and then peel the paint off houses. The oxygen content in the river dropped to near zero. The fish died. Jewelers were unable to keep their stocks of silverware in saleable condition because they turned black overnight. The smell became so bad that people began to leave.”

“The present population of nesting Eiders on the Maine coast probably exceeds 2,000 pairs, as contrasted with the two birds known to be breeding there in 1907. The comeback of the Eider is apparently due to several factors: first, the protection and educational program initiated by the National Audubon Society; second, the law prohibiting spring shooting: and third, the recent pronounced decrease in egg collecting.”

“Man is born to die, his works are short-lived. Buildings crumble, monuments decay, wealth vanishes. But Katahdin in all its glory, forever shall remain the mountain of the people of Maine.”