#northwoods — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #northwoods, aggregated by home.social.
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I stand with Minnesota. Loon Point, set against the beauty of the Northwoods, the first novel by columnist Carrie Classon explores chosen family. Review--> #BookThreads #BookSky #BookReview #LoonPoint #BrillianceAudio #LakeUnionPublishing #Minnesota #Northwoods #ContemporaryFiction #FoundFamily
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#CMPCorridor Proposal: A Bad Deal for #Maine
"In April 2023, a Cumberland County jury ruled in CMP’s favor during a court case that very likely will decide the future of the company’s controversial transmission corridor. The decision was based on technical legal issues and not on the merits of whether or not this was a good project for Maine
"We are disappointed with the outcome and remain sharply focused on achieving a just and equitable clean energy future that works for all Mainers.
"Maine has already shown there’s a better path forward than the CMP corridor. A path focused on #regional collaboration and centered in Maine’s pragmatic approach to solving problems.
"Mainers are pursuing home-grown clean energy sources, like the #KingPineWind project in Aroostook County that will deliver new and verifiable reductions in pollution rather than a shell game that shifts existing energy for maximum profit.
"#MaineVoters got it right when they overwhelmingly passed a referendum rejecting the #CMP corridor because it’s a bad deal for #Maine and a bad deal for our climate.
"#NRCM is honored to stand with youth #ClimateJustice activists, #tribes in Maine and Canada, people across #WesternMaine who rely on a vibrant outdoor recreation economy, and many others in opposing the CMP corridor. Thank you to everyone who partnered with us on this hard-fought campaign.
What is the CMP Corridor?"Central Maine Power (CMP) is building a 145-mile transmission line through the heart of Maine to send hydropower from Quebec to electricity customers in Massachusetts.
"The CMP corridor is a bad deal for Maine. It will permanently damage #undeveloped #forest and #wildlife habitat, stifle the #LocalRenewableEnergy industry, and jeopardize the creation of clean energy jobs. The corridor won’t reduce global greenhouse gas emissions or create sustainable jobs for Maine people.
Top 4 Reasons NRCM Opposed the Corridor:
- Won’t reduce climate-changing pollution, and may actually increase it.
- Cuts 53 miles of new transmission lines through undeveloped forests in Maine’s #NorthWoods, harming brook trout, deer, other #wildlife, and the tourism economy.
- Jeopardizes the construction of new in-state renewable energy projects and creation of clean energy jobs.
- Generates billions of dollars of profit for CMP [#Avangrid] and #HydroQuebec while offering very little to Maine people and businesses."https://www.nrcm.org/programs/climate/proposed-cmp-transmission-line-bad-deal-maine/
#NorthWoods #SaveTheNorthWoods
#SaveTheForests #BigElectricity
#MainePol #ProtectTheNorthWoods #QuebecHydro -
Just like when the #Maine public voted AGAINST the #CMPCorridor through the #NorthWoods!
Public feedback process for decision on #OffshoreWind port a charade, #environmentalists claim
State officials are accused of long favoring #SearsIsland, the largest undeveloped island in #PenobscotBay, as the future site of the port.
Author: Kate Cough of The Maine Monitor
Published: 12:51 PM EDT August 14, 2023PORTLAND, Maine — "Environmentalists are decrying a year-long process meant to gather public feedback on where to build a #deepwater offshore wind port, calling it a 'charade.'
"They say state officials failed to adequately engage the public or #tribal communities and effectively decided where to construct the port long before the process began.
"The Maine Department of Transportation [#MDOT]has been making an internal case for Sears Island while 'giving an illusion of an impartial analysis of port possibilities to the public,' said #MattCannon, the state conservation and energy director for #SierraClubMaine, in comments at the final meeting of the Offshore Wind Port Advisory Group.
"'Some,' he said, 'see it as a breach of public trust.'
"State officials have said they’re considering several locations for the 100-acre port, including #Eastport, #MackPoint and Sears Island, and don’t expect to choose a final location until next year. The officials insist they have not made a final decision.
"But participants in the process, which began in May 2022, say the state has long advocated for Sears Island, the largest #undeveloped island in Penobscot Bay.
"They believe officials have not seriously considered other options for the port, which would be the staging area for equipment needed to build and maintain #Windturbines in federal waters in the #GulfOfMaine.
"Those suspicions hardened after documents released via a public records request submitted by #IslesboroIslandsTrust earlier this year revealed internal discussions seeming to indicate an official preference for the island. #FriendsOfSearsIsland manages the #trails on the conserved portion of the island.
"The documents included a '#Stakeholder Management Plan' written by state-hired consultant Kay Rand. The document said the goals were, in part, to 'develop and execute a stakeholder outreach strategy that would enable #GovernorJanetMills to … announce a commitment to pursue development of Sears Island as the #RenewableEnergy Port of the Northeast.'
"The document is dated Sept. 8, 2021 — eight months before the stakeholder group held its first meeting — and mentions pursuing Sears Island as the port at least four times."
#Environment #EndangeredSpecies #ProtectSearsIsland #WindTerminal #SandDunes
#Searsport #ProtectWahsumkik #Wahsumkik
#EndangeredSpecies #ProtectTheDunes #WabanakiAlliance #Wassumkeag #CorporateColonialism -
So, while #EuropoeanEarthworms can be beneficial in gardens, they are not native to #Maine, and are actually an invasive species! (Native Maine earthworms were wiped out a long time ago, it seems...)
Invasive #Earthworms Rediscovered in #NorthernMaine #Forests
January 2022
"University of Maine researchers recently discovered invasive earthworms from Europe in Aroostook County, Maine timberlands, in what they say is the first reported sighting of the creatures in northern Maine forests since 1979. The finding raises concerns that the worms may cause changes in the forest ecosystem, from a slowing of tree regeneration to a release of carbon from the soil.
"Joshua Puhlick, formerly a research associate at the UMaine School of Forest Resources and now a scientist at The Jones Center at Ichauway in Georgia, found the worms while sampling soils as part of a sustainable forestry initiative at three research plantations. 'We were collecting soils and looking at the influence of forestry management on soil properties when we happened to discover earthworms at two of our sites,' he said. 'It was a pretty big deal to find them because we weren’t expecting to see them in northern Maine.'
"European earthworms were found in all 18 research plots at the Nashville Plantation along Route 11 and in 2 of 15 plots near the Seven Islands campsite on the St. John River. At least two different species of non-native worms were identified.
"Native earthworms were extirpated from Maine and much of the rest of New England during the last Ice Age. European earthworms eventually found their way to most of the region through discarded fishing bait, the transportation of horticultural materials, and on logging machinery, but they weren’t believed to be widespread in northern Maine.
"'Earthworms can cause a lot of abrupt changes in forest ecosystems and influence forest health, and many natural resource managers are becoming increasingly alarmed about the presence of earthworms in Maine forests,' said Puhlick. 'Invasive plant species find it easier to make their way into forests after earthworm invasions, and that impacts tree regeneration. Worms also consume a lot of the organic horizon – the litter and duff layer – and redistribute some of it within the mineral soil, which changes carbon dynamics and could potentially release carbon back into the atmosphere.'
"The worms prefer forests of northern hardwoods because the leaf litter is less acidic than in coniferous forests, Puhlick explained, although earthworms have been reported in mixed forests as well. #SugarMaple forests are a particular concern.
"'This isn’t a new phenomenon in New England, but we often worry about the decline of sugar maple health,' he said. 'These earthworm populations can cause changes in soil dynamics that could lead to declining health in sugar maples. That’s something we’ll have to continue to evaluate.'
"Puhlick recommends that land managers in northern New England document where earthworm populations are found and monitor changes to forest conditions over time. They should also implement practices that will minimize the spread of earthworms and limit new introductions of worms across the forested landscape.
"'There are #ClimateChange impacts to our forests, invasive plant species, and now this,' he said. 'It’s just one more issue that forest managers are going to have to face.'"
Source:
https://northernwoodlands.org/discoveries/invasive-earthworms#InvasiveSpecies #WormWednesday #NorthWoods #ProtectTheNorthWoods
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A black-and-white warbler (Mniotilta varia) hunting for bugs in the North Woods of Central Park.
#blackandwhitewarbler #MniotiltaVaria #warblers #nature #wildlife #birds #birding #birdwatching #northwoods #centralpark #nycparks #canonphotography #luminarneo