#protecttheforest — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #protecttheforest, aggregated by home.social.
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Scientists find building blocks of #birdsong's 'spectacular #diversity'
Victoria Gill, July 23, 2026
Excerpt: "This link between the environment and its #NaturalSoundscape, Bacquelé explained, is being transformed by #HumanActivity.
" 'I think this research has opened up a new way to see songs as something [intrinsically] linked with the environment,' he told BBC News.
" 'So, we could try to use these motifs to help us understand how birds could adapt to the new #BackgroundNoise [that we produce].'
"#NaturalSound, Bacquelé added, is an an important part of our own connection to #nature and is worth conserving.
" 'If you think of a #forest, near your town or near your house, you think about the songs of the birds in the morning when you go outside.
" 'And if a bird in a #forest has a specific song, if you destroy the forest, then that song may not be adapted any more to the new environment.' "
Read more:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy4eg5dpyzoArchived version:
https://archive.ph/eGDPy#SolarPunkSunday #PreserveNature #Birdsongs #NoisePollution #BioDiversity #ProtectNature #ProtectTheForest
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#BreakingNews! 🚨 #LandBack in #Maine!
Land returned to #MikmaqNation will double tribe’s territory
Nearly 3,400 acres have been returned to the Aroostook County-based tribe.
by Reuben M. Schafir, June 22, 2026
"The #Mikmaq Nation is expanding. The tribe on Friday obtained title to #MesgilgMaqamigew, a nearly 3,400-acre parcel near #BridgewaterME. The land return is so large it will more than double the tribe’s holdings.
" 'For decades the Mi’kmaq citizens have seen their traditional hunting and gathering grounds disappear to development or private ownership not allowing access,' Chief #SheilaMcCormack said in a news release. 'This property will give our people a place for outdoor recreation, a place to teach our children how to hunt and fish, and a place we can pass down the traditions of our ancestors before they are forgotten.'
"Of the four #Wabanaki tribes, the Mi’kmaq Nation received federal recognition last, in 1991. It and the #HoultonBand of #Maliseet Indians hold far less land in Maine than the #PassamaquoddyTribe and #PenobscotNation, which each have more than 150,000 acres.
"#TheConservationFund negotiated a below-market value sale and purchased the parcel last year from #forestry company #HCHayne, then held it on behalf of the tribe. The organization worked with an alliance of tribes known as the Wabanaki Commission on Land and Stewardship, and #FirstLight, a group of non-native, land-based organizations, to secure $1.9 million for project." 'Indigenous land return projects are a cornerstone of our conservation efforts,' Tom Duffus, Northeast representative for The Conservation Fund, said in a statement. 'I’m thrilled that this special place is once again managed by the Mi’kmaq Nation, whose citizens have stewarded this landscape since time immemorial.'
"Mesgilg Maqamigew means 'big land,' a name chosen in recognition of the significance to the tribe of a parcel so large, contiguous and lush with resources.
"The property contains #forests, #wetlands and more than three miles of #NorthWhitneyBrook, a stream with a thriving #BrookTrout population, according to Mi’kmaq Environmental Health Director Shannon Hill.
"The tribe has already located #fiddleheads there, and Hill said they plan to use the land for #hunting, #fishing, gathering and timber. Snowmobile and ATV trails are available for public use.
"#RichardSilliboy, a basket maker and former Mi’kmaq vice chief who sits on the commission, is hopeful the parcel has #BrownAsh for weaving — but expects, at least, 'some decent fishing.'
"#MesgilgMaqamigew is the sixth to be completed in a series of projects spearheaded by the commission that are collectively known as the tributary land returns. The tributary returns comprise 52,000 acres in 11 discrete projects involving all five tribal governments in Maine at an estimated cost of $52 million."
Read more:
https://www.pressherald.com/2026/06/22/land-returned-to-mikmaq-nation-will-double-tribes-territory/Archived version:
https://archive.md/Bkbl0#WabanakiAlliance #Dawnland #ProtectTheSacred #ProtectTheForest #LandConservation #NativeAmericanNews #IndigenousNews #MaineSettlementAct #NativeAmericans #Indigenous #WaterIsLife #LandIsLife #LandStewardship #Stewardship #SolarPunkSunday
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Upcoming meeting! Find out about alternatives to the #GorhamConnector in Southern #Maine! #LessCars, #MorePublicTransportation!
Gorham Notes: Aug. 29, 2024
by Robert Lowell"Gorham connector forum
#MainersForSmarterTransportation have a community forum planned from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 5, at the #WestbrookMaine Community Center on the proposed Gorham Connector to the #MaineTurnpike."The #MaineTurnpikeAuthority is proposing a 5-mile, four-lane connector from the roundabout on Gorham’s South Street to Exit 45 in South Portland.
The plan calls for the connector to slice through #SmilingHillFarm and has generated an extensive public outcry. The connector is aimed at easing the heavy commuter traffic in the routes 22 and 114 corridor through #GorhamMaine, #ScarboroughMaine and Westbrook."Original article [may be behind paywall]:
https://www.pressherald.com/2024/08/29/gorham-notes-aug-29/Archive:
https://archive.md/qDpDR#selection-2399.0-2413.250#SaveSmilingHillFarm #GorhamConnector #GorhamBypass #SaveSmilingHill #GorhamSpur
#Maine #RapidTransit #LightRail #SaveTheFarms #ProtectTheForest #InducedDemand #Sprawl #SaveRedBrook -
YES!
Peter Mills stepping down as head of Maine Turnpike Authority
Gov. Janet Mills' brother, who has served as executive director of the quasi-governmental agency since 2011, said his health factored into his decision to not seek reappointment in September.
by Rachel Ohm
June 27, 2024"Mills’ decision comes at a busy time for the turnpike authority, which is working on a controversial proposal for a 5-mile, more than $200 million toll road from South Portland to Gorham known as the #GorhamConnector, among other projects. The agency has faced strong resistance to the project, including from the family-owned #SmilingHillFarm in #GorhamMaine."
#SaveSmilingHillFarm #GorhamConnector #GorhamSpur #GorhamBypass #MTA #Maine #RapidTransit #LightRail #SaveTheFarms #ProtectTheForest #InducedDemand #Sprawl
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Geesh. More stuff going on behind the scenes. It could be a full-time job trying to keep track of shifty bills and corporate wheeling and dealing!
Back Track on Mining Regulation:Legislative ENR Committee Poised to Weaken Environmental Protections
Sunlight Media Collective March 24, 2024
"On Monday, March 25, the Maine legislature’s Committee on Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) will discuss a new “Zombie Bill” version of #LD1471, a bill that was tabled last year. This bill takes a dangerous U-turn on #EnvironmentalProtections protections for metallic #mining in #Maine. This new version of LD1471 replaces language about strengthening environmental and human health mining protections with language that instead weakens Maine’s mining law and creates a loophole that specifically exempts #OpenPit #LithiumMining from environmental protections in the law.
"Writing a “Zombie Bill” is sneaky, undemocratic politics. The Maine Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) missed the deadline for this legislative session to have the legislature review these new rules regarding open-pit lithium mining. Instead of going through a transparent, democratic process of review in the next legislative session, the #JanetMills administration, pushed by the mining industry and in cooperation with the ENR committee, is bringing this zombie bill forward in an attempt to rush it through without a public hearing.
"We deserve the right to a public hearing and to submit testimony on this legislation, but this undemocratic process takes away our right to do so. There is no online portal available to submit testimony, so please submit comment by email or in person."
#NoMetallicMiningInMaine #NoLithiumMining #NoOpenPitMining #ProtectTheForest #LithiumRecycling
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[Video + gift article] Plan to extend turnpike through #farmland gets slammed before first public meeting
The #MaineTurnpikeAuthority is hosting a public meeting Monday evening on the #GorhamConnector, its plan to build a 5-mile, 4-lane highway spur from the turnpike in #SouthPortlandMaine to the #GorhamBypass.
by Kelly Bouchard
March 25, 2024"Speakers at the press conference said the connector would worsen or simply relocate #TrafficCongestion and exacerbate #pollution and other #environmental problems.
"Warren Knight, one of six siblings involved in the farm, questioned whether the authority chose to build the connector through the farm because it was easier to cross and the cheapest alternative for a project expected to cost well over $200 million.
"'We don’t think that’s right or fair,' Knight said. 'Why should #OpenSpace and farmland be considered expendable?”
"Tuck O’Brien, a Portland resident and representative of Trout Unlimited, a nonprofit that works to preserve and restore fish habitat, said the connector would jeopardize the clean, cool headwaters of #RedBrook, a tributary to Clarks Pond in South Portland that is [one of the last] active habitats for #BrookTrout.
"Sadie Donnell, a #GorhamMaine resident, said the region’s traffic challenges present a 'huge opportunity' to expand public transportation and reduce the number of cars on the road, rather than move them from one road to another."
#SaveSmilingHill #GorhamConnector #GorhamSpur #Maine #MaineTurnpikeAuthority #RapidTransit #LightRail #SaveTheFarms #ProtectTheForest #InducedDemand #Sprawl
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Save Smiling Hill Farm!
via Shawn McKeogh
"Looking for a way to support Smiling Hill Farm in their fight to keep the land that’s been in their family for 300 years? I’ve spoken with a member of the family and learned that Smiling Hill Farm does NOT want to sell land to MTA for any price. I also learned that it would be more like 47 acres the MTA would take. The connector highway as planned would also landlock an additional 59 acres, making that 59 acres only accessible from Saco St. Here’s how we can help right now, share your concern with the local Town Councils and #MTA!"
1) Email the entire Gorham Town Council at this link.
https://www.gorham-me.org/tow.../webforms/email-town-council2) Send the Maine Turnpike Authority a comment at this link:
https://www.maineturnpike.com/Contact-Us.aspx3) Email the entire Scarborough Town Council at this email address.
[email protected]Public hearing at the Shaw Gym in Gorham at 6pm, March 25, 2024!
#SaveSmilingHill #GorhamConnector #GorhamSpur #RapidTransit #GorhamMaine #ScarboroughMaine #PortlandMaine #InducedDevelopment #Sprawl #SaveRedBrook #SaveTheFarms #ProtectFarmland #ProtectTheForest
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The people of #Ecuador just made #ClimateJustice history. The world can follow
Voters won a huge battle with the #OilIndustry – proving that we can’t save the planet without robust democracy
by #StevenDonziger, August 31, 2023
"Days ago, voters in Ecuador approved a total ban on oil drilling in protected land in the #Amazon, a 2.5m-acre tract in the #Yasuní national park that might be the world’s most important #biodiversity hotspot. The area is a Unesco-designated biosphere reserve and home to two non-contacted #Indigenous groups. This could be a major step forward for the entire global climate justice movement in ways that are not yet apparent.
"This vote is important not only for Ecuador and for the Indigenous peoples in the Yasuní, who now have hope of living in peace in perpetuity. It is also a potential model for how we can use the democratic process around the world to help slow or even stop the expansion of fossil fuels to the benefit of billions of people.
"The Yasuní referendum proves that real democracy that respects the popular will can be a powerful tool for transitioning to a sustainable future. Ecuador’s state oil company, #Petroecuador, had been producing nearly 60,000 barrels a day in the Yasuní. It now must figure out how to dismantle its entire operation and go home. When in history has a popular vote ever forced an oil company to cease active drilling? Never.
"The Yasuní vote was not the result of a business decision made in a boardroom or government office. It was the product of two decades of #grassroots organizing by citizens and #activists like you and me. I know because I have been to Ecuador more than 250 times to work on a historic pollution case against #Chevron on behalf of the Indigenous people there. Many of the same Indigenous leaders and activists who helped fight Chevron organized the Yasuní vote.
"At the same time, the vote underscores how important it is to protect our increasingly fragile democracy. Without a robust democracy that allows citizens to place issues of critical importance on the ballot without the intermediation of elites, the Yasuní referendum never would have happened.
"The flipside is that powerful #OilAndGas companies understand the threat a real citizen-based democracy poses to their power. They fear a society where citizens can put referendums on the ballot without the approval of business leaders. Those of us in the climate movement often can’t even stop to focus on the connection between democracy and climate justice because we’re so focused on dealing with the immediate crises taking place before our eyes, such as the Maui fire.
"In the United States, it is not broadly known that the #FossilFuel industry quietly funds a national lobbying campaign that has introduced draconian #antiprotest bills in at least 18 states. These laws threaten anyone #protesting at an oil or gas facility with huge fines and serious prison sentences; some states even impose criminal liabilities on non-profit advocacy groups that support the protesters. These are really laws of intimidation designed to stop protest before it happens. And they are also manifesting in other countries including #Australia, the #UnitedKingdom and #Germany.
"As a result, many Americans who have committed #peaceful acts of non-violent #CivilDisobedience – central to the birth of our country and a cornerstone of our political tradition – now face decades in prison. In Atlanta, #Georgia, 42 people have been charged by prosecutors with 'domestic terrorism' for trying to save the city’s last green canopy in the #WeelauneeForest. Local police are trying to raze part of the forest to build a military-style police training academy, colloquially called “#CopCity”, that already resulted in the first police killing of a climate activist in US history. (The police have said that the activist, Manuel Paez #Terán, was used a weapon; activists dispute that claim.)
"The Atlanta cases represent a frightening escalation of attacks on #FreeSpeech and protest in the US. None of those charged – whom authorities accused mainly of vandalism and arson – committed a direct act of violence against another person. Nobody was injured other than the activist shot and killed by police while sitting in the forest.
"That this is happening in a city considered to be one of the cradles of the American civil rights movement shows just how entwined corporate and police power have become in their efforts to erode democratic rights.
"The prosecutions in Georgia are also occurring in a broader context where the right to vote has been seriously impaired. Voter suppression is now a regular feature in many US states, with ludicrous laws being passed to throw out votes. In this short century, two presidents have taken office in the US who did not win the popular vote. Votes are constantly thrown out for the thinnest of reasons, as journalists such as Greg Palast have meticulously documented.
On top of these threats to democracy at the state level, the US #supremecourt and its unelected, mostly #FarRight justices are weakening both our democracy and its ability to regulate the fossil fuel industry. The court has consistently approved measures like voter ID laws and felon disenfranchisement that make it more difficult for historically marginalized groups to vote. It has also, of late, decided its role is to strike down popular legislation, so who knows what they’d do to a popularly won ban on oil drilling.
"I am an #EnvironmentalJustice and #HumanRights lawyer, but one reason I spend significant time focused on issues of democracy is because I simply cannot do my work if our political system does not allow the political space to advocate freely. After I helped Indigenous peoples win a major pollution case in Ecuador, I was detained for almost three years in the US after being targeted with the nation’s first-ever corporate prosecution. My own case is a reminder that the normal rules of democracy can easily be suspended when entrenched economic interests face a serious enough threat to their bottom line.
"As I write this, a heat dome in the US sits over the entire midwest and is affecting 100 million people. Fires have destroyed millions of acres of land. A tropical storm just smacked southern California for the first time, and the historic town of Lahaina in Hawaii burned to the ground with hundreds of people still unaccounted for. In the meantime, the oil industry is reporting record profits, creating enormous incentives for a small group of powerful shareholders to maintain their power by shrinking our democratic space.
What the referendum in Ecuador teaches us is that democratic processes when coupled with strong grassroots organizing can produce startlingly effective results. Taking a cue from our friends in that brave country, the next major move for the climate justice movement could be to launch a national campaign to put the simple question presented in Ecuador before the American people in every state that allows citizens to place their own questions on the ballot. The question is whether we can vote to end the destruction of our planet by the burning of fossil fuels.
"It is clear we cannot trust either of the two major US political parties – both of which mostly support fossil fuel expansion – to adequately address this crisis. We simply cannot save the planet without first protecting and strengthening our democracy."
#OilAndGasIndustry #ClimateCrisis #StopCopCity #ProtectTheForest #FreeDonziger #PardonDonziger