Outdoor Matters
UM center awarded $8M grant to develop 3 offshore turbines
ORONO, Maine — A University of Maine-led research and development effort to explore deepwater offshore wind power in the Gulf of Maine received an $8 million boost Thursday, with up to $5 million more possibly on the way.
The Department of Energy announced Thursday afternoon it has awarded a 38-member consortium led by UMaine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center an $8 million grant to develop and deploy three small-scale deepwater offshore wind turbines that will float on composite platforms off the coasts of Maine and New Hampshire. Full Story
Western Maine project puts wind power on line
22 windmills in remote area to start spinning
AUGUSTA, Maine — Power generation from winds blowing across Maine will increase Friday when Gov. John Baldacci helps to start up the first half of the Kibby Mountain wind power project in the state’s western mountains.
Baldacci will join other state and local government officials and builders of TransCanada’s project at the remote Franklin County site. The ceremony will mark completion of the first 22 windmills and the start of their production of power, which will flow to Central Maine Power Co. and through its interconnections to the New England grid. Full Story
State biologists say: There are fewer deer in sight
Wildlife officials predict a struggling herd, especially in northern Maine, will yield a smaller harvest this year. Will that mean fewer hunters, too?
Each year, the state’s head deer biologist crunches a huge pile of numbers, fires up his computer and offers a preseason prediction of how many deer will be shot by hunters during the fall.
The good news: That prediction is always very accurate — often within a few hundred of the actual number of tags that will be filled.
Full Story
A remote Maine island already known for its puffins and other seabirds is the site of what biologists say is the nation’s first fledgling of a type of bird rarely found on this side of the Atlantic.
The Manx shearwater chick was discovered last week in one of six nesting burrows on Matinicus Rock. Full Story
Seaweed harvest dispute swirling
Landowners, science at odds with rakers
COBSCOOK BAY, Maine — Chouan Strongin shoots her seaweed rake over the side of her dory, catching the tops of rockweed plants in its tines and then slicing it with the blade below. With a twist, Strongin captures the seaweed she has just cut and flips it into her boat.
This is hard work. Salt coats her legs and the sun beats down. Every hour or so, she must stop to resharpen the rake blade. When her boat is full — so full it can barely be seen — she will motor across the bay, unload it, pack the harvest into nets, tie each net off and start all over again. Full Story