A fisherman points to a part of a map included in the draft ocean plan.

Working Waterfront

Draft ocean plan suggests better data, coordination for users

The draft of a first-ever plan for the ocean was released May 25, launching a new way of considering a host of marine uses for the region from Connecticut to the Canadian border. Public meetings on the draft plan are scheduled in June for Portland, Rockland and Ellsworth. The 198-page… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Small, island-town values play well in big world

Benjamin Stevens of Islesford (Little Cranberry Island) graduated this month from Maine Maritime Academy in Castine. Every year, people from Maine’s islands buy all sorts of things. We buy clothes and shoes, tools and supplies, fuel and electricity, and groceries. Every island resident knows how challenging it is to get their… SEE MORE

Peter Willcox in the wheelhouse of a Greenpeace ship.

Working Waterfront

The dangerous work of bringing a green peace

Greenpeace Captain Macmillan, 2016 Big whales, bigger weather, young men at sea in rickety boats as underdogs in quixotic quests. It’s the stuff of good fiction. It’s also the story of Peter Willcox, who has traveled more than 400,000 miles at the helm of Greenpeace ships, through tropical storms and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A once rare bird now eats another

If Ben Franklin had known in 1782 what the bald eagles would be up to in Maine in 2015, he might have pushed harder to select the wild turkey as the national bird. Since being nearly wiped out in the late 1960s due to DDT and other pesticides, eagles and… SEE MORE

Environment

Working Waterfront

Walk this way: Bath’s river walk gets green light

A project that has been talked about in Bath for at least a decade is getting closer to becoming a reality. Early this spring, the Bath City Council gave the green light to city planners to finalize the design of and start the permitting process for a public park and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine has front-row seat for climate change

We’ve all heard stories of Ye Olde Gulf of Maine. Once upon a time, fish swam up Maine’s rivers by the billions while herring gulls—these days known as “flying rats”—were nearly wiped out. In still earlier times, whales could be spotted from shore and pursued by oar. And just before… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Islands set high bar for ‘adulting’ beginners

Reflections is a monthly column written by Island Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands and in remote coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. Erin Love works on Long Island with the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership and other Casco Bay island… SEE MORE

A view of Mount Desert Island and Acadia National Park from Great Cranberry Island.

Working Waterfront

Hosting a national park is a complicated affair

The battle lines were drawn decades ago, but there were fresh hostilities in the Millinocket area when Jonathan Jarvis, director National Park Service, visited in mid-May. Jarvis was invited by Sen. Angus King to hear public comments about a proposed North Woods National Park adjacent to Baxter State Park. A… SEE MORE

The new transportation hub is a former marina in Winter Harbor.

Working Waterfront

Schoodic Marine Center to be transportation, visitor hub

The Schoodic Marine Center is opening soon for its first season and could boost visitation as well as facilitate on-the-water education and research opportunities in the less-visited part of Acadia National Park. The center, which is being developed at the former Winter Harbor Marine location, is expected to bring: increased ferry… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

On the record with… Kevin Schneider, Acadia’s new superintendent

Kevin Schneider came in as Acadia’s new superintendent in January, at the start of the park’s centennial year. Schneider has a park anniversary of his own, having started his career with the National Park Service in 1996 as part of a trail crew at Rocky Mountain National Park. Subsequent assignments… SEE MORE