Working Waterfront

Bird-friendly island has unintended consequences

By Barbara Fernald As the birds return to the islands, I have to admit that some birds are a little more special to me than others. Nothing beats that incredibly sweet moment when I hear my first hermit thrush of the season. Cardinals, with their variety of calls, used to… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Following the whale into an array of lessons

By Courtney Naliboff As an island teacher, it is often my duty and pleasure, and that of my colleagues, to take students off-island overnight. We do it for basketball games, we do it for rowing races, we do it for theater festivals. As wonderful as the island is, and as… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Memorable food and drink

By Sandy Oliver If you are as old as I am, you can remember life without pizza. I was about 14 before I had my first piece of pizza in New Preston, Conn., at a tiny pizzeria near the shore of Lake Waramaug: plain cheese pizza sprinkled with oregano transported… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

National models for broadband impart lessons

By Kendra Jo Grindle In Clatskanie, a small rural town in northwestern Oregon, local organizers are piloting a new way to connect—“mesh” networks. Medina County, Ohio is implementing an open access fiber model to bring multiple, competitive internet service providers (ISPs) to residents county-wide. Multiple electric co-ops in Tennessee are… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

‘We ain’t quaint’

The Peninsula, by Louise Dickinson Rich (1958, Lippincott) By Tom Walsh Great books often serve as literary time machines, taking readers back to the way things were. Anyone interested in the ongoing 300-year evolution of modern history and culture of Downeast Maine should make an effort to find what is a… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Adapting to a changing climate means listening

By Sam Belknap Too often, our conversations about climate change turn to doom and gloom as we try to wrap our minds around the magnitude of its impacts and the challenges of responding. The National Adaptation Forum, held in Madison, Wis., in late April, was a showcase for the people… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine lobster fishery agrees to deep cuts to protect whales

By Patrice McCarron Editor’s note: Patrice McCarron is executive director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association. This letter was originally sent to association members, and is reprinted with permission. After a long and difficult week in late April in which the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Mammal Take Reduction Team… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Finding community in the strangest of places

Reflections is written by Island Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands and in coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. By Maddy Bruno I recently attended a workshop with a stellar group of 8th grade students in which the following question… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Two of the coast’s biggest economic drivers face threats

By Tom Groening Two of the most brilliant branding achievements have to be putting the word “Vacationland” on our state’s license plate, and marrying the word “Maine” to lobster. The license plate tag, added in the 1930s, is an audacious claim. What makes Maine any more of a vacation destination… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A father’s values shine light over decades

By Phil Crossman We used to live in, renting, a little Cape down by the old ballfield. It was called “The Bucket,” short for “The Bucket of Blood,” something about an ancient murder or suicide, a sobering but constant and compelling reflection for a 12-year-old at any rate. The house… SEE MORE