EMMETT GARTNER/The Maine Monitor

The Maine Monitor
Maine lawmakers try to thread the needle on forest protections
A bipartisan bill introduced by state Sen.
 
New bills could allow Maine towns to come together and take over abandoned dams
The timing of the legislation is pertinent.
 
Maine town approves plan to remove two Royal River dams
“This resolution to restore the Royal River to a more natural, free flowing state is a culmination of years of study and debate,” said town councilor David Craig. “It’s been a long, complex and sometimes emotional process and a productive one … Now it’s time to free the Royal.”
 
Maine’s dam agency does what it can to keep the aging infrastructure safe
“If the worst-case scenario… is that you release the water because we have no other option, do we have a (projection) of what will happen?” asked a resident on Toddy Pond whose family has lived there since the 1930s. “Should I get scuba gear for my house, or should I get sun-tanning lotion, because
 
Maine dams face an uncertain future
The Ellsworth Dam, nestled just upstream from the picturesque Union River Bridge in downtown Ellsworth, is easy to miss, the extent of its towering facade hidden from passing motorists by foliage and a bend in the river.
 
Maine commission considers public flood insurance
What would happen next is less clear. The insurance program, as Colgan envisions it, would at first be open only to public entities, like municipalities, who would pay into the pool and draw money after disasters.
 
Maine denies initial request of Bucksport-area owner to give up dams
The companies’ initial petitions were denied on July 23 for failing to properly describe the location of the dams and failing to notify the required stakeholders. Later that week they submitted some of the supplemental information the DEP requested, but continued notification lapses and missing dam
 
Schools across Maine confront unique challenges in ridding their water of ‘forever chemicals’
He initially thought if Jordan-Small was in the clear, then so was Raymond Elementary, just down the road. It was a promising start for the district east of Sebago Lake and its six schools.
 
Maine town considers tightening regulations on water extraction despite Poland Spring opposition
Denmark, an Oxford County town about 41 miles northwest of Portland, has been a Maine leader in local water extraction regulations, establishing its landmark ordinance in 2005. The original document created a separate permitting process for water extraction that included measures to protect groundwa