On Nov. 16, Maine Audubon’s Advocacy Team traveled to Harvard Law School as invitees to a conference called The Endangered Species Act: The Next 50 Years. The event was billed as a place to “bring together scholars, policymakers, and conservationists who will collaborate to assess lessons learned and propose innovative strategies for the next 50 […]
Federal Advocacy
Making a Wildlife Plan of Action
Maine, along with every other state in the nation, is embarking on a herculean effort to update its 2015 State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP), required by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to access hundreds of thousands of dollars through the State Wildlife Grants program. The purpose of the SWAP, per Congress, is to keep […]
What the Supreme Court’s Chevron Deference Ruling Means for Our Work
In late June 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on a case with the potential for outsized impacts on the work that Maine Audubon does. The majority decision for Loper Bright Enterprises et al. v. Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce, et al. overturned a longstanding doctrine giving federal agencies the “benefit of the doubt” when executing […]
Maine Audubon Urges Federal Regulators to Remove Kennebec Dams
The story of America’s movement to restore wildlife habitat by removing unnecessary and underperforming dams began, in part, on the Kennebec River. In 1999, advocates from across Maine came together to celebrate the removal of the Edwards Dam near Augusta and the restoration of 18 miles of fish habitat not accessible since 1837. The movement […]
Maine Audubon goes to Washington!
Staff Naturalist Doug Hitchcox and I had the opportunity to take part in a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act with our partners in wildlife conservation across the country, who gathered in Washington, D.C., in September. This gathering brought much-needed attention to both the undeniable success of this landmark conservation law�s […]
Fighting for the Future of the Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act is turning 50 this year! Enacted in 1973, this law is one of our most important tools to conserve our nation�s most vulnerable species � which, right now, includes 740 animals and 940 plants. Fifty years of experience has proven that the Endangered Species Act works: the Act has prevented the […]
A Voice for Wildlife in the Development of Offshore Wind
Maine Audubon continues our work to support the development of clean, renewable energy in the Gulf of Maine while playing a critical role to ensure the avoidance or minimization of impacts to wildlife and habitat. In recent months we’ve released a report on potential impacts to wildlife from offshore wind in the Gulf and strategies […]
Raising Awareness About Neonics In Maine
Maine Audubon is working with experts and activists to find avenues to pesticide policy reform. Neonicotinoids, or neonics for short, are some of the most widely used and promoted pesticides on the planet. They kill insects, all of them, and are sprayed from planes, coated on seeds, and otherwise broadcast throughout virtually every cultivated (i.e., […]
Photo Excursion to Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument
Autumn is a special time in the forests of northern Maine. The trees explode with color as if to celebrate the end of the season. Woodland critters are hard at work preparing themselves either to head south or to ride out the coming winter. The people are busy, too, getting in those last rides or […]