Policy & Advocacy

Maine Legislature Passes Bill to Increase Protections for Vernal Pools

Maine Audubon is pleased to announce the passage of LD 497, An Act Regarding the Regulation of Significant Vernal Pools Under the Natural Resources Protection Act in the Maine Legislature. Formerly worked within LD 1882 in the Environment and Natural Resources Committee, this effort seeks to better protect state-recognized “Significant Vernal Pools,” essential breeding habitat […]

Maine Audubon Celebrates Passage of Neonicotinoid Pesticide Legislation

Maine Audubon is pleased to announce the passage of LD 1323, Resolve: Directing the Board of Pesticides Control to Evaluate the Impacts of Neonicotinoids on Pollinators, Humans and the Environment in the Maine Legislature. The bill requires the state to further evaluate impacts of neonicotinoid pesticides (“neonics”) on pollinators and people. LD 1323 secured bipartisan […]

BirdSafe Maine – Spring 2025 Season Recap

May 31 marked the end of BirdSafe Maine’s Spring 2025 bird monitoring season. It was, sadly, another eventful effort in Portland and around Maine, though there are signs of significant progress. Read on to learn about how it went. On the Portland Route We recorded 43 total birds dead or injured on the streets of […]

Make Way For Chicks!

Above photo: A Piping Plover chick on Wells Beach in late May. Photo by Coastal Birds Project Technician Kaily Rich Two weeks ago, the Coastal Birds Crew received some wonderful news: The first Piping Plover chicks of the season hatched! As of May 29, there are 10 chicks running around on Maine’s beaches, and many […]

Input needed on State Wildlife Action Plan

May 28 update from Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife: We invite you to provide input on identifying significant Threats and what conservation actions are needed to address those Threats. Step 1: Review the list of Threats and Conservation Actions Step 2: Share your input! Based on your personal understanding of and familiarity with […]

Goodbye, Fry! A Salmon Send-Off to Remember for Endangered Species Day

Today we honor Endangered Species Day with stories about our work with schoolchildren in the Greater Portland and Greater Bangor area to raise and release endangered Atlantic Salmon. FIELDS POND This story begins back on a chilly February day, when Northern Programs Director David Lamon and Community-Based Education Manager Melissa Gallagher trudged through knee-deep snow, […]

The Federal Government is Taking Unprecedented Action Against the Endangered Species Act

The Endangered Species Act is perhaps the most famous and effective wildlife conservation law in the nation, but the Trump Administration has recently proposed a change that would significantly weaken the Act and put species at risk. To understand the threat, it’s important to  first understand how the Endangered Species Act works. Once a species […]