Legislators were surprised yesterday to learn that the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Department has a surplus of $3 million. I could see their eyes light up as thoughts of how to spend that money danced in their heads. My eyes lit up too! Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Chandler Woodcock led a lengthy list of speakers […]

  While many Maine fish and game clubs are struggling, the Phippsburg Sportsmen’s Association is not one of them. The club’s January 2015 newsletter reminded me of just how much I have always appreciated the work, at the local, regional, and state level, of these folks. On February 8th, the club hosts its 16th annual […]

The Historical Atlas of Maine is a historic book, oversized and ambitious, covering Maine’s history from the Ice Age to 2000, in 203 pages crammed with maps, photographs, charts, and text. It’s so big it’s hard to pick up, but it’s even harder to put down. Editors Stephen Hornsby and Richard Judd spent ten years […]

Those staring eyes of a Snowy Owl on the cover will grab lots of readers for Melissa Kim’s new book, A Snowy Owl Story, published by Islandport Press in Yarmouth. The cover illustrations and others in the book were done by the obviously-very-talented Jada Fitch of Portland. This is a children’s board book, slated for […]

Bill Clark described himself as “a country boy with country leanings.” He authored 8 books and wrote a weekly newspaper column for the Gannett newspapers for 30 years on patriotism, farms, forests, rural towns, local characters, and the hills of Maine. Bill was conservative. He disdained environmentalists, believing their drive to preserve land worked against […]

Maine Audubon is leading and showing us the way to sustainable solar power, with help from Revision Energy and Moody’s Collision Centers. At its Gilsland Farm headquarters in Falmouth, Maine Audubon has constructed one of the largest solar panel arrays installed by a conservation organization in the state. The panels will provide roughly 84% of […]

If you care about hunting and fishing in Maine, you’ll want to listen to Bob Duchesne’s Wild Maine radio show on 92.9 this weekend. The show airs on Saturday (January 24) at 9 am and Sunday at 8 am. Bob and I offer insight on the 67 bills going to the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, […]

Already eagerly anticipating the opening of the spring turkey season, two things jumped out at me last week. One was a national story about the tumor-causing virus found in wild turkeys. The other was an expansion of the turkey hunting opportunity into northern Maine. Let’s tackle the virus first. The national story reported that the […]

Maine’s exotic animal laws and rules are an expensive mess. And the legislature is poised to sort it all out and fix the problems this session. At least I hope so!  An Act to Restructure the Permitting Process for Wildlife and Exotic Species in Captivity is the title of a bill proposed by Maine’s Department […]

Should 8-year-olds be allowed to hunt in Maine? Before you answer – and I will give you a chance to do that – consider this summary of research done by Representative Gary Hilliard (R-Belgrade) who has sponsored a bill to lower Maine’s legal hunting age from 10 to 8. Gary is my State Representative and […]