May 29, 2024
Monhegan Island to get broadband internet
Published by Bangor Daily News on May 27, 2024. A years-long community project to bring broadband internet to Monhegan Island will be complete by June 5, connecting its residents to faster service. The island, which is about 10 miles due south of St. George, has a population of 119 people. The island uses a microwave radio that goes from the island to the shore and provides the community with internet service through the telephone lines, said Nick Battista, the chief policy officer for the Island Institute. But broadband installation will…
May 16, 2024
Kelp industry continues growth in Maine
Published by News Center Maine on April 29, 2024. PORTLAND, Maine — The last week of April brings about a type of harvest growing in popularity in the Gulf of…
March 26, 2024
In wake of January storms, Maine's fish wharves and working waterfronts are starting to rebuild
Less than a week after the first of the back-to-back January storms that destroyed much infrastructure along Maine's working waterfronts, the Island Institute launched a storm response grant program, received applications and began sending out funds to coastal businesses.
March 26, 2024
Maine Seacoast Mission announces 2024 Sunbeam Awards
Maine Seacoast Mission President John Zavodny has announced the two recipients of the Sunbeam Award for 2024: Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, in Bethesda, Md., and the Island Institute. This year’s awardees were chosen for their commitment to the communities the Mission serves.
February 12, 2024
Opinion: Now is the time for a down payment on our coastal communities
Gov. Mills' calls for investment in both community recovery and statewide climate change adaptation must be heeded.
January’s back-to-back coastal storms eroded our coastlines, destroyed family homes and wharves, and swept years of hopes and dreams out to sea.
Even for those of us who work on the impact of climate change on Maine’s coastal communities, these scenes were shocking. There remains no doubt that we need to imagine a different future coast, one where our infrastructure, businesses and homes can withstand storms like these and the forces of climate change.
January 24, 2024
Maine faces daunting to-do list to recover from recent storms and prepare for more extremes
State and municipal leaders say they're scrambling to learn as much as they can about the three winter storms that flooded riverfront communities and set high tide records along the coast within the span of one month.
Those storms are what prompted an emergency meeting of the Maine Climate Council Tuesday in Augusta. The group gathered to discuss the impacts from the recent storms and share ideas on how Maine communities could better prepare...
January 24, 2024
Maine fishing towns rebuild in wake of monstrous storm
BRISTOL, Maine — On the waterfront in New Harbor, one of Maine’s most visited fishing communities, the damage is clear to see. Remnants of wharves that were torn apart by the back-to-back storms of Jan. 10 and 13 are still standing in places, while others have simply vanished, the wreckage pulled out and hauled away...
November 14, 2023
Area Island Institute Fellows get funding boost
Story published in Ellsworth American on November 10, 2023. Island Institute, a Rockland-based community development organization focused on island and coastal communities, has been awarded a $201,000 Rural Community Development…
August 24, 2023
A behind-the-scenes look at Maine’s growing scallop farming industry
Story by Alyssa Thurlow, published in WABI on August 18, 2023. Maine’s wild scallop harvest is still a few months away, but a group of fishermen in Penobscot Bay can…
August 4, 2023
A Maine boatyard has an electric boat it says could energize the working waterfront
Article by Peter Van Allen, published in Mainebiz on July 28, 2023. An Islesboro boatyard has unveiled a fully electric boat that it says could have implications for Maine’s working…