Category: In the news

Published by Maine Public on June 5, 2024.  Many coastal communities were impacted by several major storms during the winter of 2024. That’s put a spotlight on a major question facing the state: just how vulnerable is Maine’s coast to a warming world, and what steps do we need to take to prepare? That’s what… Read more »

Published by Maine Town & City in April, 2024.  This article is the second in a series by Island Institute exploring the topic of digital equity in relation to Maine’s municipalities. “I went to fill my prescription, but my pharmacist said I needed to make an online profile first.” “I wanted to get a commercial… Read more »

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… Read more »

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 Maine—kelp. In what is arguably the most famous fishing region in the United States, kelp is a harvest Mainers are still learning. So, we joined… Read more »

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. 

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.

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.

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…

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… 

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 Initiative grant by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to support the Island Institute Fellows program. The award was announced at the Brooklin Town Office… Read more »