Visitors flock to the top of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park

Working Waterfront

Acadia planners, public seek to alleviate congestion

The Fourth of July holiday, which many used as a four-day weekend, brought lots of visitors to Acadia National Park. That meant traffic congestion, a situation that continues to be serious not only on holidays but throughout the summer at Acadia’s hotspots. One of the park’s most popular spots is… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Estuary Beat: Storm surge, stripers, and the oyster trail

Good news about striped bass, salmon All reports indicate that migratory fish had a strong season. Striped bass runs contined in Maine rivers into August, according to Bruce Joule of the Maine Department of Marine Resources. Hot striper fishing spots included jetties at Camp Ellis and Wells, Pine Point, Goosefare… SEE MORE

A wooden trap decays on the shore in Corea.

Working Waterfront

A new, plastic threat to ocean health

By Charles A. Kniffen Twenty-five years of kayaking the Maine coast from Brown Cow ledge in Casco Bay to trailing minke whales off West Quoddy Light; one-quarter of a century picking up storm-tossed lobster pot buoys, ragged drapes of seine, wild tangles of beached trap-line, big, rubber mooring buoys, et.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Secrets of a sunset chaser

Reflections is a monthly column written by Island Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands and in remote coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. After living on Deer Isle for a year, I have a lot of sunset photos, and they… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

War on invasive plants relies on many weapons

Carolyn Walker first heard about invasive plants while taking horticulture classes 25 years ago. One summer when she arrived at her family home on Casco Bay’s Cliff Island, she noticed a lovely purple plant. It caught her eye not for its attractiveness, but because it had overrun the island’s marshes.… SEE MORE

A photovoltaic panel in a yard on Islesboro.

Working Waterfront

Veto puts solar energy growth in jeopardy, say proponents

By Jacqueline Weaver A bill in the Maine Legislature that would have ensured benefits for solar panel owners was killed on Aug. 2. The bill passed with strong majorities in both the House of Representatives and Senate, but then was vetoed by Gov. Paul LePage. In the initial vote, legislators… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Colby College comes to the coast

Both institutions see their missions as providing high-quality education to a relatively small group of students. Beyond that, Waterville’s Colby College and Port Clyde’s Herring Gut Learning Center would seem to have little in common. Beginning late last year, though, Colby and Herring Gut began a partnership aimed at enhancing… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine coastal towns expecting, preparing for rising seas

By Susie Arnold, Ph. D. and Heather Deese, Ph. D. Sea level along the Maine coast has been rising at a fairly regular rate for the last 5,000 years or so. In the 20th century, sea level rose at about 1 inch per decade. Looking forward, we are expecting much… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

That beautiful sky might not be the easiest to fly through

By Eva Murray A couple of weeks ago, as an early-evening thunderstorm approached from the west, the sky over Penobscot Bay got everybody’s attention. A palette of sunset colors contrasted with discrete layers of bright white and nearly-black clouds, and the fast-moving front, with its peculiar sharp edge, barreled overhead… SEE MORE

Galen Koch at work on the Airstream trailer that will serve as her mobile recording studio.

Working Waterfront

‘First Coast’ project aims to tell our stories

Bureaucrats, academics, and advocates develop talking points, position papers, and policies to address the problems of our coast. Galen Koch has chosen a different approach. The 28-year-old Stonington native and Skidmore College grad has dedicated her professional life to storytelling. Or, more accurately, letting others tell their stories. Her newest… SEE MORE