Maine’s most endangered historic places of 2025

How Maine’s environment is being reshaped by longer, hotter summers

Shrinking salmon habitat: Atlantic salmon in Maine’s Narraguagus River depend on hidden cold-water pockets, but these refuges are shrinking as summers grow hotter and drier.
Forests in transition: Maine’s spruce and fir are declining while heat-tolerant trees move in, reshaping iconic landscapes like Acadia National Park and threatening species that depend on boreal forests.
Wildlife under stress: Moose face deadly winter tick infestations worsened by longer summers, while bats, birds, turtles and other animals are increasingly harmed by extreme heat and disrupted natural cycles.
Warming waters: Maine’s lakes and the Gulf of Maine are heating rapidly, fueling toxic algae blooms, weakening fish populations, and disrupting marine food chains from herring to endangered right whales.
Signs of hope: Conservationists are testing strategies like planting heat-tolerant alpine plants, restoring shade along rivers, and creating new cold-water refuges for salmon; puffins also saw a stronger nesting season in 2024.

Portland Press Herald

What to expect at Acadia National Park during the government shutdown
Some 250 blank Maine ballots were turned into the Newburgh town office Tuesday evening by a woman who had reportedly received them inside an Amazon package shipped to her home. “Law enforcement is working diligently to determine who is responsible, and they will be held accountable. We will not stop until we have answers,” Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said in a statement.
Northern Light Health and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield agreed Wednesday to resume contract talks and keep the insurer’s patients from being out-of-network for some health care services. The two sides have been negotiating for months and in mediation since August, but a negotiating session on Tuesday ended without any resolution, resulting in Northern Light briefly being out-of-network for some services.

MAINE NEWS & NOTES