The Maine Journal of Conservation and Sustainability

Jack McLachlan1 1Ecology and Environmental Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME. ABSTRACT Rising sea levels and coastal land use are predicted to synergistically impact coastal wetlands by reducing their extent and ecosystem functioning through a process known as “coastal squeeze”. Impervious surfaces associated with coastal development prevent the natural process of wetland migration, whereby intertidal […]

Gray Cox1, Moises Flores Baca1, Nicholas C. Harris1, Renae Lesser1, Phineas Ramsey1, Miguel Valencia1, Stephen Wagner2, and Jacob Wartell1 1College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, ME 04609 2BCM Environmental and Land Law PLLC, Concord, NH 03301 Corresponding Author: Gray Cox (gray@coa.edu) Key Words: residential heat, culture, firewood, regional analysis, consumer behavior, ethnographic study, Maine culture, […]

John Jemison Extension Professor, University of Maine Cooperative Extension This past spring, as I plunged my shovel into the dark cool soil, I reflected on the many seasons during which a diverse group of volunteers and I grew and delivered vegetables for low-income seniors. When I started my job at Cooperative Extension, I would never […]

Jill Pelto Gulf of Maine Temperature Variability (Watercolor, 2018) Gulf of Maine Temperature Variability tells the story of increasing temperature fluctuations in Maine’s coastal marine environment. The watercolor uses ocean temperature data from the past 15 years to highlight how greater variability affects various species including ourselves. The piece also highlights the inattention to the […]

Joan Perkins This photo was taken in a pasture on Chase Road in Veazie, Maine. Dairy cows grazed here for generations. With cows no longer pastured here, the field was hayed a few times each year for the last several decades. This green space is home to bobolinks, turkeys, rabbits, deer (including piebald and albino specimens), […]

Lenore Hildebrandt Thinking Potatoes French Fingerlings. Magic Molly. In a shallow box by the window this year’s tubers warm to the thought of growing. They understand fertility as a sequence of moves. Fuzzy sprouts push from the dust-shriveled skin, eyes urge toward an opening. Obliging, I will place each tuber into the soil of their […]

Sophia Howrey This is a short Tanka poem for my beloved hometown. I was born and raised in the small city of Imperial Beach, California. Dubbed the “Most Southwestern City in the U.S.”, it was a pleasant place to grow up. The main street sent you straight from the shopping centers to the shoreline. You […]

Stephen Burt “Sunset” Barred Owl, Edgecomb, Maine. Photo taken Jan. 2, 2017 using a Canon 5D iii camera and a telephoto lens at 560mm. “The Admiral” Sharp-shinned Hawk, Edgecomb, Maine. Photo taken Oct. 1, 2015 with a Canon 5D iii camera and a telephoto lens at 560mm.  

Carly Rahl Schoodic Peninsula, ME. Schoodic Point – Winter Harbor, ME. Unity, ME. Holden, ME. View of the Bubbles – Jordan Pond – Acadia National Park, ME. Moxie Falls – West Forks, ME. Sunrise on Cadillac Mountain – Bar Harbor, ME. View From South Bubble – Acadia National Park, ME. Mount Katadhin – Northwest Piscataquis, […]

Alicia Oberholzer The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay feature 295 acres of diverse coastal ecosystems. Dramatic tidal shores are home to more than 300 native plant species and many exotic blooms. Monarch butterflies, like many other important pollinators, are threatened by habitat loss associated with human development. Monarch butterflies are an indicator species. While […]