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Greetings from Downeast, where mud season has finally given way to foraging season. Now that you can wander out into the woods without being swallowed whole by the muck, you’re apt to find eager foragers reaping an early harvest.  

As the Wabanaki people have always known, there’s a veritable vegetarian feast growing in the forest and fields — everything from spruce tips and fiddleheads to ramps and cattail stalks, to name only a few. If you have trouble locating the latter, we have plenty of the tall beauties popping up in our pond, despite much effort and expense to keep the cattails turning our modest pond into a swamp! 

It's also ATV season, thanks to the reopening of the Downeast Sunrise Trail. Riders are reminded to use caution and be courteous to slower users, such as walkers, runners, and cyclists.

Last but not least, a shout out to Machias Ambulance Service EMT Joe Thompson, winner of the State of Maine EMS Excellence award. Bar Harbor Deputy Fire Chief John Lennon and Firefighter/Paramedic Sean Hall also were honored with the EMS Excellence Award in Augusta last week.

New law will require landowners to report enrollment in forest carbon programs

The state currently has little way to track landowners’ participation in the forest carbon credit market.

Read this story by Kate Cough of The Maine Monitor

While The Maine Monitor does not place its content behind paywalls, some newsrooms we link to in this newsletter may. 

A solar developer may be fined about $180,000 for causing erosion and doing unpermitted work at a Washington County facility. | Bangor Daily News

Eleven people have been arrested after two drug raids in Washington County on Thursday. | Bangor Daily News

Food insecurity continues to be a challenge for many Maine families. According to the latest Map the Meal Gap study from Feeding America, 1 in 8 Mainers has experienced food insecurity. | WABI

Browntail moth populations in Maine are continuing to decline from a peak in 2022, due to cool, wet weather, according to the state Department of Agriculture Conservation and Forestry. | Maine Public

The Gulf of Maine will again experience colder than normal bottom-water temperatures, according to a new forecast from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. | Maine Public

ICYMI: Maine lawmakers want to examine how judges are disciplined. The judicial branch says that isn’t their call. | The Maine Monitor

Ellsworth city councilors on May 19 voted to approve a budget that will require 2.9% more from the city’s tax base, for a total of $27.15 million in local tax appropriation for the fiscal year starting July 1. | Ellsworth American

State lawmakers gave preliminary approval Thursday to a bill that would require school boards to adopt policies on cellphone use in schools. | Maine Public

Bar Harbor residents to weigh in on a slew of consequential issues at this year’s Town Meeting on June 3. | Mount Desert Islander

The Ellsworth Public Library’s lawn looks a little different after the Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium installed three new art pieces. | Ellsworth American

Wabanaki Windows, a monthly radio program created and hosted by Penobscot Nation Elder Donna M. Loring, has been honored with a 2025 Hometown Media Award from the Alliance for Community Media. | Ellsworth American

Have feedback, a correction or know of something we should look into? Send it to our newsroom. If you have feedback or a tip that you want to send to Joyce Kryszak directly, email her at: joyce@themainemonitor.org. 

The Maine Monitor is a publication of the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, an independent and nonpartisan nonprofit news organization that produces investigative journalism. We believe news is a public good and keep our news free to access. We have no paywall and do not charge for our newsletters. If you value the reporting we do for Maine, please consider making a donation! We cannot do this reporting without your support.

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