MDI due for another 1947-like catastrophic fire, says distinguished forester
TREMONT, Oct. 30, 2021 - Rick Smith has spent his entire career learning about all things timber, from the northern woods of Maine to the western United States forests to the Brazilian rain forest.
Here is what the University of Maine’s forestry school had to say in 2011 about its distinguished alum:
“Throughout his career, Rick has been recognized as a visionary for his pioneering efforts in the transformation of forest ownership and management by embracing a holistic strategy to the forest system. He was early to understand and develop the use of conservation easements as a valuable tool for forest finance and was an early advocate for transparency in forest certification.”
So when Rick Smith says that MDI is overdue for another large scale fire like in 1947 which engulfed a third of the island including most of Bar Harbor, we need to pay attention.
“The fuel load in our forests is extremely high,” Smith told me in his timber-rich home built on a promontory overlooking Mount Desert Narrows.
In other words, there’s a lot of stuff on the forest floor which is combustible - dead limbs, leaves, pine needles and downed trees leaning against living trees which enables a fire to “ladder” or bridge up to the crown.
Brent Woffinden has seen many a forest fires in his time out West as a park ranger. He is the soon-to-retire fire management officer at Acadia National Park. He does not disagree with Smith’s assertion but said the likelihood of another catastrophic fire is “low.”
But he picks his words carefully. “It’s all academic until it’s not,” which Smith agrees is a good way to put it.
A large forest fire on MDI is most likely to start in the western part of the island where the fuel load is highest and oldest, and where the 1947 fire did not reach.
With only two persons assigned to manage the fire danger in Acadia, Woffinden said, “We’re not in the position to fire proof the forests” because most of the resources and attention to manage fires is out West. “But we can do better,” he said.
The park has conducted some “pile burning and broadcast burning” mainly to ensure that open meadows stay that way.
In 2020, MDI had one of the key ingredients for a large fire - a sustained drought. In 1947, a similar drought gave rise to a fire in a cranberry bog west of Hulls Cove. It was never determined what caused the fire, which burned 169 acres over the first three days. Then on Oct. 21, 1947 the wind from the northwest kicked up to gale force (39-54 miles per hour) and the low intensity fire turned into a historic inferno.
Bar Harbor received most of the attention in the 1947 fire, which destroyed 17,188 acres on MDI, mainly because of the famous mansions which burned. But the state lost 200,000 acres in forest fires that year, with York County hit hardest.
Woffinden said a wind event like that of 1947 without precipitation is highly unusual. But he talked about the “natural return intervals” of 300 to 500 years for such a large fire, and Smith added that we’re overdue. He said he was told by a former fire management officer of the park that, “It’s not a question of whether but when.”
What can we do?
Unfortunately forest fire prevention isn’t cheap.
Smith has hired professional forest management teams to reduce the fuel load on his waterfront property by removing and chipping dead trees. He also arranged for a mobile sawmill to cut his trees into marketable lumber. Most of the lumber used to build a barn on his property came from the trees on his land.
But there is a tradeoff when it comes to forest management.
Clearing brush may improve recreational uses, but comes at the cost of underlying habitat. Removing shrubs, snags, and woody debris can eliminate protective cover and reduce breeding opportunities for many species of native wildlife, from amphibians to songbirds. “Forestscaping” can also reduce invertebrate abundance and diversity.
But careful thinning “can help build a structurally diverse” multilayered canopy with bigger crowns and deeper root systems, said Morten Moesswilde, a Maine Forest Service district forester in an interview with Northern Woodlands magazine.. “That could in turn lead to an increase in growth rates so that you get bigger trees faster (which has wildlife benefit as well as timber). Of course if you encourage the best-quality stems with potential as valuable logs, that’s a future economic benefit as well.”
Job 1 is to protect your home. Mike Bender, Mount Desert fire chief, has developed and made several valuable community presentations on management of a “home ignition zone.” Click here for his presentation before the Bar Harbor Garden Club. And here is his link to simple ways to protect your home from wildfire.
Perhaps the best prophylactic is awareness. In the event of another drought like that of 2020, all of MDI must be vigilant. Because of the pandemic, the park campgrounds were closed in 2020, eliminating that source for concern.
Models may be developed to determine the impact of wind direction, most likely areas of exposure and suppression tactics.
The map above relies on 24-year-old data. The park needs to update it. “Fire is opportunistic,” Woffinden said. “But it should never surprise us.”
Separation of church/state? Maine lawsuit before Supreme Court may upend long-held practice
SOMESVILLE - In 1959 my mother, who worked in the typing pool for the United State Army in Taiwan as she was fluent in English, married my stepfather Ben Millstein, a G.I. from Brooklyn. They seemed blissfully happy.
But my mother had three Chinese children who could not utter a word in English.
What to do?
The American school on the island, Taipei American School, would not admit us. But our ever resourceful mother found an English-speaking filipino missionary school happy to accept us, no doubt because we were non Catholics with a Jewish surname to boot.
We were prime conversion prospects.
Turned out the missionary school had a contract with the U.S. Army to educate the children of its soldiers who sought a Christian-based education.
We enrolled in Dominican School in the fall of 1959, and from Day 1, I was profiled and targeted for conversion. On the first Friday of every month, when the entire class was required to attend Mass, I hid in the library. I was rebel with a cause and a frequent victim of Sister Concepcion who whacked me with her ruler. And all I wanted was to learn English.
Several hundred miles south, Morrison Academy, a Christian School whose students regularly pounded us in our annual soccer match, was even more strident. To this day, Morrison Academy boasts of not hiring gays or transgender faculty members.
So do Temple Academy in Waterville and Bangor Christian School.
They are subjects in a lawsuit on the Supreme Court’s docket for the current term in which three couples are challenging Maine’s law prohibiting the use of tax dollars to fund religion based education.
Carson vs. Makin “could transform one of the most consequential areas of American law: the separation of Church and state,” wrote law professor Kimberly Wehle in The Atlantic.
“Under the school’s ‘high Biblical standards,’ it (Bangor Christian School) declines to hire teachers who are gay or ‘identify as a gender other than on their original birth certificate.’ Temple Academy likewise offers a ‘biblically-integrated education’ and will not hire gay instructors.
“The schools concede that they would ‘consider’ accepting public funding only if doing so would not force them to change their policy of discriminating against LGBTQ applicants in their faculty hiring policies.” Wehle wrote.
The situation is not unlike mine 60 years ago, where the only option for an education is one which is religion base.
More than half of Maine’s 260 school districts do not have their own public schools. The state allows those districts to either contract with established public schools or approved private schools in nearby districts to educate their children.
To qualify as an “approved private school” eligible for public tuition assistance, the law requires that the private school be “a nonsectarian school in accordance with the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.”
Professor Wehle wrote, “The technical question in Carson comes down to whether the law is drawing a distinction based on the religious status of a school (which is not allowed under the Court’s current precedent) versus one made based on a school’s proposed use of public funding for religious purposes (presumptively okay). In other words, a state cannot refuse to use money in ways that benefit schools merely because those schools are religious, but it can refuse to provide funds that religious schools will then use for religious education.”
In my case, Dominican School was clearly steeped in religious education, one which was paid for by American taxpayers.
Footnote: The education I received from Dominican School was top notch. It laid the foundation for a career based on my use of English, which was not my native tongue.
Cohen, newest Tremont appeals board member, would participate in campground consideration
TREMONT - Appeals board member Richard Cohen has decided against recusing himself if the Acadia Wilderness Lodge application comes before the board because the proposal is now substantially different than the one he publicly opposed.
In a statement, he wrote, “I opposed the original campground application, mostly because I believed 154 units was out of scale for Tremont, and because the inclusion of about 70 RV sites raised a number of problems. I attended the applicants' first ‘town meeting’, and expressed those reservations. I had an opposing sign on my Cape Road frontage.
“Later, I was advised the application was changed to eliminate RVs and reduce the number of sites to 55. To me, that made a lot of difference. That didn't mean I favored the application or that I opposed it. There was too much about it then (and now) that I didn't know.
“I have told people I would have recused myself if the original application was pursued. But it was not, and I have no current opinion about either the legal or factual issues or the advisability to Tremont of having the campground as currently proposed. There is no reason now to recuse myself.”
This is good news for the citizens of Tremont to have such a judicious person at the table. Rick Cohen, a Yale Law School alum, was a judge at the appellate level in New Jersey for more than 20 years. After stepping down from the bench, he was a self-employed “dispute resolution” mediator.
The select board earlier this year rejected Cohen’s application until citizens protested and later reversed itself by a 3-2 vote. Members McKenzie Jewett and Howdy Goodwin, both of whom have interest in the construction business, voted against Cohen.
In May, alternate board member David “Jed” Campbell, who ran unsuccessfully for the select board, stated his support for the AWL application on the basis that he has known Becky Hopkins, mother of the applicants James Hopkins and Kenya Hopkins, for most of his life.
Given Cohen’s input, the appeals board will likely be more independent than the Planning Board, which has been essentially a proxy for the applicant. It called a special meeting for Monday night for the sole purpose of approving the glamping resort by Nov. 2, as ordered by the lawyer for the applicant.
The board spent more than seven hours this week, mulling over items on the application that were either unmet, not applicable or completed. It has yet to decide on the two biggest issues: Is this a “light commercial use” as indicated by the land use ordinance for the residential/business zone? And is it safe to add traffic from hundreds of campers to a notoriously dangerous section of Rt. 102.
In 2009, a tragic fatal accident occurred near Kelleytown Road when two pickup trucks collided. That section of the road has no shoulder and is narrow.
The biggest, single commercial development in town history would seem, by definition, not be “light commercial,” or as lawyers like to say, prima facie evidence which a Maine Superior Court judge may ultimately have to decide.
“It doesn’t matter if there is no definition of what is light commercial,” said Amy Tchiao, attorney for the citizens group opposing the application. “That is what Planning Board is there to do … to make a decision.”
Whatever the outcome, a major event looms on Tuesday, when a citizens’ petition for a moratorium on campground applications retroactive to Aug. 2 will be decided by voters. Any approval by the planning board Monday would seem to fall within that time frame.
Mainers to Norwegian salmon farms: Take your fish excrements and …
SOMESVILLE - American Aquafarms, the company which is no more American than Donald Trump’s made-in-China baseball caps, has achieved something very few companies have been able to do in Maine. It brought together an amazing crossing section of Mainers who agree on one thing: We don’t want your farmed salmon to pollute our pristine coastline.
Thursday night, nearly 200 Mainers of all stripes - fishermen, seaweed farmers, scientists, environmentalists, progressives, conservatives, Democrats, Republicans, business people, tradesmen, women, men - struck a unifying chord at a state DEP hearing. (The entire hearing may be viewed here. And here is the DEP project folder.)
Each speaker was limited to three minutes. Their articulation of the facts and reasons why this proposed farm by a Norwegian felon are a bad idea was diverse and copious, lasting more than two hours.
Among the most compelling was that of Henry Sharpe, chair of Frenchman Bay United who showed slides of what is widely accepted among marine scientists that Frenchman Bay does not flush well despite the tides.
Go to Slide 3, 4 and 5 of this presentation to see models of how toxic material emitted by the farms is likely to stay in the area causing great harm to existing fisheries and recreational boating.
“Thirty huge salmon pens will pump 4.1 billion gallons of untreated effluent into some of the most pristine waters on the Maine coast, and information submitted by the company about its wastewater discharge is grossly inaccurate and misleading,” Sharpe said.
“The trial of the only semi-closed pen in North America (in British Columbia), half the size of the pens proposed here and the first using such a pen to raise harvest-size fish, was recently halted after less than a year due to poor water quality and high fish mortality.
Frenchman Bay United’s attorney, David Kallin, warned that American Aquafarms “is seeking to place this new technology in the middle of a coastal wetland of special significance in Maine’s coastal waters off the shore of a national park alongside one of the most recognizable jewels of the State of Maine.
“Should failure of any part of these systems occur, the impacts will not be contained to semi-closed grow pens, and will have a direct and devastating environmental impact to the low-flushing bay that is vital to Maine’s tourism industry and the ocean based economy of Mount Desert Island and surrounding communities.”
Landfills reach critical stage; no end in sight for MRC towns for trash woes
ORRINGTON - The incineration plant here, which was the major backup solution for the failed recycling plant in Hampen, is essentially closed and all trash from the 115 MRC towns taken to landfills.
Henry Lang, director of the plant, said he was forced to close because of problems with its equipment and workforce availability.
Since the plant re-opened in July, there have been “half a dozen” closings, Lang said. In April the plant shut down for a three-week maintenance which turned into three months. But since then, the plant has never been fully operational.
This begs the question: If incineration - the second lowest on the waste disposal hierarchy - has trouble operating, what makes the Municipal Review Committee (MRC) think anyone can operate its failed recycling plant without turning it into huge bypass straight to landfills (the lowest on the hierarchy)?
QSJ peppered Tony Smith, chair of the Acadia Waste Disposal District which includes Mount Desert and Tremont, with questions this week. Smith referred them to Michael Carroll, MRC director, who seldom returns QSJ emails.
The Conservation Law Foundation recently took an interest in the Hampden case especially as the landfills in Old Town and Norridgewock are reaching critical stages.
A legal loophole in Maine’s waste management laws has allowed for significant landfilling of out-of-state waste in Maine’s state-owned landfills, which are intended to be reserved for waste generated in Maine. The loophole classifies waste as “in-state” once it enters a solid waste processing facility—no matter where it originated.
That means a Massachusetts disposal company may drive into any recycling center in Maine, pick out a few pieces of metal which may sell, and drive the rest of the construction debris to a Maine landfill because the debris is now technically “Maine generated.”
A proposed state ordinance to correct that loophole will be taken up at the next session of the legislature and Peter Blair, CLF lawyer, will be there to support it.
“Much of the out-of-state waste being exported by our neighbors is construction and demolition debris, and much of it is being sent to Juniper Ridge (Old Town, Maine),” Blair testified in May. More than 30 percent of the waste dumped there came from out of state.
“Massachusetts and Vermont both have banned the disposal of construction and demolition debris. New Hampshire banned the incineration of construction and demolition debris. These bans were imposed to both improve recycling and protect public health because construction and demolition debris is known to contain very harmful chemicals,” Blair said.
“According to the Environmental Protection Agency, once landfills begin leaking, leachate generation may continue for thousands of years, perpetually polluting the surrounding environment. In fact, landfills developed by the Roman Empire 2,000 years ago are still producing leachate,” Blair said.
The CLF is a major proponent of Zero Waste, the idea of producing less trash at the source - dwellings and businesses. The pricing model for the Hampden plant is based on tonnage produced by member towns so it actually encourages the production of more trash.
Henry Lang said his incinerator this summer simply could not keep up with the increased amount of trash, with MDI being the biggest culprit.
LINCOLN’S LOG
MDI Covid update
Covid continues to surge on MDI as businesses shuttered and appointments canceled. As of Tuesday, MDI Hospital reported 25 news cases for October, on par to match September’s record high of 30. That eclipsed the previous high of 23 in August. As of the latest reporting period, we’ve had 190 MDI cases and 17 cases from persons from out of Hancock County (tourists).
Eagle Lake loop restored, reopens
The Eagle Lake Loop of Acadia National Park’s carriage roads will be reopened after an extensive rehabilitation to the entire six miles of road, the park stated in a press release. The completion of this project also marks the full rehabilitation to all 45 miles of the carriage road network in Acadia.
Volunteers will gather Nov. 6 for the 31st annual Take Pride in Acadia Day, an event designed to prepare the carriage roads for overwintering. Due to COVID-19, participation in the event was reduced by half and restricted to teams of volunteers who pre-registered and were comfortable working together in an outdoor setting. Groups will meet in dispersed locations throughout the park to clear leaves and debris from carriage road ditches and culverts. This effort helps reduce erosion of the road surfaces over the winter and spring. Registration is at capacity for the event, but Friends of Acadia and the park hope to return to a full event in 2022.
Restaurant will light up Northeast Harbor’s dark winter
NORTHEAST HARBOR - The Nor'Easter Pound & Market will stay open this winter “with hopes of providing a great spot for our community and employees.'' It’s easy to root for the founders who have known each other since Age 5. Ronnie Musetti is a full-time lobsterman and brings his catch directly to The Nor'Easter daily. Ronnie learned the trade of lobstering from his grandfather, beginning at the age 9. His friend Adam Fraley, the other co-founder, is a local captain with a background in the lobster industry. He left the island during high school to attend Tabor Academy, and returned to study engineering at the University of Maine. After leaving the state again to work an engineering job in Washington DC, Adam quickly realized the strength of his love for the Island and knew he had to get back.
TRIBUTE: Leslie C. Brewer Jr.
1949 - 2021
BAR HARBOR - Leslie C. Brewer, Jr., 72, died at his home on Oct. 26, 2021. He was born in Bar Harbor on May 5, 1949, the son of Leslie and Barbara (Dickson) Brewer, Sr.
Leslie graduated from Bar Harbor High School in 1967. He worked at F. J. Brewer & Son Electric, (family business) as an electrician. He had a passion for auto mechanics, he loved to restore old and vintage automobiles. He owned a 1931 Model A sedan and a 1928 Model A coupe, both of which he restored. He passed his passion for automobiles down to his daughter. He loved his home, Mt. Desert Island, and history of MDI. He took the name Kebo Garage for his auto repair and restoration business because it was the name of his grandfather’s garage.He is survived by his children, Leslie (Lee) Brewer III and Eric B. Brewer both of Bar Harbor; daughter, Natalie V. Brewer and husband Christopher Stilwell of Ellsworth; brother, Alan Brewer of Portland. He was predeceased by his second wife, Melissa Hall-Brewer.
Services will be by invitation only and at a later time.
Arrangements by Jordan-Fernald, 113 Franklin St. Ellsworth
Condolences may be expressed at www.jordanfernald.com