The last time that I spent any amount of time in the Lewiston - Auburn area was about 12 years ago. In the process of working on Eliot Cutler’s campaign, I visited the area several times. In the course of these visits I met Jonathan LaBonté, a Lewiston native and the Executive Director of the Androscoggin Land Trust. ALT is currently working in  19 towns within the Androscoggin Watershed and their efforts are incredible - supporting working farms, economic and community development, creating programming for area youth, conserving the unique natural and cultural landscape of the region, and reconnecting people with the river as it is being restored.

On Tuesday I had the opportunity to visit several of the ALT parcels and learn about their vision for canoe and kayak portage sites that will enable incredible paddling opportunities throughout the watershed. I am already excited to experience the river from a boat in the summer of 2011. If you haven’t been to Lewiston - Auburn recently, it’s time for you to take another look.

Please read this article from the Working Waterfront about Lubec, the easternmost town in Maine, as it “plans a future without its high school”. Lubec is located at the head of Cobscook Bay in Washington County, Maine’s poorest county.

This article highlights a big fear of many rural Maine communities - the loss of their school due to low enrollment or poor performance. In addition to educating our young people, schools serve as essential rural community infrastructure, especially in the winter, where people gather for basketball games, community performances, and hold meetings.

I really value the way that Eliot Cutler is thinking comprehensively about the problems facing the State of Maine right now. Without well educated students who are graduating high school curious and heading to some sort of post secondary school to eventually enter the world to participate in business development, our population will continue to plummet. And without that business development that can keep cities and towns vital, our schools will end up closing. One hand washes the other, and right now, operating business and education at the status quo is killing us.

The fact that the beautiful towns of Lubec and Eastport still haven’t recovered following the fall out of the sardine industry drives me crazy. Where’s the innovation? The strategic community and economic development? Why haven’t we managed to attract people and business to these places year round while also keeping the traditional culture and industry in tact? I believe this is all possible, and I believe Eliot Cutler is on the right path.

Please share this with your friends and family, and encourage them to join the Cutler group on facebook. Here’s how.

lebanon and jordan teaser

It’s not because I don’t want to. I love Maine, and I have a self-imposed “don’t leave Maine in the summer” rule that I think is totally warranted for obvious reasons. But when I do leave Maine, it’s usually crazy.

On Friday, I’m leaving for Lebanon.

Back in September I was granted a fellowship exchange through the Quebec-Labrador Foundation. The Fellowship serves to connect natural resource management professionals working in New England and the Middle East to work across borders and foster discussion and collaboration in order to develop community-based initiatives for management of natural resources.

In April the group of Middle East participants traveled to New England. I met up with them in Stonington, Maine where I used to live while working for the Penobscot East Resource Center as the Community Coordinator. I introduced them to the Maine Lobster industry - how the resource is managed, and how that management system requires that fishermen be involved with the governance of the industry through seven different zone councils. This structure frames the context for the Community Fisheries Action Roundtable, the leadership and fisheries management training program that I used to organize while serving Penobscot East.

We toured the Stonington Lobster Co-op and Billings Diesel and Marine, talking about the shore side aspect of the business and the impact to the community. And then the next day I met the group for dinner at the Harraseeket Inn where we continued the discussion of the different sites they had visited and swapped stories on our various local cuisines… and techniques on how to eat a Maine Lobster.

Thanks to my friend Meredith Mendelson for this one. Making good decisions on which fish to eat for sustainability purposes is important. But don’t just go along trusting those bluewashed labels.

Beach Cliff Sardine / Stinson’s / Bumble Bee

Winter 2008

130 jobs lost for the towns around Gouldsboro, Maine is devastating. Bumble Bee / Stinson’s cannery is the last sardine plant in Maine. This is the end of an era.

know your fish. know your fishermen. ask your fishmonger questions about the source. don’t be scared, and don’t assume that you shouldn’t eat something.

Fishing friends who lease slip space in Portland (and hope to do so in the future), you should be following this.

WORKING WATERFRONT FORUMS:

• March 2: economic conditions of the waterfront
• March 3: potential changes to waterfront

Both will be at 7:00 in Merrill Auditorium rehearsal space