Talk of the Towns – Page 5 – WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives

Talk of the Towns 3/11/16

Host: Ron Beard, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Studio Engineer: Amy Browne

Issue: Community concerns and opportunities

Program Topic: Preview of April 9 Penobscot Watershed Conference

Key Discussion Points:

1. What is the focus of this conference? Who is the audience / sponsors?
2. What led organizers to plan this conference, and why now? What is the connection to a number of conferences in the 1990s?
3. Any outcomes or results from those earlier conferences?
4. What changes in the watershed since the 1990s should we be aware of?
5. One of the outcomes you hope to come from the conference (and one of the hallmarks of the earlier conferences) is to identify some of the “unanswered questions” that could form a research agenda…
6. How do you hope the conference will help achieve some of the other goals you have established for the conference?
a. Improve communication and cooperation among Communities of Place and Communities of Interest in the Penobscot Watershed Region;
b. Provide support and inspiration for those working to conserve, protect and restore the health and integrity of the Penobscot Watershed;
c. Explore current, planned, and potential future efforts that advance a sustainable economy and a high quality of life for all people in the Penobscot Watershed

7. Share details of conference and registration—where can listeners learn more?

(Register at http://www.seagrant.umaine.edu/penobscot-watershed-conference

8. Reflecting on what makes the Penobscot Bay Watershed such a special place, what are your hopes for the future that make this conference a “not to miss” event?

Guests:
Steve Miller, Islesboro Islands Trust
Cloe Chunn Belfast Bay Watershed Council,
Robin Alden, Penobscot East Fisheries Research Center
Esperanza Stancioff, UM Cooperative Extension
Natalie Springuel, UM Sea Grant, Host Coastal Conversations

Talk of the Towns 2/12/16

Host: Ron Beard, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Studio Engineer: Amy Browne

Issue: Community concerns and opportunities

Program Topic: The future of the Millinocket Baxter region, including a possible National Park

Key Discussion Points:

What changes have you seen in the Millinocket-Baxter region in your lifetime… are there trends in the economy and in forest practices, land ownership of the Millinocket-Baxter Region?

Given the trends, what role could recreation and tourism play in the near and longer term future economy (leaving aside, for now who owns and manages the land). What private resources are currently contributing to the recreation/tourism economy?

What gave rise to groups like Friends of Acadia and other “friends groups” of national and state parks? Your career has been in conservation—what trends do you see in what land is conserved, how it is conserved? What is the interplay between conserved land and land that is managed for forestry, agriculture or other specific economic ends?

What are the main arguments for (Olson and Johnson) and against (Pray and Robbins) a national park in the region?

Quoting from an article in Portland Press Herald– In response to interest in having President Obama initiate National Monument designation for land donated by Elliotsville Plantation

“…three members of Maine’s congressional delegation outlined nine “conditions” that the Obama administration should consider if it went forward with a designation. Those conditions include ensuring that traditional recreational activities – including hunting, fishing, camping and use of snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles – as well as forest management continue on the land. They also stated that any monument designation “must respect private property rights and ensure the federal government will never take any private land in the area by eminent domain.”
Are these conditions at the core of continued discussion?

Guests:
Charles Pray, former state Senator, Millinocket, 1974-1992
Jim Robbins, former President, Robbins Lumber, Searsmont
Ken Olson, conservation consultant, former President, Friends of Acadia
Cathy Johnson, North Woods Project Director, Natural Resources Council of Maine

Talk of the Towns 12/11/15

Host: Ron Beard, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Studio Engineer: Amy Browne

Issue: Community concerns and opportunities

Program Topic: Affordable Housing at the Heart of a Community

Key Discussion Points:
1. What do we know, generally, about the issue of housing affordability on the coast of Maine and, by example, on Mount Desert Island?
2. What factors gave rise to Island Housing Trust, and its early work?
3. What successes have you seen with your early strategies?
4. How did you come to devise other strategies for addressing workforce housing issues?
5. How do you maintain “affordability” after the initial owners?
6. What is the nature of the relationship between participants/owners and IHT? How do you work with them?
7. What has been community response to the work of IHT?
8. How are you supported?… talk about the case you make to donors?.
9. What new strategies/programs are you pursuing?
10. What have you learned about the issue and its solutions over the years?
for Kendra
What was your situation as you sought housing on Mount Desert Island?
How did you learn about IHT, and what was your initial connection?
Describe the process of securing a home in Sabah Woods?
What has finding a home that you can afford meant to you and your family?
for Hannah
Life after your service in the Legislature, Nebo Lodge, family
Thumbnail profile of North Haven, overall need for housing that is affordabl
Current work to create an “elder care” home at the yellow house on Southern Harbor
What have you learned about the issue and how housing fits into a community that sustains itself?
Wrap up Question—summarize the role of adequate, affordable workforce housing as part of a community that sustains itself over time…

Guests:
Christopher Spruce, Executive Director, Island Housing Trust
Ted Koffman, Board member, Island Housing Trust
Alison Bean, IHT staff member
Kendra Rudolph (purchased home with IHT support)
Hannah Pingree, North Haven Sustainable Housing (by phone)

Talk of the Towns 11/13/15

Host: Ron Beard, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Studio Engineer: Amy Browne

Issue: Community concerns and opportunities

Program Topic: Celebrating Acadia in 2016—Centennial Year

Key Discussion Points:
A. What are we celebrating?
Centennials of Acadia National Park and US National Park Service
B. What is the brief history of Acadia
Highlights and tensions?
Parallels to history of Mount Desert Island and national system?
C. What do we know about Acadia National Park in 2015
Key assets
Current challenges
Relation to the community, local economy?
What did we learn when the federal government shut down Acadia?
Role of Friends of Acadia
D. How are we celebrating?
How are the celebrations being planned and coordinated?
What organizations are involved?
What are some of the 2016 events you would like to highlight?
E. What opportunities does the centennial make possible to engage with the park and its mission, and what are the implications for the wider community?

Guests:

Jack Russell, Co-chair of the Acadia Centennial Task Force
Stephanie Clement, Friends of Acadia and member of Acadia Centennial Task Force
Lynne Dominy, Chief of Interpretation, Acadia National Park, Centennial Lead for park service (by phone) 207 288-2375.
Julie Veilleaux, Co-Owner, Window Panes in Bar Harbor, FOA Board of Directors, Acadia Centennial Task Force, coordinator of Acadia Centennial products effort (by phone) 207-266-2262

Talk of the Towns 9/11/15

Host: Ron Beard, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Studio Engineer: Amy Browne

Issue: Community concerns and opportunities

Program Topic: Celebrating how our buildings contribute to sense of place

Key Discussion Points:

What do we know about the blending of European techniques with what early settlers and builders found in Native American structures… how had Native Americans solved some of the problems of shelter—keeping the weather out, keeping warmth in, functionality?

What housing traditions and innovations did the Europeans bring to North America?

Trace the evolution of New England/Maine architecture… what examples can we point to that we can see today? Comment on residential, commercial and public buildings… are their towns that retain this mix? What did those early builders/designers know about relationship between built and natural environments, including siting buildings on the land

Trace the development and application of “shingle-style” and how did that spread more broadly

How have each of you worked with equally compelling pulls—the pull to honor the vernacular and the ways in which New England architecture fit itself into the landscape — and the equally compelling desire to innovate, to build something new? Favorite examples of “restoration”?

Can we have it all—buildings that fit into the landscape, sustain us, conserve energy resources and are affordable not just to the wealthy? (is smaller beautiful?)

What continues to inspire… take listeners on your favorite drive or village walk to see and celebrate our building heritage?

Guests:
Roc Caivano, retired architect, Bar Harbor
Robert Knight, Knight Associates Architects, Blue Hill
Barbara Sassaman, designer, draftsperson, Chair, Bar Harbor Design

Review Board

Talk of the Towns 8/14/15

Host: Ron Beard, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Studio Engineer: Amy Browne

Program Topic: Healthy Food Options for Maine General Stores

Key Discussion Points:
o Where do we in Maine stand in terms of healthy eating?
o How easy or hard is it for people to make healthy choices as they plan meals for themselves and their families?
o Do some groups have a more difficult time getting access to healthier food choices?
o What are “food deserts” and do we have them in Maine?
o Where do general stores rural areas fit into the “food system”?
o What elements of the typical business model of a general store get in the way of offering healthier options to their customers? Is this part of a long term trend in terms of where people shop for food? What are some of the
challenges for general stores? How do the wholesalers fit into these trends?
o What models of addressing the notion of “food deserts” have worked elsewhere, perhaps in urban settings? Introduce the Food Trust’s national model and tell how you are adapting that model for rural areas in the
collaboration with Healthy Acadia and CEI. How will it work and where are you in the processs?
o What other general stores are you working with, and what are some of the strategies you are interested in trying?
o How else are you connecting local growers and local consumers, through the healthy general stores initiative and elsewhere in the region? (mention ongoing work with food pantries, schools, etc?) What have been some of the responses?
o Wrap up with contact info and where listeners can learn more about healthy eating and purchasing healthy food

Guests:
Katie Freedman, Healthy Acadia
Sandy Dubay, Healthy Acadia
Dan Wallace, CEI

Talk of the Towns 7/10/15

Host: Ron Beard, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Studio Engineer: Joel Mann

Issue: Community concerns and opportunities

Program Topic: The Union River, Fish and Dams

Key Discussion Points:

1. The Watershed

What is the watershed of the Union River, and how does it serve/impact the region?

What do we know about fish in the Union River—historical and present?

First dams for sawmills and other industry, later for electric power

2. Current dams and purposes

? What is the current ownership of the dams on the Union River… what do we know about

Brookfield Power and its economic goals for the Union River?

? How much power is being generated on the Union River, and how important is this as part of our

overall energy mix in Maine and the overall power grid?

? How important is the Ellsworth Dam to current flood control?

3. Alewives

From colonial times, alewives were allowed to be managed at the local level… what measures do the City

of Ellsworth and it’s partners use to manage alewife populations and catch… explain the trap and truck

process, who is involved, what is accomplished, what are the drawbacks?

What is the significance of Alewives to the Passamaquoddy people, and importance of removing barriers,

on the St Croix river and elsewhere… what work/fisheries research on behalf of the Passamaquoddy Tribe

connects with the Downeast Fisheries Partnership and others

4. Relicensing

? What agencies have oversight of dams and what do they monitor?

? What specifically is the role of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and what is

the process they are using to consider a request to relicense the dam on the Union River for

electrical power generation?

? Besides the current owner, Brookfield Power, who else is involved in relicensing?

? What factors are likely to be considered in the relicensing process? (power generation, fish

passage, environmental impacts, property values on river and lakes?)

? What are some of the likely points of contention, around fish passage up and down the river,

around water levels in Graham Lake, etc.

5. Wrapping Up

? What is the process going forward and how can citizens learn more?

? What hopes do you have for what happens on and around the Union River as a result of the

relicensing process?

Guests:

Dwayne Shaw, Downeast Salmon Federation

Morris Lambden, Union Salmon Association

Anne Hayden, Downeast Fisheries Partnership

Edward Basset, Sipayik Environmental Department Pleasant Point Reservation,

Alewives, eels, salmon, other species? (life cycles, etc.)

Passamaquoddy Tribe

Talk of the Towns 6/12/15

Host: Ron Beard, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Studio Engineer: Amy Browne

Program Topic: A Conversation and readings from young writers in Sumner High School’s Alternative Pathways Program

Key Discussion Points:

Background on Alternative Pathways Program and Sumner’s approach to education, idea for writing workshop

Each young writer introduces briefly and reads a piece from work in progress (5-8 min each)
Carol – first chapter from her novel
Justin – from Chapter 9 of his novel
Abbie- first chapter from her magical realism novel

Writers comment on how they approach writing, their work with Cynthia Thayer
Cynthia and Susan talk about what they are learning by working with these writers

Guests:
Carol Dawn, Sumner Pathways Program, student, writer
Justin Alexander Hammond, Sumner Pathways Program, student, writer
Abbie Elizabeth Holland, Sumner Pathways Program, student, writer
Susan Walsh, Sumner Pathways Program, teacher
Cynthia Thayer, author of Strong for Potatos, A Certain Slant of Light, A Brief Lunacy, founder of Schoodic Arts for All and co-owner/operator of Darthia Farm in Gouldsboro