Connection, community, joy. These are all essential ingredients as we come together to confront the environmental challenges confronting our world, nation, and state. In this episode, we speak with Sophie Davis and Luke Fatora from Halcyon, an artists collective in Midcoast Maine working to inspire environmental stewardship through music and arts. Their newest multimedia project, The Future is Here, will feature the stories and actions of Maine people who are working on the ground to build creative, regenerative, and resilient communities in response to the climate crisis. 

**Show links: Halcyon

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Last week, the Nature Conservancy announced it has reached an agreement for the purchase of the four Kennebec dams between Waterville and Skowhegan, an essential step toward their eventual removal and a multi-year restoration process in close collaboration with local communities and businesses. To get a sense of what’s possible when rivers flow free, Colin speaks with Steve Brooke, retired Senior Planner from the Maine State Planning Office and Trout Unlimited member who also served as project coordinator with the Kennebec Coalition during the removal of Edwards Dam.

**Show links: nature.org/kennebec

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Advancing more sources of homegrown renewable energy is our best step toward a more equitable clean energy future. The Maine Labor Climate Council (MLCC) is an important coalition partner that NRCM is collaborating with to advance this vision. Colin speaks with MLCC’s Francis Eanes and Cheyenne Gallivan about how they are growing coalition of public and private sector labor unions working together to address the twin crises of climate change and broader inequality in our state and beyond.

**Show links: Maine Labor Climate Council website
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Maine is generating more waste per capita over time and studies estimate single-use packaging materials make up a large amount of the trash we send to landfills and incinerators. We’re joined by University of Maine professor Dr. Cindy Isenhour to discuss what Mainers can do about this by moving toward reusable packaging programs in restaurants and other local businesses. Isenhour leads research efforts on sustainable consumption, reuse, and building a circular economy at UMaine.

**Show links: UMaine Reusable Packaging Resource Guide, UMaine Reusable Packaging Research Project, NRCM Sustainability Grants, State of Maine Community Action Grants

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The first session of the 132nd Maine Legislature has officially concluded, producing some big wins for clean energy and conservation, but also some mixed results and a few losses that were hard fought and disappointing. Colin speaks with Advocacy Director Pete Didisheim to break it all down and describe how our experts worked with partners and people like you to deliver results for Maine’s environment.

**Show links: NRCM Bill Tracking webpage, North Woods StoryMap, Summer Meet & Greet Events

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Maine’s lakes are just as iconic as our rocky coastline. But lakes don’t just provide outstanding recreational experiences – they provide essential wildlife habitat and clean drinking water for thousands. Colin talks with Susan Gallo, the executive director of Maine Lakes, to learn more about lakes and ponds in Maine, what makes them so special, why we can’t ignore the risks facing them, and what we can do about it.

**Show links: Maine Lakes website, LakeSmart program 

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Too many Mainers lack access to safe, affordable options to get where they need to go but it doesn’t have to be this way. There’s a better path forward. One where more Mainers have better choices for how they get to work, school, local businesses, and essential services. We speak with Zoe Miller, the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Moving Maine Network to discuss how we can work together to expand opportunities by creating a more equitable, accessible transportation system across the state.

 **Show links: https://www.movingmaine.org/

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In March 2025, a group of Mainers including federal workers, business and fishing groups, veterans, and a SNAP participant came together in Brewer, Maine, to speak about the real-world harm being inflicted by the chaotic decision-making of the Trump Administration. In this episode we bring you a recording of the event so you can hear directly from the speakers discussing the impact of ongoing actions by the federal government to block, freeze, and reverse critical federal investments and eliminate staff positions. The participants included: 

• Ocean Crawford, EMCC student, SNAP and MaineCare recipient; 
• Everal Eaton, Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce; 
• Scott Gagnon, former Maine-based U.S. Health and Human Services employee; 
• Tessa Corsetti, former Maine-based U.S. Fish & Wildlife employee; 
• Allen White, Air Force veteran and former employee at Togus VA Medical Center; and 
• Jill Harlow, Maine Coast Fisherman’s Association. 

The roundtable discussion was facilitated by Leo Waterston, former Program Director at FocusMaine.

Maine’s 10.4 million acres of Unorganized Territories (UT) are home to the last stronghold of remote, undeveloped ponds and scattered older growth forest stands in the eastern United States. We’re joined by Dr. John Hagan, a scientist and founder of Our Climate Common, to learn more about the vast forests of the North Woods. Hagan helped lead a research team that identified the locations of the last remaining old growth forest stands in the North Woods. 

BONUS EPISODE: A recording of our January webinar previewing the legislative priorities for the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) in 2025, including ways you can get involved. Join NRCM's policy experts as they explain the bills that we'll be supporting to advance progress for climate action, land conservation, and a healthy environment.