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Ches Gundrum is advocacy director for Maine Audubon.
These are challenging times for conservationists who are dealing with a federal government and Congress emboldened to weaken federal environmental laws and slash funding and staffing levels at natural resource agencies. Thankfully, there remains a strong will to protect Maine’s environment in our state legislature.
The first session of the 132nd Maine Legislature ended in June, and Maine Audubon is celebrating many successes for Maine wildlife. Our staff testified on 84 individual bills in Maine’s 132nd Legislature, a new record, and our members, supporters, and volunteers sent thousands of individual messages to state lawmakers or added their names to petitions.
There was a lot to follow, so we wanted to help break things down by choosing five important wins for Maine wildlife in the first session of the 132nd Legislature, which ran from January to June 2025.
First, LD 497, which protected significant vernal pools. This bill establishes a 100-foot “no disturbance” zone around state-recognized “significant vernal pools,” essential but overlooked breeding habitat for many amphibians, insects, spiders, and crustaceans. The bill also closes an existing loophole that allows development to encircle these vernal pools in some instances, among other protections.
Transitioning away from fossil fuels and to clean, renewable energy is our best chance to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Maine is serious about taking our energy future into our hands, and passed LD 1868 to move up the timeline to transition to 100 percent renewable energy by the year 2040.
Improving the quality and availability of environmental education is crucial for a sustainable future. Maine Audubon supported LD 1543 to establish the Maine Green Schools Network, which will collaborate with other state agencies, tribal governments, and nonprofit organizations to help promote environmental, outdoor and climate learning programs, traditional ecological knowledge, and similar opportunities in our schools.
Single-use plastic bags are one of the most common forms of pollution, and can cause major problems for turtles, seabirds, and many other wildlife. Maine passed a pioneering and successful ban on single-use plastic bags, which began in 2021, but has to continually defend it against companies that want to return to plastic. Two bills this session — LD 56 and LD 69 — would have weakened or eliminated Maine’s single-use plastic bag ban, but failed to pass.
For more than a decade, the Stream Smart program founded by Maine Audubon and partners has helped to both restore streamside wildlife habitat and improve the resilience of our infrastructure. Towns across Maine have replaced undersized or decaying culverts with larger crossings that permit wildlife and water to move safely underneath. LD 1340 created a Municipal Stream Crossing Fund to help fund crossings around Maine into the future.
There are many more wins to celebrate — including funding for the Lake Water Quality Restoration and Protection Fund; establishing a Department of Energy Resources; and requiring a state study of the impacts of neonicotinoids on people and pollinators in Maine — and more.
We’ll be back at work in early 2026 for the shorter second session, hoping to finish off any bills we weren’t able to get across the finish line this year and work on new issues yet to be determined. We’re proud of what we’ve done to protect wildlife and wildlife habitat in Maine, and are eager for more. To be a part of our wildlife community, go to maineaudubon.org/act.
