Most of you probably already know but the Black Bear Blog is part of Skinny Moose Media. Skinny Moose Media comprises a wide array of Internet enterprises. Included in SMM are:

U.S. Hunting Today – As of today, U.S. Hunting Today comprises 40 state hunting websites. Each website contains articles, tips, product reviews, news, resources, forums and more.

Skinny Moose blog network – I am not the only blogger for Skinny Moose. We are launching new blogs everyday. As of today we have 48 blogs. For those of you who don’t know, I blog on 5 different Skinny Moose Media blog sites – Black Bear Blog, Blogging the Maine Outdoors, Daily Bag Limit, Upper Andro and Black Fly Blog (outdoor humor).

Today, my son, Steven, and I are pleased to announce the launching of Skinny Moose Radio. Skinny Moose Radio will be an Internet broadcast. Each broadcast will be aired from the Skinny Moose Radio website and will be available for podcasts as well.

We are extremely excited about this new venture as we feel that audio and video is the future of the Internet and we want to be cutting edge in that department. We have been working on this for quite some time, studying and researching to find the right format and people to work with to make this top quality and professionally done.

We are developing new shows everyday. At present we are running a few shows and music while we assemble other programs. The response we have gotten from those we have talked with about this venture has been nothing but positive and the excitement level grows.

When you click on the link to the SMR homepage, at the top of the page you’ll find a link to the weekly schedule of shows. That’s where you’ll want to check to see what is playing. The schedule will be updated weekly. You will also find two other features of interest. To the right, you’ll see a link to “Skinny Moose Radio”, also showing a pulse meter. Click on that and you’ll directly to the broadcast. Your computer default media player should begin broadcasting right away. Also, near the top of the page you’ll see a Skinny Moose Media toolbar. In the top left of that toolbar you have an option to download and place that toolbar into your browser. When you do this, you will have a player function where you can quickly access Skinny Moose Radio and add your own material to listen to. There is also a button that to direct you to all the blogs of Skinny Moose Media. Just click on the drop down arrow on “blogs” and you’ll get all the latest posts for the blogs.

One show that will air every Wednesday at 4 p.m. is Maine Humorist and entertainer, Joe Perham. His cd “Guide to Hunting and Fishing in Maine” is now playing. We will add more of Joe’s programs as we progress.

I also am in the planning stages of producing a radio program that will be called, “Open Air with Tom Remington”. I thought about this for quite some time and wanted to be able to put together a show that listeners would like but wouldn’t be just a continuation of the Black Bear Blog, as big a success as that is. Open Air will be quite a variety of things dealing with subject matter, that you might have guessed, involving the wide open spaces of the outdoors.

I have plans to bring lots of interviews and talks with people from a wide array of interests, along with perhaps some music, humor and other assorted goodies.

If you have ideas for a show, let me know. I’m open to ideas. Also, if you ever thought about the prospects of becoming a radio personality, email us and tell us what you got in mind. We have 168 hours of programming time to fill each week.

I certainly hope that you will become a listener as well as a reader and help us out by offering your support to Skinny Moose Radio by listening in. You can read more about the launching of Skinny Moose Radio here.

Tom Remington

I know that many of my readers are employees or volunteers for several non-profits and businesses that depend on grants for the continuing function of your entity. I wanted to pass on to you this exciting opportunity to you to become participate in a certificate program for grant writing.

Monday, November 5 through Friday, November 9, 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. – University of Southern Maine

Successful grantwriting is critical to the survival of some nonprofits; for some lucky others, it is frosting on the cake. In order to attract the interest of funders, organizations must demonstrate substantive programming, good supporting data and financial viability, and they must package this complex information in a clear and convincing style. Research to find a likely funding source and then developing a proposal that will both meet unique guidelines and rise above the competition is also crucial to success.

Nonprofit organizations must either grow their own in-house expertise or hire consultants to help them through the often confusing grant application process. If you work for a nonprofit or serve as a volunteer board member, the grantwriting expertise you contribute will be a highly valued commodity.

The Certificate Program in Grantwriting provides an intensive opportunity to acquire the knowledge and practice the skills
necessary to succeed in today’s competitive grantwriting environment. Instructor Jack Smith is an accomplished grantwriter with an easygoing style who packs each day with a vast amount of content and expertise. In addition, you’ll receive an extensive package of materials to use both during the week and for future grantwriting projects.

This certificate program is composed of four courses held over five days. They may be taken individually or as a complete one-week program, offered each fall and spring. Individuals who have already taken any of these courses at USM Center for Continuing Education (Introduction, Online Research, or Hands-on Grantwriting) can receive credit toward the full certificate.

To achieve the certificate you must complete all four courses:

Introduction to Grantwriting – Monday, Nov. 5th Hands-on Grantwriting Workshop – Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 6th and 7th
Grant Research: Targeting Funds for Nonprofits Online – Thursday, Nov. 8th Fundamentals of Nonprofit Development – Friday, Nov. 9th

Jack Smith M.P.A. is a nationally recognized grant writer based in Atlanta, Georgia. Since 1987, his consulting practice has provided grant-writing services to more than 150 organizations, including the Huntington’s Disease Society of America, Catholic Charities of Greater Atlanta, Y-Clubs of Georgia, Century Pacific Housing, and the Maine Center for Community Dental Health. He has taught grant-writing skills for the state governments of Connecticut, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Vermont and for agencies and clients of the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the Cherokee Nation. Each year, more than 1,500 participants attend one of his full-day classes. He serves as adjunct instructor at the University of Georgia, Emory University, Duke University, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Management Institute. Jack earned a master of public administration degree fromthe University of Maine.

Monday, November 5 through Friday, November 9, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
(30 contact hours/ 3.0 CEUs)

Courses may also be taken individually.

for more info:

usm.maine.edu/cce

or contact me directly at

404-888-9994

jsmithgroup@bellsouth.net

Tom Remington

Becoming an Outdoors Woman Introductory Skills Weekend
Friday-Sunday, September 14, 15, 16
Camp Caribou – Winslow, ME

Want to Learn Some New Outdoor Skills?
Check Out Maine’s Becoming an Outdoors-Woman Program

The Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife is hosting the tenth annual Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BOW) Introductory Skills Weekend at Camp Caribou on Pattee Pond in Winslow. The workshop is directed towards women 18 years and older, who are interested in learning or improving their skills in hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation.

The weekend workshop provides participants with the opportunity to try a variety of outdoor activities under the supervision of experienced Instructors and Registered Guides. $210.00 covers everything — good food, lodging, all equipment and lots of opportunity to learn. Some of the topics offered include: canoeing, kayaking, outdoor survival, firearms use and range safety, skeet shooting, turkey hunting, duck hunting, fly casting, fly tying, GPS, map and compass, archery, trapping, bow hunting, trip planning, outdoor cooking, ropes course, retriever training, basic fishing, biking, and much more!

A complete Hunter Safety Certification Course is available as a course strand for the weekend. Participants in Hunter Safety take four required classes with additional evening instruction and a Sunday afternoon final test.

No previous experience is required and space is still available, so sign up now! The brochure and registration form are posted at www.mainebow.com; they are also available from the BOW Coordinator Emily Jones (207-287-8069, emily.jones@maine.gov.

Tom Remington

Maine is notorious for its scenic beauty, ample fishing, some of the finest whitetail deer hunting, moose hunting and bear hunting. The state depends on all these activities to fund its overgrown budgets and provide jobs for the needy. But these days it seems that Maine has become a home base for animal rights groups to force their ideals onto others. It wasn’t too many years ago and such activity as hunting protests were unheard of. Now we have groups protesting fishing.

Over the weekend Saco, Maine hosted the fourth annual shark fishing tournament and groups such as the Humane Society of the United States and the Wildlife Alliance of Maine were out in protest of the event waving banners and placing full page ads in local newspapers lying to the public telling them that this shark fishing tournament was endangering the life of the shark, threatening it to extinction.

Organizers of the event explained that they thought it would difficult for them to be putting the shark at risk as only 14 sharks have been killed in the past four years.

Tom Remington

The title of this post are the words of Carey Kish, outdoors nut and writer for MaineToday.com. As he’s heading out the door for a weekend of rafting on the Kennebec River, Kish gets his licks in about the statement made by a federal magistrate concerning the lawsuit filed against Maine to discontinue access to the Allagash River.

“It certainly seems apparent that the Allagash is no longer ‘a wild, scenic river, generally inaccessible except by trail,’ if it ever was such a river, as it now has eleven motor vehicle access points and six permanent watercourse crossings,”

Read more about the fate of the Allagash River lawsuit here.

Read more of Carey Kish here.

Tom Remington

A lawsuit filed against the state of Maine by two people from Maine, Charles Fitzgerald of Atkinson and Kenneth Kline of Bar Harbor, has been moved for dismissal by a federal magistrate.

“It certainly seems apparent that the Allagash is no longer ‘a wild, scenic river, generally inaccessible except by trail,’ if it ever was such a river, as it now has eleven motor vehicle access points and six permanent watercourse crossings,”

Read more.

Tom Remington

I was sent this photograph by Milt Inman that was sent to him. It’s an old sign advertising Dutchess Trousers in a store in West Paris, Maine. Read the sign carefully and discover how years ago companies stood behind their products.

Tom Remington

Sorry about the lack of blogging but until I can see straight from the lousy head cold and sinus infection, my interest in blogging is non existent.

Tom Remington

My son and his family live in Bangor, Maine, so my wife and I are there quite often during the summer while in Maine. Not too far from Bangor, south on Route 1A is the town of Ellsworth. If traveling south on 1A, just as you enter the town, you’ll find a sharp left turn that takes you onto Route 179 or the North Rd. If you follow this route for approximately 3 or 4 miles, you’ll find this lovely little structure on the right side of the road.

Tom Remington photo

I first spied this charming potential bed and breakfast (not) about three years ago while I was working with a friend on Mt. Desert Island. We stayed at a cottage on Molasses Pond. We took a different route each day from Molasses Pond onto Mt. Desert but when we left to come home, we took this route and that’s when I spied it the first time. I vowed someday I’d get back to take a picture.

It’s a small world as they say and the next year my wife’s twin brother and wife bought a lot of land on Graham Lake. Guess what? The turn off Route 179 to get to their lot is not too far from this shack. Not only did I get this picture but I got several more.

Moving back north into the Bangor area, one beautiful summer day, my son and I, along with four of the grandchildren, headed to Orono to visit the Orono Bog. The Orono Bog is a great place to go for a short outing and an easy hike for kids. As you can see from the photo, the grandkids ranged in age from 7 down to 3.

Tom Remington photo

The walk leads down a dirt path for a ways until the start of the boardwalk that will lead strollers out into the bog. Along the way out, I discovered that my grandchildren had not had the experience of eating wild Maine raspberries. The photo below shows all the kids looking for berries. At first their noses wrinkled a bit until they say grandpa eating them. Once they got a taste, it was hard to get their minds back on walking the bog trail.

Tom Remington photo

To the passive walker at the Orono Bog, one might miss out on some of Nature’s beauty. Some of my wife’s favorite wild flowers are Queen Anne’s Lace.

Tom Remington photo

Humans aren’t the only ones that appreciate a bit of Queen Anne’s lace. For a much different reason, these visitors also find the flower quite enjoyable.

Tom Remington photo

The boardwalk that leads through the dense, swampy undergrowth, eventually opens up into the peat bog itself. By spending some time and looking closely, you can see some much beauty in the plant growth that completely yet inconspicuously envelopes the entire floor of the bog. Information that I read about the bog said that in places the peat may be as much as 30 – 50 feet deep.

Tom Remington photo

If you’re in the area, I encourage you to take about an hour minimum to make the trip around the loop through the bog. You can spend as much time as you like but you can do it in a short period of time.

Make sure you check out all the other parts of Maine – The Way Life Is
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V

That’s right and I want to tell you, I’m outraged. I couldn’t believe it when I read Carey Kish’s article today in Maine Today. I spewed and spit and lathered myself into a whirlwind of “I’m gonna tell them a thing or two”. I spun around in my chair at least a half-dozen times and then I said, “You know what? Carey said it best!” Go read it. You won’t believe it!

I have to ask if this is a decision reached by Baldacci’s new task force to inventory public lands and determine how they are supposed to be used. If you’re not up to speed on this task force check out this story here.

Tom Remington

H.C. Haynes Co., a land owner and forestry company that holds lands mixed in with those belonging to the state, Baxter State Park and Roxanne Quimby, is mad at Jimmy Busque, Millinocket town councilor, about comments made against the lumber company. Herbert C. Haynes Jr. wrote a letter to the town of Millinocket demanding an apology from Busque or it may discontinue allowing snowmobilers access to his land where currently a trail exists.

This really is nothing more than continued repercussions from the controversial and underhanded dealings by the Baldacci administration in acquiring the Katahdin Lake parcel of land to add to Baxter State Park.

Busque has not supported the land swap, nor does he advocate the land grabbing and closing of lands by Roxanne Quimby. The comments that he made came recently at a town council meeting in which they were discussing the recent purchase of land by Quimby, land evidently owned by Haynes.

He then accused Haynes of having “totally stripped the parcel of land there [of trees]. It should never have happened and he used our tax dollars to do it, to strip it, rape it, and sold it to somebody who will never allow access or management of it again.”

Haynes said in his letter that these and other comments from the past are slanderous to his company. Town officials say the councilor has a right to speak his mind but agree that perhaps his methods aren’t conducive to good relations with landowners. Busque has no plans to apologize.

Haynes made the point that he and his company “….comply with all rules and regulations which apply to our industry and employ foresters to supervise our forestry activities,”. This is probably true but that doesn’t always set well with many outdoor sportsmen, like Busque who consider stripping land not good land management.

Obviously Busque is entitled to his opinion and can say as he wishes. The people will decide in the next election whether they think he is serving their best interest. Haynes, as well as other landowners like Gardner and Quimby, have a right to use their land as they see fit. That shouldn’t mean that when they decide to do things to their land that can be perceived as radical, the public isn’t going to speak out against such actions, especially in the Millinocket area where people and businesses seek their livelihoods from the land and forests surrounding their community. When people like Roxanne Quimby move in, buy up several thousand acres of land and shut out the public that has been using those lands, people will become angry.

As I said before, this goes back to the very beginnings of Baldacci’s decision to undertake this land swap behind closed doors. Many feel, and I am one of them, that many land deals were negotiated well ahead of any dealings that directly involved the lands involved in the Baxter land swap. It may very well be that between our own Department of Conservation, Gardner Land Co., Roxanne Quimby and H.C. Haynes Co. many back door land deals were made that we will never know about. I think some of those “deals” are now showing up – meaning this latest purchase of land by Quimby from Haynes.

So, what lands are next to fall into the hands of land preservationists, further shutting out recreational access to Mainers? I said a long time ago, it would take several months, perhaps years, before we would begin to see all of the underhanded results of Baldacci’s secret negotiations. And this is only one of them.

Tom Remington

AUGUSTA, Maine — As the investigation into the Long Lake fatal boating crash continues, the Maine Warden Service and the Cumberland County District Attorney’s office are releasing several details surrounding the crash investigation.

On Saturday night, August 11, 2007 at approximately 9:00 p.m, a 32’ Sunsation boat with twin 435 horsepower engines was involved in a fatal collision with a 14’ Glasspar powered by a 115 horsepower outboard on Long Lake in Harrison.

The owner of the 32’ Sunsation was Robert Lapointe, age 38, of Framingham, Mass. In the Sunsation boat with Lapointe was 19-year-old Nicole Randall of Bridgton, Maine. The owner of the 14’ Glasspar was Terry Raye Trott, age 55 of Naples, Maine, and with him was 44-year-old Susanne Groetzinger of Berwick, Maine.

Yesterday, Game Wardens were at the crash site near Bear Point on Long Lake for the fifth straight day. After recovering the bodies of Trott and Groetzinger, Game Warden Scuba Divers were retrieving crash debris from the lake bottom. Game Wardens will reconstruct the crash as part of their investigation.

The State Medical Examiner conducted autopsies on Trott and Groetzinger yesterday.

After the collision Saturday night, the Sunsation boat continued towards shore, where it ended up onshore, 134’ 9” from the waters edge. Both Lapointe and Randall had been ejected from the boat and swam to shore, where they were treated by rescue personnel who were on scene. Game Wardens searched the area near the collision looking for survivors that night, but all that was found was the severely damaged Glasspar boat drifting amongst crash debris.

Game wardens are continuing their investigation, and once complete, will meet with the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office to discuss the findings of the investigation. No timeline has been set on when the investigation will conclude.

Tom Remington