Talk of the Towns 10/14/16

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

Issue: Community concerns and opportunities

Program Topic: Land Trusts Working With Communities

Key Discussion Points:
Land Trusts have always built public use into its mission, including hunting and trapping… how did you arrive at this policy and how have area residents received it?
Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust engaged a number of area citizens in some interviews as part of updating your plans… what did you learn in those conversations? What directions are you exploring to increase your involvement with the communities in which you have land and shared interests?
What is the mission and history of Maine Coast Heritage Trust How did your most recent strategic plan come to have a focus on rivers? What is your work work Down East and collaboration with Downeast Fisheries Partnership
How do land trusts typically engage with communities (beyond the early mission of protecting land and other natural resources)… how do you work with schools, for instance?
What are your hopes for your own community and how land trusts will continue to evolve to serve both the natural resources they protect and the community members who live and work here?

Guests:
Cheri Domina, Executive Director, Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust
Jennifer Reifler, volunteer, Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust
Chrissy Allen, Blue Hill Heritage Trust
Jacob van de Sande, Maine Coast Heritage Trust by phone

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Talk of the Towns 9/9/16

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

Issue: Community concerns and opportunities

Program Topic: Understanding Dementia and Supporting those affected

Key Discussion Points:
What are the range of conditions called dementia, and how do they show up? Where does Alzheimer’s Disease fit into this range?
How should we (family members, friends) remember when relating to or helping someone with dementia? What are typical problems in communication and “work-arounds?”
What are the array of services and supports to individuals and families coping with dementia… what is available for helping someone remain in their own homes? What are the array of services and programs in nursing, assisted living and adult day services?
Who are care-givers… what is the range of who provides such support to someone with dementia? What support do care-givers most need?
Where are the trends in understanding dementia (research) and treatment?
Where can listeners learn more, on their own, and about services for individuals with dementia?

Guests:
Becky Siebert, Island Nursing Home
Judy Mathewson, Island Nursing Home’
Anne Ossana, Director of Adult Day Service Programs, Friendship Cottage
The Rev. Mary Carol Griffin, Chaplain of Hancock County Homecare & Hospice

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Talk of the Towns 8/12/16

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

Program Topic: Statesman: George Mitchell and the Art of the Possible, new biography

Key Discussion Points:
What qualities led George Mitchell to be successful over the course of his career in the Senate and as a negotiator?
What intrigued you most about how Mitchell practiced “the art of the possible” in his Senate leadership and in his handling of the conflicts in Northern Ireland and in Palestine? (any brief stories to illustrate his skill as “statesman”)
What were some of the challenges in writing this book?
What came together particularly well for you as researcher and writer?
Earlier, we spoke of some of the elements in Maine and the larger society that fostered Senator Mitchell’s leadership… what has happened in Maine and the nation since, to produce such a backlash to the sort of leadership he offered?

Guest: Douglas Rooks, reporter, author of the book

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Talk of the Towns 6/10/16

Host: Ron Beard, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Studio Engineer: John Greenman

Program Topic: Maine Farmland Trust and Maine’s Food System

Key Discussion Points:

Brief overview of MFT mission and history, starting with its land trust model
How has MFT evolved to a more comprehensive approach you now embrace (land conservation, land access, farm viability, food access, outreach, arts)
What is the vision for a regional food hub and tell about development of the Unity Food Hub, and how it helps farmers, food processors and consumers
What is the Farm-Link program and how does it match available farm land & willing farmers
How does MFT support farmers in develop the skills they need for success on the land and in the marketplace?
What is the Veggies for All program?
What are the opportunities and challenges for farms like Songbird Farm in Unity

Guests:
Sara Trunzo, Veggies For All Director, Maine Farmland Trust
Colleen Hanlon-Smith, operations manager, Unity Food Hub
Adam Nordell, Songbird Farm, Unity

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Talk of the Towns 5/13/16

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

Issue: Community concerns and opportunities

Program Topic: Going to Market: The Science and Safety of developing new food product in Maine

Key Discussion Points:
How do entrepreneurs make use of the services of University of Maine Cooperative Extension to develop and test new, value-added food products?
Using three examples (Soybeans to tofu, blueberrys to tea and development of a barbeque sauce), how have entrepreneurs addressed concerns about marketability and food safety?
What other advice do Cooperative Extension faculty and successful entrepreneurs have for folks interested in developing food products using raw materials and ingredients from Maine?

Guests:
Beth Calder, Extension Food Science Specialist, UMaine
Jason Bolton, Extension Food Safety Specialist, UMaine
Kevin Burgoyne, Rosssam LLC, BBQ Sauce
Theresa Gaffney Highland Blueberry Farm, Stockton Springs
Jeff Wolovitz, Heiwa Tofu, Belfast

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Talk of the Towns 4/22/16

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

Issue: Community concerns and opportunities

Program Topic: Creating Acadia National Park – the new biography of George B. Dorr

Key Discussion Points:
1. Mount Desert Island and the Rusticators
2. How the story of Acadia derives from the relationship between three men, of different
generations — Charles W. Eliot, President of Harvard University, George B. Dorr
and John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
3. Old Farm and its role in the life of George Dorr and the creation of Acadia.
4. Woodlawn Museum and the creation of Acadia National Park
5. Other important figures (and philosophies) in the history of Acadia National Park.

Guests:
Ron Epp, author, historian, professor of philosophy
Maureen Fournier, Ranger, Acadia National Park
Joshua Torrance, Woodlawn Museum, Ellsworth by phone 667 8671

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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 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

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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

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