Anonymous bidder raises stakes for lighthouse: Bid casts doubt on Maine-based organization’s effort to acquire Ram Island Ledge Light | Portland Press Herald

Ram Island Ledge Light

An anonymous bidder has raised the stakes in what appears to be a three-way struggle for ownership of a historic lighthouse off the coast of Cape Elizabeth.

The $35,000 bid, made online Thursday by a party known only as “tugdocto,” cast doubt on a Maine-based organization’s effort to acquire Ram Island Ledge Light.

Robert Muller of Brunswick, executive director of the Ram Island Ledge Lighthouse Community, said his group must somehow raise $5,000 to $10,000 in the next day or two “to stay in the game” and put the lighthouse under public, locally based ownership.

“I really need to make up the gap with some large pledges,” he said.

Under federal rules, bidders have until 3 p.m. today to outbid tugdocto. Bids must be made in increments of at least $5,000.

If someone does outbid tugdocto today, the online auction will continue on to the next regular business day – Tuesday.

Click for the rest of the story by Dennis Hoey in the Portland Press Herald.

Anyone who wants to get more information or make a contribution can go to www.ramislandlighthouse.com, call (207) 956-0699 or e-mail Muller at bob@RamIslandLighthouse.com.

Weakening Earl to make landfall in Nova Scotia | Bangor Daily News

Weakening Earl to make landfall in Nova Scotia | Bangor Daily News.

Picturesque Ram Island lighthouse for sale, but it’s not for everybody | Bangor Daily News

Picturesque Ram Island lighthouse for sale, but it’s not for everybody – Bangor Daily News

For more information or to place a bid, visit: http://www.auctionrp.com/

Obamas leave Maine coast after busy weekend getaway | Bangor Daily News

Obamas leave Maine coast after busy weekend getaway | Bangor Daily News

Whales’ return could boost coastal tourism industry | Bangor Daily News

Whales’ return could boost coastal tourism industry – Bangor Daily News

To locate a whale watching business near you, visit http://www.visitmaine.com/attractions/nature/whale_watching/.

In search of pirate treasure on a Maine island

Tales of buried treasure have sparked the imagination of young and old for centuries. The high-seas adventure of boarding a ship or fending off marauders, the clink of clashing cutlasses and the boom of canons, it all stirs excitement in most of us.

Maine’s coast is a tough, rough, rugged fortress of surf-honed granite. It has been a favorite place frequented by pirates, smugglers, bootleggers, and drug mules.

So here is today’s trivia question from DownEast.com about buried treasure.

Trivia

On what island is Captain Kidd’s treasure reportedly buried?

Answer:

Jewell Island in Casco Bay is most commonly mentioned as the pirate’s hiding place, but before he was hanged he gave his wife a piece of paper with the numbers 44-10-66-18, which have been interpreted as the latitude and longitude of Deer Isle. Richmond Island and Squirrel Island have also been mentioned.

Advocate promotes North Woods park

Group says 3.2 million-acre preserve

would aid region as Acadia boosts coast

FORT KENT, Maine — There is little chance the forests and wild lands of northern Maine can ever be returned to their pristine state, but a group of conservationists sees no reason they can’t be at least partially restored and protected for generations to come.

RESTORE: The North Woods has advocated the formation of a multimillion-acre park or preserve in north central Maine since 1994, and on Friday the group’s director discussed the plan with students, faculty and guests at the University of Maine at Fort Kent.

“I can’t see another place in the United States where we could even be having this discussion,” said Jym St. Pierre, RESTORE director. “We are talking about 3 million-plus acres that could be acquired without disrupting people or communities.”

The area in question has long been the center of timber and logging operations in Maine going back to the early to mid-1800s when lumber from the great northern forest produced enough raw material to help Bangor become the lumber capital of the world.

Toward the middle and end of that century, the recreational value of the vast tracts of forests began to attract the likes of Henry David Thoreau and later Theodore Roosevelt, with the railroads billing it “America’s wilderness playground.”

Click in the link for the rest of today’s story by Julia Bayly in the Bangor Daily News.