Mount Vernon, South Paris residents honored by NRCM

BATH — The Natural Resources Council of Maine has named its 2017 Conservation Leadership Award winners, including Mount Vernon and South Paris residents.

The award is given each year to individuals or groups who have made an extraordinary contribution to the protection of Maine’s land, air, waters, or wildlife. This year’s Conservation Leadership Award recipients were honored Oct. 19 at the Maine Maritime Museum.

“We are excited to acknowledge the good work of hard-working and dedicated individuals with our Conservation Leadership Award,” says Natural RCM executive director Lisa Pohlmann. “Each of their contributions is so important, and the positive impacts extend across Maine and far beyond.”

For more than 30 years, NRCM has presented the award to residents across the state who work to protect the natural resources so important for Maine’s economy and way of life.

Past recipients include U.s. Sen. George Mitchell, natural history author Phyllis Austin, former Baxter State Park director Buzz Caverly, Olympic champion/clean air activist Joan Benoit Samuelson, and more than a hundred other citizen heroes making a difference in their communities and beyond.

David Courtemanch of Mount Vernon and Tony Giambro and Travis Ritchie, of Paris Autobarn in South Paris were among those receiving 2017 leadership awards from the organization.

Courtemanch was named the 2017 Conservation Leadership Award for Lifetime Achievement for his deep knowledge of and dedication to protecting Maine’s waters, according to a news release from the NRCM.

If you’ve fallen in love with one of Maine’s 6,000 lakes or ponds, if you’ve watched an osprey catch a river herring during its spring migration, or if you’ve reflected on how much progress we’ve made since our rivers were open sewers, then you have David Courtemanch to thank, at least in part, the release said.

For several decades, Courtemanch was Maine’s leading water quality expert as the head of the Department of Environmental Protection’s Environmental Assessment Division. In that capacity, he and his colleagues were on the front lines of understanding threats to Maine’s waters and developing innovative approaches for reducing toxic pollution, nutrient runoff, and municipal and industrial discharges to Maine’s precious waters.

Courtemanch was at the center of nearly every conversation about protecting Maine’s rivers, lakes, streams, and coastal waters. Whether the issue was dioxin from paper mills, nitrogen pollution, upgrading river classifications, or the health of bugs in river sediments, Courtemanch was often the first person to call.

For lawmakers, environmental advocates, and water quality experts across New England, a common refrain in the face of a new water quality issue was: “Have you talked with Dave?” He has been a hero in the crusade to protect Maine’s waters, playing a key role in restoring the Kennebec and Penobscot rivers, helping design a safety net of protective rules and laws, and crafting a scientific approach that has been the foundation for good policy decisions.

Courtemanch left DEP several years ago and remains one of Maine’s most accomplished water quality experts, and people around the state still call on him, literally, when confronting a new challenge to Maine’s water quality. “Did you talk with Dave?”

“Maine is so fortunate to have a professional of Dave’s caliber working on water issues across the state,” says NRCM executive director Lisa Pohlmann. “Dave deserves huge appreciation from all of us who rely on clean water for his lifetime of vitally important work.”

Tony Giambro and Travis Ritchie, of Paris Autobarn in South Paris, have been exemplary citizen activists and business leaders on many climate and energy issues over the past several years. Their leadership starts with the sustainability of their own “eco-friendly” garage. Paris Autobarn has set an example for other businesses, not only for its use of solar and heat pumps but also for its electric vehicle charging station that is free and available to the public.

Giambro and Ritchie’s commitment doesn’t stop there; it includes multiple tours at the State House talking with legislators (including on NRCM’s Citizen Action Days). They have testified on solar and electric vehicle bills before the legislature and have engaged constructively — and successfully — with their own local lawmakers. Giambro and Ritchie have spoken at NRCM press conferences, especially on solar, in the last few years, and eagerly signed onto NRCM’s first formal business/organizational petition to the Maine Public Utilities Commission in support of net metering.

Giambro and Ritchie are effective and authentic advocates because they are extremely passionate about their beliefs and technically knowledgeable about the issues. In 2017, while in the midst of ongoing support for solar policy, they quickly mobilized to oppose a bill to put new fees on electric vehicles, testifying and reaching out on their own to other electric vehicle owners to urge them to call legislators. For the last few years, they’ve taken a lead role in organizing an annual “ride and drive” in South Paris to help the public test drive the latest electric vehicles.

“Climate change is the most urgent issue facing our environment, and businesses have an important role to play in addressing it,” says Pohlmann. “Tony Giambro and Travis Ritchie have become go-to technical experts, not only on the issues, but also on ways to get involved. All of us at NRCM appreciate everything they are doing to protect our climate.”

Addie Farmer and Lainey Randall of Portland — 2017 People’s Choice Award for their work to keep plastics and other pollution out of Casco Bay
As residents of Portland, Addie Farmer and Lainey Randall live nearly surrounded by ocean water, meaning they also see the litter that pollutes it. So when a national environmental awareness competition challenged middle and high school students to engage their communities in addressing the problem of ocean debris, Farmer and Randall stepped up in a big way. They introduced the people in their community to NOAA’s Marine Debris Tracker mobile app, which helps users track the litter they find at beaches and provides data helping experts determine marine debris problems at the local level.

Farmer and Randall set an ambitious goal for Portland to collect and log 5,000 pieces of trash in about a month. They conducted outreach activities informing local residents about the tracker app and encouraged them to use it to help protect the oceans. Farmer and Randall engaged teachers, parents, and students through posters, newsletters, morning announcements, and events; they testified before the Portland City Council, and even presented at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. They concluded their campaign with a cleanup and tracking day at East End Beach in June, and were joined by 30 volunteers who picked up litter and used the debris tracking app to log in data.

Together, they collected nearly 6,000 pieces of trash, bringing the month-long total to almost 8,000 items — 3,000 more than their goal. Best of all, according to data from NOAA, residents have continued to pick up and track the litter in their community.

“It is wonderful to see such passion for the environment in the upcoming generation of Mainers,” says Pohlmann. “But Addie Farmer and Lainey Randall are inspirations for all, regardless of age, and since they are winners of our People’s Choice Award, many others obviously agree.”
Tony Giambro and Travis Ritchie of Paris Autobarn, South Paris — 2017 Conservation Leadership Award for their outstanding citizen and business leadership on climate and energy issues

Martha Spiess of Freeport — 2017 Conservation Leadership Award for her work as a citizen activist/videographer volunteering hundreds of hours of video production for environmental protection.

When a person is passionate about what they do, it’s obvious, and Martha Spiess is passionate about environmental protection. Spiess has volunteered countless hours to NRCM’s priority issues, videotaping dozens of public hearings and other events, and most recently producing a video about the Allagash River, featuring long-time NRCM member and natural history author Dean Bennett.

Her skills as a videographer and video editor were crucial in NRCM’s efforts to defeat the weak mining rules that came before the Maine Legislature. When she couldn’t make the trip herself to the proposed mining site in Aroostook County, she generously entrusted her video equipment to NRCM staff members so they could film people in the region concerned about mining.

Spiess also spent dozens of hours working with NRCM staff to create two short mining videos, one targeted specifically to legislators, and one delivering a message to NRCM members. Spiess attended every meeting on the mining issue held by the Board of Environmental Protection. She was there at every legislative hearing and work session, capturing every moment on film. Her success can be measured not only in the high-quality videos she created but also ultimately by the fact Maine now has the strongest mining laws of any state in the nation.

“The hours Martha has put in to producing videos to help stop mining pollution in Maine has been incredible,” says Pohlmann. “Anyone who has seen her work knows that she has made tremendous contributions to protecting Maine’s environment. We are grateful for her tireless efforts.”
The reception was free and open to the public, featuring live acoustic jazz, hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar.

The Natural Resources Council of Maine is a nonprofit membership organization working statewide for clean air, healthy waters, safeguards for Maine people and wildlife, forest protections, sustainable solutions to toxic pollution and other waste, and for clean, efficient energy solutions. For more information, visit www.nrcm.org.