SEBASCO ESTATES — Joe Payne will be the speaker at the Phippsburg Land Trust’s annual meeting on Thursday. The annual meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in the Main Deck meeting room at Sebasco Harbor Resort. A brief business meeting will be followed by the speaker’s presentation.
According to a news release, Payne will discuss new threats to water quality and the coastal economy. A native Mainer, a licensed boat captain, and a research diver, Payne’s formal training is in marine biology, environmental science and quality assurance. He’ll describe the Waterkeeper program, and emphasize his unique Mainebased approach to resolving water quality issues.
Casco Bay was named an Estuary of National Significance by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1990, the news release continues. Payne was named keeper of the bay a year later. In 1999, Payne helped to found Waterkeeper Alliance, along with six other Waterkeepers and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. There are now 200 Waterkeepers worldwide on six continents.
This spring his work was rewarded with an EPA lifetime achievement award. U.S.
A fisherman’s son, Payne has devoted his life to the cause of clean water and a healthy coastal environment. He has spearheaded numerous conservation compaigns that have benefited both the bay and the entire coast of Maine.
His award-winning volunteer water monitoring program has pinpointed numerous instances of human wastes polluting the bay and allowed hundreds of acres of shellfish flats to reopen. Payne spearheaded an effort to relocate 35,000 lobsters from a Casco Bay dredging location. He has also worked to raise awareness of the threat of coastal acidification from stormwater runoff andair deposits.
Casco Bay stretches from the tip of Small Point to the tip of Cape Elizabethand includes the entire western shoreline of Phippsburg.
Unlike many other Waterkeepers who focus on legal actions as their primary tool, Payne’s approach is sciencebased and collaborative.
The Land Trust’s annual meeting is free and open to the public.
For more information, www.phippsburglandtrust.org.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less