AUGUSTA – Passing the word was the top priority Sunday at the Maine Emergency Management Agency after the federal Department of Homeland Security raised the national threat level from elevated to high, on the color scale from yellow to orange.

Steve Burgess, deputy commissioner of the state EMA, was called into work when Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge made the announcement that the nation’s security alert had been raised to the next-to-highest level.

Maj. Gen. Joseph Tinkham, the state’s adjutant general and Homeland Security adviser, participated in a conference call with Ridge at noon.

Though the alert elevation is real enough, it does not mean that borders, airports or waterways are being closed. Rather, Burgess said, those in law enforcement and security are being asked to increase their vigilance.

On Sunday afternoon, state officials contacted the directors of each of Maine’s 16 county emergency management agencies. Those directors in turn contacted police departments and sheriff’s departments to notify them of the heightened alert, Burgess said.

The state EMA office also was coordinating with Gov. Baldacci’s office on Sunday, Burgess said, ensuring that state police and other appropriate agencies are aware of the alert.

“It’s just an increase in vigilance more than anything else – paying more attention to what’s going on,” Burgess said.

The intelligence information leading to the higher alert level was not linked in any way to Maine, according to a statement issued by the state EMA office.

Sgt. Allen Hayden of the Bangor Police Department said no change would be made to the number of officers assigned to provide security at Bangor International Airport until the chief reviewed the matter today.

Two representatives of US Air, contacted at the Hancock County-Bar Harbor Airport in Trenton at 4 p.m. Sunday, were unaware of the heightened threat.

At the U.S. Coast Guard station in Rockland, personnel had not been asked to do anything differently, according to an officer on duty.

Burgess said port security where there is regular shipping — such as in Portland, Bath and Searsport – would be stepped up.

He said baggage screeners at Bangor International Airport and the Portland Jetport might take a little more time with their work, and possibly search a few more bags. The same sort of stricter scrutiny probably would be in evidence at border crossings, he said, with more vehicles being searched.

“Knowing that Maine’s public officials are taking action where appropriate, coupled with the lack of a threat specific to Maine, citizens of the state are advised to go about their holiday routines, but with a vigilant eye for suspicious activities,” Tinkham said in a statement released Sunday afternoon.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in a statement released Sunday said that Ridge “has reminded us that there remains an active community of terrorists who seek to harm Americans both at home and abroad, particularly during the holiday season.”

Collins, who is chairwoman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, which oversees homeland security, said the heightened alert was warranted.

“I believe that the increase in the threat level accurately reflects the threat assessment of our intelligence agencies,” she said.

The last time the terror alert was raised to orange was six months ago when the United States began its invasion of Iraq.