Holders of Maine conservation, or “Loon” license plates will enjoy free admission to Maine’s state park and historic site day-use areas over the weekend of July 15 and 16.

The Maine Department of Conservation, which manages state parks, historic sites and public reserve lands, will also offer one day’s free admission to all Maine residents later this summer.

“Maine drivers who have opted for the loon plates have helped fund improvements in our state parks for the past 12 years,” said Gov. John E. Baldacci. “This year, for the first time, the Department of Conservation has opted to reward loon plate holders with two free days at our state parks and historic sites.”

Since the program’s inception, more than $13 million has come to the DOC and the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, which share the proceeds. The DOC’s portion of the funds – $8.40 from each loon registration – goes toward improvements in state parks and historic sites. DIF&W’s share is used for the management of non-game, rare, threatened and endangered species.

“We are very grateful to the loon plate holders who have been with us since the program’s inception,” said Patrick K. McGowan, the DOC commissioner. “Their support over the years has proved invaluable. This free weekend at the properties we manage is our way of saying ‘thank you’ to our loon plate holders.”

Nearly 75,000 Maine-registered vehicles carry conservation plates.

Fire tower lookouts topic of talk

John Boydston, a former fire tower watchman, will give a presentation on July 13 about the mountaintop lookouts and the lives of the people who staffed them.

The program will begin at 7 p.m. at the Community House in Greenville, and is sponsored by the Natural Resource Education Center and the Moosehead Historical Museum.

Boydston spent 14 years working as a watchman at the lookout tower on Big Spencer Mountain. The first fire lookout in the region was built in the Moosehead Lake region in 1905, at the summit of Big Squaw Mountain. The Maine Forest Service discontinued its manned fire towers in 1991 and now relies on daily overflights to spot fires in the woods. Many towers still stand are a destination for hikers in the region.

On display during the program will be some of the circular maps used in the towers, as well as an alidade, the instrument used to pinpoint a fire’s location.

A representative of the Forest Fire Lookouts Association plans to attend and will share information from the organization’s archives. Copies of the out-of-print book From York to the Allagash: Forest Fire Lookouts of Maine will be available for purchase.

The event is free of charge, and donations are appreciated. For more information or directions contact the Moosehead Historical Museum at 695-2909.

Deflating fish improves survival

A 15-year study by researchers at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Fla., shows the practice of venting, or deflating a bloated fish, improves survival when the fish is released back to the water.

From 1990 through 2005, scientists and volunteer anglers, guides and commercial fishers tagged more than 36,000 reef fish – including red, vermilion, mutton, and mangrove snapper; red, gag, scamp and black grouper; amberjack; and cobia – on both the east and west coasts of Florida. Recapture percentages ranged from less than 1 percent for vermilions to more than 12 percent for cobia.

Some of the fish, when reeled up quickly from deep water, suffered from distended swim bladders, which pushed the stomach out the mouth and forced the intestines out the anus. Without buoyancy control, these fish would be unable to swim back down to depth – a serious problem, given laws requiring undersized fish to be released alive.