If you’re thinking of hitting the Appalachian Trail anytime soon, there are a few things you should consider first. As the longest hiking-only footpath in the world, the trail has potential to be a place where the coronavirus is spread to different communities and across state lines. To address this problem, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy recently released updated guidance for visitors.

The coronavirus pandemic and the related suspension of school sports this spring allowed Luis Ayala a rare respite to consider his big picture. The longtime Foxcroft Academy wrestling and soccer coach typically spent his offseasons coaching both sports at the middle-school and youth levels.

Increasingly, turkey hunters I know are telling me that they are hanging up their turkey hunting gear. The reason: ticks. What a sad thing when all they need to do, to be safe, is to spray their hunting duds well with Permethrin, and remain vigilant. 

The state's wildlife biologists have proposed a 61.2 percent increase in the number of any-deer permits allotted this year. If the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife's advisory council approves the plan, 109,890 hunters will be allowed to shoot deer without antlers during the firearms hunting season.

The Maine Principals’ Association is prepared to follow state mandates and new guidelines issued by the National Federation of State High School Associations to pave the way for a safe return to sports activities. The spring season was canceled in March by the MPA because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was to have been the last time many of Maine’s high school football standouts would ever put on a helmet and shoulder pads. Now, they won’t get the opportunity. John Hersom, the president of the Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl Clasic, has announced that the 31st annual senior all-star football game has been canceled because of complications caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Levi Ladd was the Maine Central Institute girls JV basketball coach in 2008. Now the Milo native is back at the Pittsfield school as the varsity coach.

The sweet of the year started today, May 17. The week of cold north winds did a 180-degree shift, and a south wind moved in where I live at Branch Lake. Overnight the hardwoods in the higher elevations turned from somber gray to a delightful lime green. The forsythia blossomed.  And the first black fly wave came calling. Ah, spring!

The woods near the SeDoMoCha School may be too swampy for construction, but a group motivated to enhance outdoor learning opportunities is rebuilding it as a living laboratory. Thanks in part to a $7,350 grant from the Piscataquis County Fund of the Maine Community Foundation, a nature trail developed at the Dover-Foxcroft site nearly a half-century ago in an effort led by former teacher Dorothy Warren is in line for a makeover.

For spring high school coaches and athletes, the COVID-19 pandemic has left a massive void. That is especially true for seniors who will never have the opportunity to complete their high school careers. The sports shutdown also has impacted for baseball and softball umpires, lacrosse referees and track and field officials.

With schools closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, spring sports canceled and the future uncertain, the Maine Principals’ Association has ventured into the virtual world for a new activity to sponsor. The organization, which regulates high school athletics in the state, is adding esports to its list of MPA extracurricular activities beginning in the fall through a partnership with PlayVS.

Maintaining your health is about more than just not contracting a deadly disease — even during the pandemic. But as the stay-at-home orders have dragged on, many of us have let our daily physical activity slide, which compromises our physical health in other ways. It’s time to change that.

The MPA Interscholastic Management Committee recently issued a memo outlining revisions to their policy in the upcoming months. They include pushing back the start of summer coach-athlete interactions and eliminating the normal August hands-off period. The MPA also instituted a contact period for remote workouts and instruction and temporarily suspended its minimum academic requirements.

Jokingly referred to as the “Maine State Bird,” black flies are one aspect of the Maine outdoors that most people would prefer didn’t exist. Dotting the air in early spring, these tiny bugs have an annoying habit of flying into people’s eyes and ears. And their bites can be especially itchy.

The Piscataquis County Committee of the Maine Community Foundation has awarded $40,850 in grants to several nonprofits.

In his 2016 book “Maine Sporting Camps,” George Smith writes, “In 1904 there were at least 300 sporting camps in operation in Maine. By 2007, this number had dwindled to fewer than 40. In his interview with the Maine Sporting Camp Heritage Association Smith also learned that these few remaining camps “face serious challenges to their survival.” 

The American Legion National Organization has canceled its 2020 baseball season for teenage players across the country. American Legion officials went a step further than the Little League organization, which also cited COVID-19 concerns in canceling its regional tournaments and World Series for various age groups.

According to a group representing sporting camps around Maine, Gov. Janet Mill’s rural reopening plan falls short of providing relief to commercial sporting camps, employees, guides and rural neighbors because it bans visits from non-residents. Non-resident fishing trips over the next six weeks generates almost 90% of the annual revenue for many of the camps operating across the state.