Editor's Notes
Passages: The Times is a-changin'

This issue of the Gulf of Maine Times marks a number of changes, including goodbyes to some old friends and welcomes to new ones.

You already may have noticed this is a combined Winter/Spring issue of the paper. That means we'll publish three printed issues instead of four this year, and three next year as well. This change to some degree reflects a sign of the times in the printed newspaper business. It also indicates the dramatic move by readers to bypass the newsstand and look at articles online. In that spirit we would like to welcome both new and current readers to opt for the electronic version of the Times: we will send an email to you letting you know when the new issue of the Times is available online. Please go to our Web site, http://www.gulfofmaine.org/quicksubscription.php, to subscribe. Also, information on how to change the way you receive the paper will be forthcoming in an email. Of course, those who prefer a printed copy still can receive one.

With this issue we also say hello to some new staff, and goodbye to some dear friends. Andi Rierden, who had edited the Times for the past six years, has left to focus on her work as a journalist and editor in Nova Scotia. We thank her for her ceaseless dedication to the paper and for bringing alive to readers through her stories the issues in the Gulf of Maine. Andi contributed the article on the Tobeatic Wilderness plan this issue.

Staff writer and assistant editor Lori Valigra has taken over as editor working from Cambridge, Massachusetts. Lori is an experienced reporter and editor both in the United States and in Asia. Taking over as assistant editor is Cathy Coletti, a seasoned writer and editor about the environment. Cathy contributed the article on “Indicators” in this issue, and Lori profiled Stephen Kress about his restoration work with Maine's seabirds.

We'd also like to thank the many reporters, writers and photographers who contributed to making this combined issue interesting and compelling, including new contributor Kirsten Weir, whose article on dogs and whale scat brings interspecies communication to a new level. We are open to hearing from our readers about the types of stories you'd like to see in the Times, as well as the types you find less interesting. So please do contact us by email at timeseditor@gulfofmaine.org.

And finally, on a sad note, we'd like to say goodbye to a valued friend of the Gulf of Maine and an environmental leader as well: Susan Snow-Cotter, director of the Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management Office (CZM) and a tireless environmental advocate. Susan lost her battle with cancer in December. She developed the state's first strategic plan for aquaculture, and headed the first in the nation Environmental Affairs Ocean Management Initiative. Because of her zealous work in protecting the Gulf of Maine for the past 12 years, the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment dedicated to Susan its Action Plan 2007-2012, also written about in this issue of the Times. To learn more about Susan please see excerpts below from The Boston Globe and The Hingham Journal and tributes on the inflammatory breast cancer memorial Web site at http://www.ibcmemorial.org/susans.html.

“Susan's energy and passion are reflected in many of the Gulf of Maine Council's finest examples of work. For example, the Gulf of Maine Mapping Initiative progressed from the glimmer of an idea to an on-the-ground effort under Susan's leadership,” said Kathleen Leyden, a colleague of Susan's and director of the Maine Coastal Program in the Maine State Planning Office. “She took on a lot of projects that others would find daunting and made them happen. Susan loved to laugh, and those of us who worked closely with her over the years certainly did a lot of that.”

Beyond all the achievements to the environment both in the Gulf of Maine and beyond, perhaps Susan's strongest impression was on her family, friends and colleagues for her energy, bright smile and devotion to the environment.

Said Maggie Merrill, a resident of Susan's hometown of Hingham, Massachusetts, “Her love of the ocean was deep-seeded in that it gave her great pleasure and solace to walk the beach in hull and row in Hingham Harbor. She was great in the stroke seat.”

Peter Wells, a marine scientist with Dalhousie and Acadia Universities, Nova Scotia, echoed what many said who worked with Susan on some Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment (GOMC) projects: “There are many things I recall best about Susan - her wonderful smile and terrific enthusiasm about all things coastal and marine in the Gulf of Maine, her efficiency at running meetings and keeping everyone involved and engrossed in the topic at hand; her knowledge of the issues on the Massachusetts coastline and her desire to see coastal management succeed there; her sense of fun when participating in social events at GOMC meetings; and her shear energy and commitment to the oceans and their issues.” Susan's energy touched many, and clearly will continue to do so.

- Lori Valigra

© 2007 The Gulf of Maine Times