Talk of the Towns 11/12/25: Maine Stream Smart Program

Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves College of the Atlantic provides help with production. Engineering by Joel Mann of WERU Community Radio. Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording. Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities This month: What is the problem with traditional round road culverts? Why are they a problem for fish passage? How do traditional round road culverts respond to higher intensity rain storms and flooding? How do “stream smart” road crossings work? Are they worth the investment by Maine towns and private landowners? As Maine Audubon takes the lead for “stream smart” education, who are its partners? What role do Soil and Water Conservation Districts and Councils of Government play in seeking “stream smart” education and implementing better road crossings over streams? Where can listeners get more information about “stream smart” solutions? Guest/s: Sarah Haggerty, Conservation Biologist, Maine Audubon. Julie Sells, Knox-Lincoln Soil & Water Conservation District. Meg Rasmussen, MidCoast Council of Governments. FMI: Stream Smart Program/Maine Audubon maineaudubon.org/projects/stream-smart/ Knox Lincoln Soil and Water Conservation District. www.knox-lincoln.org Midcoast Council of Governments. www.midcoastcog.com Demonstration video Stream Table www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCh1l5unRVI About the hosts: Ron Beard is producer and host of Talk of the Towns, which first aired on WERU in 1993 as part of his community building work as an Extension professor with University of Maine Cooperative Extension and Sea Grant. He took all the journalism courses he could fit in while an undergraduate student in wildlife management and served as an intern with Maine Public Television nightly newscast in the early 1970s. Ron is an adjunct faculty member at College of the Atlantic, teaching courses on community development. Ron served on the Bar Harbor Town Council for six years and is currently board chair for the Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor, where he has lived since 1975. Look for him on the Allagash River in June, and whenever he can get away, in the highlands of Scotland where he was fortunate to spend two sabbaticals. Liz Graves joined Talk of the Towns as co-producer and co-host in July 2022, having long admired public affairs programming on WERU and dreamed of getting involved in community radio. She works as the Town Clerk for the Town of Bar Harbor, and is a former editor of the Mount Desert Islander weekly newspaper. Liz grew up in California and came to Maine as a schooner sailor.