A pivotal year in Maine’s history, 1972 saw a changing of the guard among the state’s leaders and powerbrokers, the rapid ascendancy of Maine’s modern conservation ethic, a host of old industries facing dramatic new challenges, and glimmers of new economic opportunities — all as the push to preserve the state’s natural and historic heritage took on fresh urgency. Fifty years later, we look back at a watershed year in the Pine Tree State.
Look for the highlighted items to read the full stories from our special issue.
JANUARY
South Bristol’s Darling Marine Center reports a successful experimental program cultivating European and American oysters at 10 sites along the coast, kicking off contemporary shellfish aquaculture in Maine.
Chief Warrant Officer Kenneth Black becomes curator of Rockland’s First District Coast Guard Museum, comprising his own assemblage of lighthouse and maritime-rescue equipment. Black’s collection evolves into the Maine Lighthouse Museum, today the country’s most significant depository of lighthouse artifacts.
Thirty-three naval vessels deploy 900 Marines in tactical gear, via amphibious carriers and helicopters, onto the beach at Reid State Park, where they camp and test equipment during a training exercise dubbed “Operation Snowy Beach.” Dozens of protestors are arrested.
The USDA destroys a million chickens fed PCB-contaminated feed in Maine poultry plants. The industry — increasingly industrialized since the pre-WWII era of small farms — begins to collapse in the 1970s.
Republican state rep Marion Fuller Brown, of York, chairs the National Highway Beautification Conference, in DC, and continues to champion its theme, “Less Signs, More View,” after leaving office, becoming a prime mover behind Maine’s 1978 billboard ban.
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