The tiny Central American country of Costa Rica could teach Maine a few things.

Two million tourists a year drive the Costa Rican economy that employs half the working population. Their environment is their economy. Where have we heard that before?

In April Linda and I visited Costa Rica for the first time, staying at the vacation home that Bruce and Peggy Bornstein of Wayne, Maine, built high above the Pacific Ocean in Nosara.

If you aren’t feasting on chanterelle mushrooms right now, you’re missing one of summer’s best treats.

As Greg Marley reports in his book Chanterelle Dreams, Amanita Nightmares (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2010, $17.95), “summer’s true arrival cannot be acknowledged until the first chanterelle’s poke warm golden caps from beneath their leafy cover.”

Good news for boaters. The legislature rejected a bill to require boaters to take a safety course and pass a test before taking to the water in their motor boats.

Although the House faced a very crowded agenda on the afternoon of June 7, they entertained a 45 minute debate over the boating course bill before killing it by a lopsided vote.

The legislature has rejected similar bills several times in the past. I remember one session when a high-powered national boating expert testified for a mandatory safety course bill.

Birds and brook trout define my Maine and Ted Koffman’s Maine, too.

Wading down Nesowadnehunk Stream on the edge of Baxter Park one morning to reach a favorite pool full of colorful brook trout, I heard the familiar song of a Yellow Throated Warbler.

Since adding birding to my outdoor adventures, I always have binoculars strapped to my chest. But as I glanced to the right, looking for the warbler, the binoculars weren’t needed. The bird was in a low bush right on the edge of the stream.

A free Maine saltwater angler registry may take its final step to enactment on June 7 in the Senate, after the Maine House of Representatives set aside a spirited and stubborn attempt by Rep. Jon McCain to derail it.

The House gave final approval to the free registry bill on June 6. The Senate endorsed the bill in several earlier votes, so the final vote there is a sure thing.

The drive to abolish Maine’s Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) has stalled.

A task force will now be charged with examining all of the contentious issues revolving around LURC and report back to the legislature with recommendations no later than January 4, 2012.

LURC is the planning and regulatory state agency for the 10 million acres of unorganized territories, what many of us think of as the North Woods.

I went hunting on May 23. For Birds. Without a shotgun.

Except for the fact I didn’t have my old reliable 12-guage shotgun, hunting for birds with binoculars is very similar to the type of hunting with which I’m more familiar.

Seeking and sensing adventure, I quickly agreed when State Representative Bob Duchense of Hudson invited me to participate in a 24-hour birdathon – a fundraiser for Maine Audubon.

You know it’s going to be a long day when a legislative hearing begins with a 36-page amendment to the principle bill being heard - LD 1534, sponsored by Senate President Kevin Raye. But given the long and contentious history of the Land Use Regulation Commission, I guess something like this could have been expected.

Sharing your catch of fish with friends and neighbors is a Maine tradition. You share your fish with people at your campground, in the camp next to yours, and back home. My Dad always looks forward to the few brook trout I bring home from camp just for him.

Five years ago Roxanne Quimby reached out to her major critics – including me - to talk about the future of her Maine lands. At that time I could never have imagined what I heard Roxanne tell Millinocket area residents on May 5.

She plans to donate a significant parcel of her land to Peaks-Kenney State Park in Dover-Foxcroft (where her children learned to swim).

She plans to donate a portion of her lands in that area to the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to manage for remote wild brook trout ponds.