Clean, healthy waterways are vital to our day-to-day lives. They help ensure safe drinking water, suitable habitat for fish and other wildlife, and recreational opportunities that make Maine a special place to live, work, and visit. NRCM is working hard to protect and restore Maine’s lakes, rivers, and streams, now and for generations to come.
But Maine's waterways face huge challenges. For decades, paper companies and other mills along Maine's rivers have treated these great waterways as their own private dumping grounds. The pollution they discharge prevents our native fish from thriving and impairs the quality of life for the people who live in those communities.
Pollution is one issue, dams are another. Dams continue to choke waterways across the state. While some dams are strategically located to minimize damage to fisheries and generate significant amounts of renewable electricity, other dams are obsolete or destroy fisheries resources that are worth far more than the small amount of power they generate.
One such dam was the Edwards Dam. NRCM’s work with coalition partners to remove the Edwards Dam from the Kennebec has become a national model for success. Now, NRCM and our partners in the Penobscot River Restoration Trust are working to restore this vital watershed for the wildlife and people of Maine.
NRCM has served as the voice of Maine people by advocating for clean and healthy waterways. Find out more about the issues we work on and how you can get involved to ensure clean and healthy waters for Maine.
Maine Environmental Board Endorses Contentious Mining Regulations
The Maine Board of Environmental Protection endorsed a major rewrite of mining regulations on Thursday, setting the stage for another legislative debate over the contentious issue.
Maine BEP Provisionally Adopts Controversial Mining Rules Despite Overwhelming Citizen Opposition
Record Shows Opponents Outnumber Proponents: 441-2 News release Augusta, Maine – Today the Maine Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) voted unanimously to provisionally adopt weak rules that would govern metal mining in Maine. Because metal mining poses such a serious threat to water quality, these rules were opposed 441-2 by Maine scientists, business people, conservation groups, Read More
Former President of Natural Resources Council of Maine Dies at 89
by Susan Sharon Maine Public news story One of the giants in Maine’s conservation movement has died. Clinton “Bill” Townsend, an attorney, river advocate, environmental watchdog and lifelong fishermen, passed away at his home in Canaan this week at the age of 89. Bill Townsend was one of the earliest members of the Natural Resources Read More
Taking Down Dams and Letting the Fish Flow
By Murray Carpenter, staff writer New York Times news story BANGOR, Me. — Joseph Zydlewski, a research biologist with the Maine Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit of the United States Geological Survey, drifted in a boat on the Penobscot River, listening to a crackling radio receiver. The staccato clicks told him that one of Read More
Mining Rules Face Overwhelming Citizen Opposition
Record Shows Opponents Outnumber Proponents: 436-2 NRCM news release Mainers are overwhelmingly lining up against draft rules that would weaken environmental protections from mining pollution in Maine. The Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) is holding a deliberative session to consider the draft rules today at the Augusta Civic Center. According to an analysis by the Natural Read More
2016 NRCM Conservation Leadership Award Presented to Penobscot River Restoration Trust
Penobscot River Restoration Trust (Penobscot Nation, Atlantic Salmon Federation, Maine Audubon, The Nature Conservancy, Trout Unlimited, and the Natural Resources Council of Maine) Conservation Leadership Award For significantly improving access to nearly 2,000 miles of habitat for eleven species of native sea-run fish, with no net loss of hydropower More than two centuries ago, members Read More
LePage Administration Resurrects Plan to Weaken Mining Rules
by Andy O’Brien Free Press news story No metals have been mined in Maine since 1977, according to the Maine Geological Survey, but the LePage administration is hoping to revive the dormant industry if he can elect enough allies to the Legislature this November. Last Thursday, Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) unveiled its third Read More
Hearing on Changing Maine Mining Rules Hits Wall of Opposition
For the third time in three years, a Department of Environmental Protection proposal to rewrite mining regulations finds little support. By Kevin Miller, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story AUGUSTA — A LePage administration push to rewrite Maine’s mining regulations ran into a wall of opposition Thursday from conservation groups, former state environmental employees Read More
Opposition to Chapter 200: Metallic Mineral Exploration, Advanced Exploration and Mining
Good morning Chairman Parker and members of the Board of Environmental Protection. My name is Nick Bennett, I am the Staff Scientist for the Natural Resources Council of Maine, and I am testifying in opposition to these proposed rules. Previous versions of these rules were not protective of Maine’s water quality or its taxpayers, and Read More
Banner photo: Allagash Wilderness Waterway by Sam Horine
