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.
Kennebec River Reborn 10 Years After Dam Removal
People and wildlife have benefited from river’s recovery NRCM news release Augusta, ME – State, federal and local officials and conservation leaders gathered on the bank of the Kennebec River today to celebrate one of our nation’s most significant and successful river restoration projects. Ten years ago, the 160-year-old Edwards Dam was removed to restore Read More
Penobscot River Restoration Project to Boost Maine Economy, Restore Fish
Penobscot River Restoration Trust Awarded Funds to Remove Fish Passage Barriers Penobscot River Restoration Trust Today, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that it will invest $6.1 million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help rebuild the sea-run fisheries of Maine’s Penobscot River. A grant to the Penobscot River Restoration Trust Read More
Ten Years After Dam Removal Kennebec River Fish are Jumping Back
by Susan Sharon Maine Public Radio news story For centuries, dams that harnessed water power fueled factories around the Northeast. But the walled barriers prevented migrating fish from reaching their native spawning grounds. Water quality and entire ecosystems changed. Think about a dam on a river you know. Imagine what would happen if that structure Read More
Groups Call For Action to Open St. Croix River to Alewives
50 U.S. and Canadian Groups Petition International Body News Release McAdam, New Brunswick, Canada—Fifty organizations from the United States and Canada have called upon the International Joint Commission (IJC) to require that the St. Croix River be opened up for passage of alewives (river herring). The lead groups in this effort are the Atlantic Salmon Read More
Endangered Species Protections Extended to Atlantic Salmon on Three Major Maine Rivers
by Anne Ravana Maine Public Radio news story The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Service today extended endangered species protections to Atlantic salmon in the Penobscot, Kennebec, and Androscoggin rivers and their watersheds. The news has not been well received by some Maine officials. The state’s Department of Read More
NRCM Gives Award to Law Firms in Portland, D.C. for River Restoration Efforts
Augusta, ME – Two law firms, Verrill Dana in Portland, Maine, and Wiley Rein in Washington, D.C., have been awarded a 2008 Natural Resources Council of Maine Environmental Award for their tireless efforts to free the Sebasticook River by removing the Fort Halifax Dam in Winslow. For about 100 years, the Fort Halifax Dam at Read More
Penobscot River Restoration Trust to Buy Three Dams from PPL Corporation
by the Penobscot River Restoration Trust Old Town, ME: Today, on the banks of the Penobscot River in Old Town, Maine, at 11 a.m., partners in the Penobscot River Restoration Project will announce they are taking a major step forward in this historic effort to restore Atlantic salmon, American shad, river herring, and seven other Read More
Fort Halifax Dam Breached
by Colin Hickey, staff writer Kennebec Journal news story WINSLOW — Closure came to the controversy surrounding Fort Halifax Dam on Thursday morning with a few blows from a hoe-ram. The demolition machine, essentially an excavator with a hydraulic hammer, began to breach a portion of the 100-year-old hydroelectric facility at about 10 a.m., as Read More
Fort Halifax Dam Removed to Open Fish Passage in Sebasticook
On July 17, 2008, after more than 5 years of legal battles, FPL Energy Maine Hydro breached the Fort Halifax Dam in Winslow. Finally, this section of the river will flow freely again and native sea-run fish – striped bass, salmon, sturgeon, and shad – will be able to return to waters they have not seen Read More
Banner photo: Allagash Wilderness Waterway by Sam Horine
