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
fisheries restoration
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
Millions of Fish Return to Maine River
The Kennebec River has been surging with life this spring as millions of alewives (river herring) travel inland from the sea to reach spawning habitat that was inaccessible before two key dams were removed in 1999 and 2008. Osprey and Bald Eagles have been well fed, and the entire river ecosystem has benefited, as a Read More
Penobscot River Project Progresses
Trust to buy three dams for removal By Gale Courey Toensing Indian Country Today news story OLD TOWN, Maine – Partners in the Penobscot River Restoration Project gathered on the banks of the Penobscot Indian Nation’s sacred river to celebrate a major step in their project to restore indigenous sea-run fish species to nearly 1,000 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
Maine Conservationists Reach Milestone in Plan to Buy 3 Dams
by Katie Zezima New York Times news story BOSTON — A Maine environmental coalition announced Thursday that it had raised the $25 million it needed to buy three dams from a power company under an agreement to restore a number of fish species in the Penobscot River. The coalition, the Penobscot River Restoration Trust, will Read More
The Long View on Kennebec Hydropower and Fish Restoration
by Dick Anderson Kennebec Journal op-ed For the past five years, this editorial page has hosted a debate over the future of the Fort Halifax dam. The dam’s owner, FPL Energy, proposed removal in 2002. In filings with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), FPL reported that even without fish passage costs, the dam lost Read More
White House Requests $10 Million from Congress to Restore the Penobscot River
Press Release from the Penobscot River Restoration Trust The Bush Administration today announced that it is requesting $10 million from Congress to restore the once-abundant sea-run fisheries of the Penobscot River in Maine, the second largest river in the Northeast. The announcement includes details of the FY2008 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) budget providing Read More
Fort Halifax Dam: SOS Can’t Stop the Unstoppable
Kennebec Journal editorial Things changed after the 1970s, when passage of the Clean Water Act resulted in the cleanup of pollution that flowed into the rivers. And over the last 20 years, a series of legally-binding agreements were entered into by state and federal regulators, citizens and owners of several dams along the Kennebec and Read More
