Natural Resources Council of Maine supporters and staff paddled the Kennebec River from Sidney, Maine, to Augusta on August 15, 2009. This event was one of 50 in celebration of NRCM’s 50th anniversary this year. It also commemorated the 10th anniversary of the removal of the Edwards Dam in Augusta. Thanks to all who joined Read More
river restoration
10 Years, 430 Dams
New York Times editorial Ten years have gone by since a modest but important moment in American environmental history: the dismantling of the 917-foot-wide Edwards Dam on Maine’s Kennebec River. The Edwards Dam was the first privately owned hydroelectric dam torn down for environmental reasons (and against the owner’s wishes) by the Federal Energy Regulatory Read More
Marking a Rebirth
by Keith Edwards, staff writer Kennebec Journal news story AUGUSTA — Sidney resident George Viles said he felt frustrated and anxious 10 years ago that the Edwards Dam was being removed. But on his first fishing trip after the Kennebec River ran free, he landed three striped bass, and a large smallmouth, in 20 minutes. Read More
Success on Kennebec Bodes Well for Dam Removal on Penobscot
Feds give $6 million to help with Great Works project by Kevin Miller Bangor Daily News news story AUGUSTA, Maine — In the weeks leading up to the historic breaching of the Edwards Dam, there was little doubt that striped bass, sturgeon and salmon would eventually return to the Kennebec River north of Maine’s capital Read More
River Flows, Fish Flourish with Maine Dam’s Demise
by Glenn Adams, Associated Press Forbes.com news story AUGUSTA, Maine — A backhoe took a bite out of the Edwards Dam 10 years ago, releasing the waters of the Kennebec River that had been held back for more than a century and a half. Months after that first torrent gushed through from upstream, the entire Read More
A Decade without a Dam Breathes Life in to a Maine River
by Beth Daley, Globe staff Boston Globe news story Ten years ago today, a demolition crew in Augusta, Maine punched a hole through a 160-year-old dam on the Kennebec River and made history. It was the first time that the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ruled that the ecological value of a free-flowing river was Read More
Edwards Dam Gone 10 Years Today
Ten years ago the Edwards Dam in Augusta, Maine, was removed from the Kennebec River and the river has totally come alive. The coalition of groups that worked on this project for more than a decade knew that the benefits would be enormous, and they have been. The Edwards Dam had blocked the river since Read More
Another Reason to Celebrate: 10 Years of a Free-flowing Kennebec
I just attended my 20th high school reunion this past weekend. 20 years ago, I was graduating from high school. That is hard to believe. What is harder to believe is that that was around the time that NRCM and its partners in the Kennebec Coalition started the decade of hard work to remove the Edwards Read More
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
