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
Clean & Free-flowing Waters
Thanks largely to the Clean Water Act, Maine’s great rivers are much cleaner than they were 40 years ago, but we still have a long way to go to restore many of them. NRCM continues to make clean water a high priority. NRCM was founded by a group of Mainers working to protect the Allagash River, which was designated as the nation's first Wild & Scenic River. Today, it is known as the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. In partnership with others, we also opened up part of the Kennebec River with the removal of the Edwards Dam, and we reopened 2,000 miles of habitat in the Penobscot River Watershed for Atlantic salmon and other sea-run fish.
Vernal Pools Fuel Maine Woods
by Travis Barrett, Outdoors Writer Kennebec Journal news story WAYNE — In an instant we are all five years old again, tromping our way through ankle-deep muck and sloshing along in the water in rubber boots. Mosquitos are relentless in their pursuit of our flesh, so the only sound to interrupt that of the splashing Read More
Allagash River among America’s Most Endangered Rivers
Wild and Scenic Protections Threatened The people of Maine realized they needed a State policy to save their own wilderness areas. They petitioned their elected representatives to protect the last great wild river in the eastern United States, and the Maine legislature responded by creating the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, so that the people could own Read More
Revitalized River Flows to Healthy Future
by Larry Grard, staff writer Kennebec Journal news story There was a time within many people’s lifetimes when almost no one would have fished the confluence of the Kennebec and Sebasticook rivers in Winslow. Tanneries, factories and mills dumped municipal sewage into the Kennebec and its tributaries, fouling the waters as they flowed through Augusta Read More
Battle of Fort Halifax Drawing to a Close?
Kennebec Journal editorial The end may finally be in sight for the long-running conflicts over the Fort Halifax Dam on the Sebasticook in Winslow. The dam is an integral part of the state and federal government’s plan to restore native, migratory fish such as alewives, shad, sturgeon and atlantic salmon to the upper reaches of Read More
Company Seeks Approval to Buy Fort Halifax Dam
Deal Would Keep Dam, Build Fish Passage By Craig Crosby, Staff Writer Kennebec Journal news story WINSLOW — A Boston company is primed to purchase Fort Halifax Dam with the intention of saving it from destruction. Essex Hydro Associates has reached a deal in principle to purchase the dam from FPL Energy, said Barry Flynn, vice Read More
Legislators Seek to Boost Riverfront Community Development
$25 Million Bond to Fund Revitalization Along Maine’s Rivers Today communities have rediscovered clean and healthy rivers as a key to increasing economic opportunities and preserving Maine’s way of life. To seize this opportunity, leverage community investments, and bring about river-based economic revitalization projects, a bi-partisan group of legislators has introduced a $25 million Riverfront Read More
200 Years of Troubled Waters for Atlantic Salmon
By Kevin Miller, staff writer Bangor Daily News news story Atlantic salmon did not disappear from New England rivers overnight. Rather, North American populations of this resilient fish beloved by anglers for its fight and by food aficionados for its flavor has suffered what some describe as “death by a thousand cuts” over the past Read More
Atlantic Salmon Fishing Returns to Maine
Portland Press Herald editorial It’s not a long season, there are plenty of restrictions and fishermen can’t keep their catch. But starting this morning, anglers will once more be angling for sea-run Atlantic salmon in Maine. The month-long, experimental season is limited to a short stretch of the Penobscot, the river that has the healthiest Read More
