Today, a local contractor (Sargent Corporation, Old Town) will begin to remove the Veazie Dam, re-opening the Penobscot River from Old Town, Maine to the sea for the first time in nearly 200 years. The removal of the 830-foot long, 30 foot high buttress-style Veazie Dam, built in 1913, is a monumental step in the Read More
Waters
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 has been working on clean water issues since we were founded in 1959 to protect the Allagash.
NRCM continues to advocate for clean and healthy waters across Maine. Read more news & blogs about our work to protect Maine's beautiful rivers, lakes, and streams.
Lower Kennebec River a Secret Jewel for Paddlers
Waterville to Gardiner stretch ‘kind of a little gem of a river trip that’s very accessible for people that live here,’s says state official by Paul Koenig, staff writer Morning Sentinel news story The paddling trip from Waterville to Augusta, or even farther south to Gardiner, is an underrated trip compared to more popular waterways, Read More
Learning about Lobsters
I get to do some pretty cool things thanks to my job at the Natural Resources Council of Maine. I met Bonnie Raitt at a concert on the eve of the removal of the Edwards Dam. NRCM was invited to work at a Phish concert (how cool is that?!) in Augusta. I met Senator George Read More
Climate Change Threat to Lobsters Spells Big Trouble for Maine
Lobstering, tourism, conservation interests launch campaign to protect iconic Maine species from carbon pollution threat NRCM and NWF news release Portland, ME — At the Maine Lobster Company, just days before the Fourth of July holiday, a diverse group representing Maine’s lobstering, tourism, conservation, and education interests gathered to launch an awareness campaign about the Read More
Maine Senate Rejects Added Water Safeguards at Mines
A single vote sinks a bill that advocates said would protect water quality but opponents said would hamper job creation. by Michael Shepherd, State House Reporter & Tom Bell, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news update AUGUSTA — A bill that would add environmental safeguards to Maine mining laws was rejected by a single vote Read More
Maine House Passes Bill to Revise Mining Law in Attempt to Protect Water, Taxpayers
by Jen Lynds, BDN staff Bangor Daily News news story AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine House on Wednesday afternoon approved a bill that officials said would help protect water from pollution caused by mineral mining while also protecting taxpayers from footing the bill for mine cleanup costs. LD 1302, An Act to Amend the Maine Read More
Maine House Passes Mining Bill with Environmental Safeguards
Opponents said the measure is too stringent and would hurt job creation in Aroostook County by Tom Bell, staff writer Portland Press Herald news story AUGUSTA — A bill that adds environmental safeguards to the state’s mining law won initial support in the Maine House on Wednesday. The House voted 91 to 49 to pass Read More
Return of Alewives on St. Croix River Celebrated
by John Holyoke, BDN staff Bangor Daily News news story BAILEYVILLE, Maine — For nearly 20 years, conservationists and, at times, state natural resource agencies, have sought to open the St. Croix River watershed to alewives. Those river herring had their passage at dam fishways officially blocked in 1995 due to concerns that their presence Read More
Celebrating Herring Homecoming on St. Croix River
Federal officials pledge continuing support to help restore one of largest alewife runs in the nation News Release Baileyville, Maine — Today, Tribal and federal Trustees joined with state and nongovernmental partners and Canadian officials to celebrate the reopening of the Grand Falls Dam fish ladder, which has been closed for more than two decades, Read More
