Penobscot River Restoration Trust purchases three dams from PPL Corp. News release Old Town, ME: A new chapter begins for Maine’s Penobscot River with the Penobscot River Restoration Trust taking ownership of the Veazie, Great Works, and Howland Dams. This $24 million purchase from PPL is a monumental accomplishment for the historic Penobscot River Restoration 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.
Down East Woman Awarded for Anti-LNG Activism
Bangor Daily News news story PERRY, Maine — The Natural Resources Council of Maine has selected Vera Francis of Perry as the winner of its 2010 People’s Choice Award “for her work protecting Passamaquoddy Bay.” NRCM indicated in a press release announcing the award that the People’s Choice is one of the organization’s environmental awards, Read More
Penobscot River Dam Removal, Fish Restoration Project Approved
by Kevin Miller Bangor Daily News news story AUGUSTA, Maine — State environmental regulators on Wednesday approved the final of three permits sought as part of a historic dam removal and fish habitat restoration project on the Penobscot River. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection signed off on the Penobscot River Restoration Trust’s proposal to Read More
DEP Approves Decommissioning of Veazie Dam
By Diana Bowley Bangor Daily News news story DOVER-FOXCROFT, Maine — The Department of Environmental Protection on Thursday granted one of three permits requested by the Penobscot River Restoration Trust in its effort to restore native sea-run fish, including Atlantic salmon, to the Penobscot River watershed. The trust was given the go-head Thursday to decommission Read More
Dam Removal Plan Progresses
Projects would reopen parts of Penobscot River to sea-run fish by Kevin Miller Bangor Daily News news story AUGUSTA, Maine — The historic plan to remove or bypass three large dams in the Penobscot River is inching closer to reality now that state and federal regulators have begun signing off on aspects of the river Read More
Freeing a River
In Maine, buying dams — and tearing them down — may save Atlantic salmon by Madeline Bodin Nature Conservancy Magazine story Summer 2010 In the chill of a late summer morning, Jan Paul leans over the gunwale of a small boat and submerges a plastic jar into Maine’s Penobscot River. In the stern, Dan Kusnierz Read More
NRCM Gives Award for Historic Penobscot River Restoration
News Release Augusta, ME – The Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) has awarded Scott Hall and Richard Fennelly of PPL Maine a 2009 Environmental Award for their leadership and collaboration in making the historic restoration of the Penobscot River a reality. The award is given each year by NRCM to an individual or group who Read More
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