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
Penobscot River Restoration
The Natural Resources Council of Maine is proud to be a founding member of the Penobscot River Restoration Project and the Penobscot River Restoration Trust. The Trust worked for more than a decade to restore magnificent runs of Atlantic salmon, shad, and other sea-run fish to the Penobscot River, the largest river in Maine. The Trust removed two dams that have blocked fish migrations for more than a century—the Great Works Dam and the Veazie Dam, and constructed an innovative, river-like bypass around the third dam on the river at Howland. Fish are using this bypass to access nearly 2,000 miles of historic habitat. The Penobscot River has worked hard for Maine people for hundreds of years. Now we need to take care of the river. NRCM’s membership in the Penobscot River Restoration Trust is one more example of our commitment to protecting and restoring Maine’s environment, now and for future generations.
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
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
Penobscot River Restoration Project to Boost Maine Economy, Restore Fish
Penobscot River Restoration Trust Awarded Funds to Remove Fish Passage Barriers Penobscot River Restoration Trust Today, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that it will invest $6.1 million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help rebuild the sea-run fisheries of Maine’s Penobscot River. A grant to the Penobscot River Restoration Trust Read More
Endangered Species Protections Extended to Atlantic Salmon on Three Major Maine Rivers
by Anne Ravana Maine Public Radio news story The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Service today extended endangered species protections to Atlantic salmon in the Penobscot, Kennebec, and Androscoggin rivers and their watersheds. The news has not been well received by some Maine officials. The state’s Department of 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
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
