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
dam removal
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
Take Me to the River: NRCM Paddles the Kennebec
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
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
50 Years of Advocating for Maine’s Environment
Natural Resources Council of Maine celebrates its half century of advocacy by Chris Cousins Times Record news story AUGUSTA — In 50 years of existence, the Natural Resources Council of Maine has compiled a long list of achievements — ranging from the removal of dams to the successful push for a bottle bill in Maine. 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