By The BDN Editorial Board Bangor Daily News editorial Last week, the last piece of a years-long project to return much of the Penobscot River to a free-flowing waterway was completed with the opening of a bypass around the Howland Dam. The Penobscot River is Maine’s largest watershed. For more than a century, however, the Read More
river restoration
Hundreds Celebrate Completion of Penobscot Restoration Project
By John Holyoke, BDN Staff Bangor Daily News news story HOWLAND, Maine — Pat Keliher still remembers an early morning phone call during which a professional colleague outlined a bold idea that could help transform the Penobscot River. “[Andy Goode of the Atlantic Salmon Federation] said, ‘Hey. We want to take two dams off the Read More
Penobscot River Restoration Project Celebrates Final Milestone, Reconnects River to the Sea
Howland fish bypass completes collaborative effort to rebalance fisheries and hydropower on Maine’s largest river News release Howland, ME – Today, federal, state, local, and tribal representatives, and project partners gathered in Howland, Maine, to mark and celebrate the completion of the last major milestone in the Penobscot River Restoration Project: the newly constructed fish Read More
Gulf of Maine’s Cold-craving Marine Species Forced to Retreat to Deeper Waters
by Colin Woodard, staff writer Portland Press Herald news story For 178 years, dams stood across the Penobscot River here, obstructing salmon and other river-run fish from reaching the watershed’s vast spawning grounds, which extend all the way to the Quebec border. Now, two years after the dam’s removal, the salmon’s proponents fear the fish Read More
Two Years After Dams’ Removal, Penobscot River Flourishes
Alewives, shad and even whitewater paddlers have returned as the largest river restoration endeavor in U.S. history starts to yield results. By Kevin Miller, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story VEAZIE — For nearly four decades, Barbara Wilson could watch from her deck as the waters of the Penobscot River cascaded over the 30-foot Read More
Howland Fish Bypass Construction to Start Next Month
by Nick Sambides Jr., BDN Staff Bangor Daily News news story HOWLAND, Maine — Construction of the $3.5 million fish bypass at the former Howland tannery site is likely to begin next month, ending 11 years of preparation, officials said Friday. Construction crews already demolished the former powerhouse attached to the Howland Dam on the Read More
Setting Rivers Free: As Dams are Torn Down, Nature is Quickly Recovering
By Doug Struck, Contributor Christian Science Monitor cover story BENTON FALLS, Maine — “Look underneath you,” commands Nate Gray, a burly biologist for the state of Maine. He reaches down to the grate floor of a steel cage perched on a dam straddling the Sebasticook River, and pulls back a board revealing the roiling river Read More
Grand Lake Stream Guides Association Should Help Restore Access of Native Fish to St. Croix River
Anadromous fish such as alewives were native to the river before dams were built, two studies show. By Clinton B. Townsend Portland Press Herald op-ed J.R. Mabee, of the Grand Lake Stream Guides Association, once again raised the hoary and incorrect assertion that alewives were not historically present in the upper St. Croix River basin, Read More
A Kennebec for the Generations
Fifteen years ago, the efforts of the passionate souls at the Natural Resources Council of Maine resulted in the removal of the Edwards Dam in Augusta. I didn’t work here then but I’m quite certain that, just as it is today, the culture here was one of steadfast resolve to protect the nature of Maine. Read More
