Restoring River Habitats in Maine

Native American Legislative Update - June 2012

Restoring River Habitats in Maine

The Penobscot Indian Nation has joined a broad consortium of organizations, businesses, and government agencies, to launch a project to open up the Penobscot River, Maine's largest river, to reduce the impact of dams on the life-cycle of migrating fish. The project begins with the removal of the Great Works Dam, above Bangor, Maine. The groups in the consortium include environmental conservation groups, fish preservation councils, two hydroelectric energy companies, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Natural Resources Council of Maine. The New York Times reported that a tribal elder from the Penobscot Indian Nation blessed the restoration work with smoke from sage, tobacco and sweet grass.

The project is expected to help restore runs of salmon, shad, sturgeon, alewives, eels and smelt that were once abundant in the area. For more information, see the Department of the Interior press statement, and the New York Times article.

See more articles in the June 2012 NALU.