Breaching of Veazie Dam begins as part of Penobscot River Restoration
Source: Bangor Daily News
EDDINGTON, Maine — Hundreds of onlookers stood on the banks of the Penobscot River on Monday morning, watching as demolition crews breached the Veazie Dam, continuing the process of opening the river to sea-run fish for the first time in almost 200 years.
The Veazie Dam is the farthest downstream dam on the river, and serves as the first barrier to passage that sea-run fish face when they swim up the Penobscot.
The dam removal was the latest accomplishment of the Penobscot River Restoration Project, an effort that will remove two dams and provide fish bypass at a third in order to open nearly 1,000 miles of river and stream habitat that has been inaccessible to fish.
The landmark river restoration project is a joint effort of the Penobscot Indian Nation, the Penobscot River Restoration Trust, six other nongovernmental organizations, the state of Maine, the U.S. Department of the Interior, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and hydropower companies.
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Read more: http://bangordailynews.com/2013/07/22/news/penobscot/breaching-of-veazie-dam-begins-as-part-of-penobscot-river-restoration/
This is a big deal.
The restoration will open up spawning habitat for diadromous river herring that support commercial fisheries in the Gulf of Maine.
= new reply since forum marked as read
(edit to add this quote)
John Bullard, regional administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said the breach of the Veazie Dam helps his agency get closer to solving a problem that has existed for years.
“When I took my job, which involves managing fish in federal waters, I said that my job would be a lot easier if we knew how to make fish,” Bullard said. “This is where we make fish.”
I'm sure he knows what he's doing too.
