September 27, 2004
COMMENTARY: The promise of the Penobscot | A major conservation project hopes to bring new life to a "signature river" and
By Laura Rose Day
Director, Penobscot Partners, Augusta
The Penobscot River and its people are on the verge of making river history.
On the banks of the Penobscot River in the town of Veazie, an unlikely cast of characters recently signed an innovative agreement that promises to change the future of the Penobscot River and its fisheries. A hydropower company, PPL Corporation; conservation organizations including American Rivers, the Atlantic Salmon Federation, the Natural Resources Council of Maine, Maine Audubon and Trout Unlimited; the state of Maine; the U.S. Department of the Interior; and the Penobscot Indian Nation have agreed to a roadmap to restore the lower Penobscot River ˆ striking a new, improved balance between hydropower production and fisheries, recreation and other uses of the river.
The bold, innovative initiative promises to restore much of the Penobscot River's lost biological wealth, especially its once- vast fisheries. Hydropower production would be reconfigured through a combination of dam removal, improved fish passage and energy increases. The result: The Penobscot River Restoration Project would significantly improve access to more than 500 miles of river habitat ˆ restoring fisheries, recreation and economic opportunity while maintaining energy production.
What's at stake on the Penobscot? After decades of legal and political wrangling over the fate of the dams, what drove these diverse interests to forge a deal of such complexity and scope?
The answer lies in the diverse and immeasurable values provided by the Penobscot River. The Penobscot is the largest river in Maine and the second largest in New England. Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton recently hailed the Penobscot as one of our country's "signature rivers." Flowing from Mount Katahdin through the heart of Maine, the Penobscot River drains fully one third of the state. It has been the home of the Penobscot Indian Nation for more than 10,000 years. Throughout history, the river has been the wellspring of rich cultures, powerful economies, longstanding traditions and a quality of life that is symbolic of our state.
At the heart of the river once were magnificent native fisheries, vast sea-run migrations of fish. Silvery schools of fish once surged through the river, including millions of alewives and blue-back herring, American shad, prehistoric-looking sturgeon, rainbow smelt, tomcod and ˆ perhaps most famous ˆ the fabled wild Atlantic salmon. Islands upstream of Milford were named after fish from the sea; Penobscot Indian clans were named Sturgeon and Eel; the first-caught salmon of the season was sent to the United States president; and fishing traditions passed through generations.
But like most other rivers in the industrial East, the Penobscot River was used heavily for log drives; it was dammed and polluted. Commercial and recreational harvests further decimated the fisheries.
Over time, the log drives ended and the waters have gotten far cleaner. However, despite the improvements in water quality, the native sea-run fishery is largely lost, cut off from spawning grounds by a gauntlet of dams. There is no more commercial or recreational Atlantic salmon fishing. Mainers seeking the thrill of catching the elusive Atlantic salmon must trek to neighboring Canada, taking their money with them. Salmon fishing no longer draws visitors from within and outside of the state to the Penobscot region; those visitors no longer spend their money in local inns, restaurants, tackle and bait shops and other businesses.
Simply put, we must, by removing dams, reconnect the river to the sea in order to revive life in the river.
The roadmap to a restored river
Under the agreement, a newly formed nonprofit, the Penobscot River Restoration Trust, will purchase three dams ˆ the Veazie, Great Works and Howland dams ˆ from PPL Corporation for $24 million. Veazie and Great Works, the dams closest to the sea, would be removed to allow fish to freely migrate upstream and downstream. The Howland dam will be decommissioned, and a proposed innovative fish bypass will allow fish to swim around it. The first dam likely would be removed in about five years. It will take another $25 million to fully implement the project, including costs for engineering and dam removal, mitigation and community and economic development investments. Fundraising is ongoing, with investment in the project coming from diverse sources, including federal, state, foundation and private funders.
Recognizing that the short- and long-term effects of the project will vary among communities, the state Department of Community and Economic Development is taking the lead on developing an approach to securing $3 million-$5 million assistance to help communities benefit from a restored river. The conservation organizations and the Penobscot Indian Nation are committed to working with communities, businesses and other interested parties to succeed.
The Penobscot River Restoration Project will succeed best with the support of communities in the region, and will most benefit them if they are involved in making the project happen. Restoring the Penobscot River is about far more than fish and wildlife ˆ it is about making possible traditions, economic opportunities, community assets, cultural traditions and recreation that depend upon or are improved by a restored river. New energy directed at restoring the river can catalyze creative, innovative approaches to building economic and community value from the natural assets of the region.
Communities already have begun to seize the opportunities of the project: Veazie, in collaboration with several interested towns, secured a grant to help towns develop a shared vision of how a restored river's assets might be developed. Eastern Maine Development Corporation will build on the work with a $30,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce. Howland has been exploring the options for redevelopment of its downtown industrial site in conjunction with a fish bypass.
These efforts, all at the early stages, have begun within months of the project's debut. They demonstrate that Mainers in the Penobscot region are creative, motivated and inspired, and that they intend to seize the opportunities presented to them. Already, the project enjoys broad support, from local bait and tackle shops to teachers and students, businesses ranging from Old Town Canoe to the Maine Innkeepers Association, from artists to teachers to businesspeople and community leaders of all types. And the list is growing. People from all walks of life are joining together to restore their river.
For PPL Corporation, the agreement will mean business certainty and the opportunity to increase energy generation at several dams, maintaining more than 90% of current energy production. No jobs would be lost as a result of its shift of hydropower assets. The company's options include an innovative plan to recycle turbines from dams that will be removed into existing facilities to boost energy. Essentially, PPL would reconfigure its production of hydropower so that it better shares the Penobscot River system with the fishery and the people of the region.
The Penobscot River Restoration Project, when complete, will be one of the country's most ambitious and innovative river restoration efforts. Imagine the majestic Penobscot River restored: Paddling the free-flowing Penobscot from Milford to the sea, or all the way from Howland with only one portage around a dam instead of four. Thousands of wild Atlantic salmon completing their transatlantic migration by swimming past revelers at the new American Folk Festival on the Bangor waterfront. Millions of silvery herring and shad feed otters, mink, osprey and eagles. A full range of recreational, economic and cultural opportunities are offered by a free-flowing river.
The evidence strongly suggests that our efforts will pay off in ecological terms ˆ for fish, wildlife and water quality. In January 2004, the National Academy of Sciences, our country's premiere scientific advisory board, recommended both dam removal and a focus on the Penobscot as priorities for the recovery of Maine's last remaining wild Atlantic salmon, as well as restoring other species that historically ran with them and played important roles in their life cycle. Scientists who have dedicated their lives to Atlantic salmon consider the Penobscot River Restoration Project effort to be the most significant chance to restore wild Atlantic salmon.
The Penobscot River Restoration Project is just beginning ˆ it is the roadmap toward a bold new future for the region. We are confident that the people of Maine will demonstrate the commitment, vision and ingenuity needed to make the promise of a restored Penobscot River a reality.
The Penobscot River and its people are on the verge of making river history.
On the banks of the Penobscot River in the town of Veazie, an unlikely cast of characters recently signed an innovative agreement that promises to change the future of the Penobscot River and its fisheries. A hydropower company, PPL Corporation; conservation organizations including American Rivers, the Atlantic Salmon Federation, the Natural Resources Council of Maine, Maine Audubon and Trout Unlimited; the state of Maine; the U.S. Department of the Interior; and the Penobscot Indian Nation have agreed to a roadmap to restore the lower Penobscot River ˆ striking a new, improved balance between hydropower production and fisheries, recreation and other uses of the river.
The bold, innovative initiative promises to restore much of the Penobscot River's lost biological wealth, especially its once- vast fisheries. Hydropower production would be reconfigured through a combination of dam removal, improved fish passage and energy increases. The result: The Penobscot River Restoration Project would significantly improve access to more than 500 miles of river habitat ˆ restoring fisheries, recreation and economic opportunity while maintaining energy production.
What's at stake on the Penobscot? After decades of legal and political wrangling over the fate of the dams, what drove these diverse interests to forge a deal of such complexity and scope?
The answer lies in the diverse and immeasurable values provided by the Penobscot River. The Penobscot is the largest river in Maine and the second largest in New England. Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton recently hailed the Penobscot as one of our country's "signature rivers." Flowing from Mount Katahdin through the heart of Maine, the Penobscot River drains fully one third of the state. It has been the home of the Penobscot Indian Nation for more than 10,000 years. Throughout history, the river has been the wellspring of rich cultures, powerful economies, longstanding traditions and a quality of life that is symbolic of our state.
At the heart of the river once were magnificent native fisheries, vast sea-run migrations of fish. Silvery schools of fish once surged through the river, including millions of alewives and blue-back herring, American shad, prehistoric-looking sturgeon, rainbow smelt, tomcod and ˆ perhaps most famous ˆ the fabled wild Atlantic salmon. Islands upstream of Milford were named after fish from the sea; Penobscot Indian clans were named Sturgeon and Eel; the first-caught salmon of the season was sent to the United States president; and fishing traditions passed through generations.
But like most other rivers in the industrial East, the Penobscot River was used heavily for log drives; it was dammed and polluted. Commercial and recreational harvests further decimated the fisheries.
Over time, the log drives ended and the waters have gotten far cleaner. However, despite the improvements in water quality, the native sea-run fishery is largely lost, cut off from spawning grounds by a gauntlet of dams. There is no more commercial or recreational Atlantic salmon fishing. Mainers seeking the thrill of catching the elusive Atlantic salmon must trek to neighboring Canada, taking their money with them. Salmon fishing no longer draws visitors from within and outside of the state to the Penobscot region; those visitors no longer spend their money in local inns, restaurants, tackle and bait shops and other businesses.
Simply put, we must, by removing dams, reconnect the river to the sea in order to revive life in the river.
The roadmap to a restored river
Under the agreement, a newly formed nonprofit, the Penobscot River Restoration Trust, will purchase three dams ˆ the Veazie, Great Works and Howland dams ˆ from PPL Corporation for $24 million. Veazie and Great Works, the dams closest to the sea, would be removed to allow fish to freely migrate upstream and downstream. The Howland dam will be decommissioned, and a proposed innovative fish bypass will allow fish to swim around it. The first dam likely would be removed in about five years. It will take another $25 million to fully implement the project, including costs for engineering and dam removal, mitigation and community and economic development investments. Fundraising is ongoing, with investment in the project coming from diverse sources, including federal, state, foundation and private funders.
Recognizing that the short- and long-term effects of the project will vary among communities, the state Department of Community and Economic Development is taking the lead on developing an approach to securing $3 million-$5 million assistance to help communities benefit from a restored river. The conservation organizations and the Penobscot Indian Nation are committed to working with communities, businesses and other interested parties to succeed.
The Penobscot River Restoration Project will succeed best with the support of communities in the region, and will most benefit them if they are involved in making the project happen. Restoring the Penobscot River is about far more than fish and wildlife ˆ it is about making possible traditions, economic opportunities, community assets, cultural traditions and recreation that depend upon or are improved by a restored river. New energy directed at restoring the river can catalyze creative, innovative approaches to building economic and community value from the natural assets of the region.
Communities already have begun to seize the opportunities of the project: Veazie, in collaboration with several interested towns, secured a grant to help towns develop a shared vision of how a restored river's assets might be developed. Eastern Maine Development Corporation will build on the work with a $30,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce. Howland has been exploring the options for redevelopment of its downtown industrial site in conjunction with a fish bypass.
These efforts, all at the early stages, have begun within months of the project's debut. They demonstrate that Mainers in the Penobscot region are creative, motivated and inspired, and that they intend to seize the opportunities presented to them. Already, the project enjoys broad support, from local bait and tackle shops to teachers and students, businesses ranging from Old Town Canoe to the Maine Innkeepers Association, from artists to teachers to businesspeople and community leaders of all types. And the list is growing. People from all walks of life are joining together to restore their river.
For PPL Corporation, the agreement will mean business certainty and the opportunity to increase energy generation at several dams, maintaining more than 90% of current energy production. No jobs would be lost as a result of its shift of hydropower assets. The company's options include an innovative plan to recycle turbines from dams that will be removed into existing facilities to boost energy. Essentially, PPL would reconfigure its production of hydropower so that it better shares the Penobscot River system with the fishery and the people of the region.
The Penobscot River Restoration Project, when complete, will be one of the country's most ambitious and innovative river restoration efforts. Imagine the majestic Penobscot River restored: Paddling the free-flowing Penobscot from Milford to the sea, or all the way from Howland with only one portage around a dam instead of four. Thousands of wild Atlantic salmon completing their transatlantic migration by swimming past revelers at the new American Folk Festival on the Bangor waterfront. Millions of silvery herring and shad feed otters, mink, osprey and eagles. A full range of recreational, economic and cultural opportunities are offered by a free-flowing river.
The evidence strongly suggests that our efforts will pay off in ecological terms ˆ for fish, wildlife and water quality. In January 2004, the National Academy of Sciences, our country's premiere scientific advisory board, recommended both dam removal and a focus on the Penobscot as priorities for the recovery of Maine's last remaining wild Atlantic salmon, as well as restoring other species that historically ran with them and played important roles in their life cycle. Scientists who have dedicated their lives to Atlantic salmon consider the Penobscot River Restoration Project effort to be the most significant chance to restore wild Atlantic salmon.
The Penobscot River Restoration Project is just beginning ˆ it is the roadmap toward a bold new future for the region. We are confident that the people of Maine will demonstrate the commitment, vision and ingenuity needed to make the promise of a restored Penobscot River a reality.
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