Feds award $200K for Penobscot River restoration
Courtesy / Penobscot River Restoration Trust
A view of the Penobscot River, where an extension of federal funding may help restore habitats for sea-run fish such as Atlantic salmon.
The federal government will provide $200,000 to continue restoration of fish spawning grounds on the Penobscot River.
The grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will extend work that is being done with the nonprofit Nature Conservancy to restore habitats for sea-run fish, according to a news release.
Specific activities include constructing nature-like fishways at Parker Pond and Baskahegan Lake, and implementing culvert replacements in Allen Stream, Roaring Brook and Stinking Brook.
The Penobscot funding is one of six NOAA Habitat Focus Area grants made this year, totaling $950,000, and the only one in the Northeast. The sites were selected through a competitive process in 2017, and most again received awards last year. The current awards are scheduled to be the last for these multi-year projects.
At 264 miles, stretching from northern Maine to the waters off Castine, the Penobscot River and its branches are Maine’s second-longest river system. The river is used as a spawning or nursery area by 11 migratory fish species, and hosts the largest run of Atlantic salmon in the U.S.
Pollution and barriers such as dams have led to a decline in fish stocks along the Penobscot, according to NOAA.
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