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Court rules Kennebec dam owner must re-apply for water quality permit
A U.S. circuit court of appeals recently quashed energy conglomerate Brookfield Renewable’s bid to overturn the state of Maine’s denial of a water quality permit for the Shawmut dam on the Kennebec River. Kirt Mayland is an attorney who specializes in water and hydroelectric issues. We recently caught up with Mayland, who assists Trout Unlimited’s…
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The public has spoken: Go all in on recovering the Kennebec River
It’s Atlantic salmon spawning season on Maine’s Kennebec River, and the regal fish are making their way from the Atlantic Ocean into the river on their annual run. As we know, it’s a run that’s just a tiny fraction of what it once was; those federally endangered salmon and other migratory species are halted by…
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Let’s urge FERC to improve Kennebec dams plan
It is estimated that just a couple thousand adult salmon return each spring to rivers in Maine — the only state that still has Atlantic salmon migrations.
Draft environmental impact study should go further to improve fish passage and save Atlantic salmon “Every spring, for thousands of years, the rivers that empty into the North Atlantic Ocean turned silver with migrating fish. Tomcod and rainbow smelt swam out from beneath melting ice. Young eels found their way from the Sargasso Seas. Alewives…
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FERC plans sells Kennebec’s endangered Atlantic salmon short
This week, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission released a Draft EIS affecting four hydroelectric dams on Maine’s Kennebec River. The FERC recommendations amount to incremental improvements over what is now a dire situation for Atlantic salmon in the Kennebec. We have tried the incremental approach before on rivers like the Connecticut, Merrimack, Saco, and Androscoggin.…
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NOAA biological opinion unrealistic for Kennebec River recovery
Atlantic salmon runs in U.S. waters have endured blow after blow over the past two centuries. They just received another one. The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) this week released a Biological Opinion (BiOp) on an energy giant’s proposed solutions to improve fish passage infrastructure at four hydroelectric dams on Maine’s Kennebec River, one…
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In Maine, fish following ancient instincts find newly open rivers
But recovering Atlantic salmon will mean removing more dams on the Kennebec Life After Dams Part 2 of a series. This week, we’re telling stories about what happens when dams come out and life flows back in. It’s a vision of what could be on the lower Snake: a free-flowing river and wild fisheries staging…
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TROUT Digital Magazine: Looking back at 2021
What a year it has been! There have been challenges and triumphs. The pandemic lingers, yet people find solace on the water more than ever now. I spent a little time looking through the archive of the hundreds of stories the TROUT team of contributors produced this year, and I am proud and grateful. We…
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