Action Alert-Kennebec Dams

Maine’s Department of Marine Resources (DMR) is seeking public comment on major changes to its Kennebec River Management Plan. The revised plan includes a  recommendation to remove two of the four aged dams between Waterville and Skowhegan that block migratory fish from reaching vast amounts of headwater spawning and rearing areas.

This is a great start, but for people and wildlife to enjoy the full benefits of a renewed Kennebec river, ASF and others are pushing for the removal of all four dams.

We need your help. Please send a letter in support of the Kennebec River Management Plan and encourage our state leaders to go even further. For species like endangered wild Atlantic salmon and American shad, their future in the Kennebec watershed depends on dam removal.

First name:

Last name:

Email Address:

Postal Code

Dear [recipient position will go here] [recipient name will go here],

I am writing in support of the Department of Marine Resources’ (DMR) proposed Kennebec River Diadromous Resources Amendment, which includes removal of the Lockwood and Shawmut dams. This plan builds on DMR’s strong record of restoration success in the Kennebec River and will help migratory fish reach their historic habitat throughout the watershed.</p><br /> <p>Engineering and technical solutions have been tried in the past. For example, the fish lift at the Lockwood Dam has been a tremendous failure since it became operational in 2006. Instead of the rapid restoration of diadromous fish to the Kennebec River above Waterville – as was anticipated and promised in the late 1990s – we have seen little progress in restoring native sea-run fish to hundreds of miles of habitat located above Lockwood.</p><br /> <p>I support Maine DMR’s recommendation in the plan to remove the Lockwood and Shawmut dams and urge your department to go even further. The time has come to remove all four of the Kennebec river dams between Skowhegan and Waterville. </p><br /> <p>These dams provide a small fraction of the state’s hydropower which is far outweighed by the extensive environmental damage they cause. The resurgence in migratory fish that will result from dam removal will provide tremendous ecological, economic, and social benefits that extend from headwater streams to the Gulf of Maine. Therefore, I strongly recommend that Maine DMR strengthen the proposed Management Plan Amendment to recommend removal of all four dams between Waterville and Skowhegan. </p><br /> <p>Maine DMR has done much to restore sea-run fisheries to the Kennebec in recent decades. The removal of four dams would allow migratory fish like Atlantic salmon to reach their habitat upstream of Waterville. It would be an unforgettable, positive environmental legacy for future Mainers.<br /><br />

Sincerely,
[your name will go here]
[your email address will go here] [your location will go here]

I would like to stay informed about Help Save Maine’s Kennebec Atlantic salmon and other Atlantic Salmon Federation campaigns.