PENOBSCOT RESTORATION

The Bush administration has long touted the concept of cooperative conservation. With federal funding and a successful $10 million private fundraising campaign, the Penobscot River Restoration Project is a real example of this idea.

The Penobscot River Restoration Trust announced last week that it had raised the private funding needed as part of a package to purchase and upgrade dams on the waterway to improve fish habitat and increase recreational opportunities on the river.

President Bush has included $10 million for the project in his budget, which is awaiting action by Congress. That funding is matched with $10 million in gifts from individuals and foundations. The trust has another $5 million, mostly in federal funds, on hand. This $25 million is the purchase price of three dams closest to the ocean, allowing hundreds of miles in the watershed to once again be free flowing.

Bangor Daily News Publisher Richard J. Warren is the chair of the trust’s capital campaign.

The innovative project on the Penobscot River, which involves the dams’ owner, PPL Corp., conservation groups, the Penobscot Nation and federal and state agencies, will remove two dams and modify a third while increasing output at three others on the waterway. As a result, hydropower generation on the river will remain nearly the same while fish passage and the accompanying opportunities for recreational angling and boating will be vastly increased.

The river, the largest freshwater source for the Gulf of Maine, is an important source of feed fish for groundfish in the gulf. Increasing the numbers in the river of migratory fish, such as striped bass and shortnosed sturgeon, could help boost marine fisheries as well.

The Veazie and Great Works (located in Old Town) dams will be bought by the trust and removed. A fish bypass will built at the Howland dam, so that the structure – a centerpiece of the town – will remain in place although it will cease making power.

The agreement also calls for increased power production and fishway improvements at the dams that will remain in operation. An additional 10,000 megawatt-hours of electricity, enough to power 1,000 homes, will be generated at these dams.

The next step is for the trust to gather comments from the public about what aspects of the project should be considered by federal regulators as they consider the required permits for the project. Public sessions will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 5, at the Penobscot County Conservation Association in Brewer and from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 6, at the Howland town office.

The meetings are not meant for public comment on the pros and cons of the project but to identify issues – such as the potential economic benefits from improved salmon fishing or the consequences for waterfront property or the effects on infrastructure such as bridges and boat launches – that regulators should consider when evaluating the proposal.

As this project moves forward, it highlights the benefits of hydroelectric power while appropriately compensating for its environmental detriments.