The Maine Department of Conservation’s Bureau of Parks & Lands announced this week that the Penobscot Narrows Observatory has been recognized as an Editor’s Choice in Yankee Magazine’s Travel Guide to New England.

The Editor’s Choice recommendation designates Yankee editors’ and writers’ favorite restaurants, lodgings and attractions across New England.

The observatory, which is built atop the west tower of the Penobscot Narrows Bridge linking Prospect and Verona Island, hosted 73,000 visitors in its inaugural year of operation.

The observatory is jointly managed by the Maine Department of Conservation and the Maine Department of Transportation. It sits on the grounds of Fort Knox Historic Site, one of the finest examples of a Civil War-era fort in the northeast.

The fort and observatory are open from May 1 to Oct. 31.

ASF to honor first president

The Atlantic Salmon Federation will honor Dr. Wilfred M. Carter, ASF’s first president, at a gala 60th anniversary dinner on May 14 at The Fairmont Algonquin in St. Andrews.

Bill Taylor, ASF President, said, “Dr. Carter has already devoted more than 50 years of his life to conserving wild Atlantic salmon. Both in his roles as president emeritus and as a concerned citizen, he continues his work to save our valuable salmon populations and the environment we share with this extraordinary creature.”

Carter, a wildlife biologist, became the executive director of the International Atlantic Salmon Foundation in 1968. In 1982, when the Foundation merged with the Atlantic Salmon Association to become the Atlantic Salmon Federation, headquartered in St. Andrews, Carter became its first president.

Carter has served on many influential salmon conservation organizations nationally and internationally and, over the years, has received many forms of appreciation for his efforts, including honorary doctorates of science from the University of New Brunswick in 1976 and law from Mount Allison University in 1993. He was also inducted as a member of the Order of Canada in 1993.

Carter was instrumental in urging international cooperation on salmon conservation, resulting in the formation of the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization in 1983.

NASCO members include all countries on both sides of the Atlantic that have or produce Atlantic salmon. This organization convinced governments to adopt measures to stop the indiscriminate commercial slaughter on the high seas of salmon during their ocean migrations.

Since 1948, ASF and its Regional Councils have been leaders in reducing mortality of wild Atlantic salmon and have achieved many important milestones through government advocacy and public awareness.

To submit an item for publication in the Outdoor Notebook, send e-mail to jholyoke@bangordailynews.net, fax to 990-8092 or mail information to Outdoor Notebook, Bangor Daily News, PO Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402-1329.