Celebrating40Years in the Outdoor Classroom - The Chewonki ...

In the end, this is what will be remembered. But the actual
journey toward completion of this project has taught us
valuable lessons about how we connect with our neighbors;
how we work with town government, elected officials, and local
newspapers; and how we deal with controversy when it arises.
The journey includes a surveyor’s tree-cutting error on a
neighbor’s land; a series of challenging meetings with town
leaders in order to explain the project and procure local work
permits; and a series of unfortunate newspaper headlines,
among them “Resistance to Chewonki Proposal Grows.”
Despite a swirl of controversy and various levels of local
disapproval, staff at Chewonki continued to applaud the effort,
and the project received broad support from environmental,
state, and federal agencies, many of which have helped fund
this project. On September 29, Chewonki hosted a public
discussion and tour at Montsweag Brook, and attendance was
impressive. Speakers and guests came from the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), USDA
Natural Resources Conservation Service, American Rivers,
Maine Rivers, The Nature Conservancy, Kennebec Estuary
Land Trust, and other organizations.
Speaker after speaker made similar observations: first,
stream and river barriers constitute an enormous problem for
fish populations in the Gulf of Maine, and second, dam
removal projects such as Montsweag need partners like
Chewonki to succeed.
Standing at the dam, Brian Graber, a fluvial geomorphologist
and water resources engineer with American Rivers, and
John Catena, northeast regional supervisor for the NOAA
Restoration Center, spoke about the importance of the project.
“Dam removal has become a very important tool in our efforts
to bring back fishery resources to the Gulf of Maine,” said
Catena. “We try to get fish back to their natal streams where
they can spawn and return to the ocean. Dams have been a
critical factor in the reduction of the natural species that are
inhabiting these streams.”
Graber concurred: “There is no single better way to restore
habitat quicker and more effectively than removing a dam.”
The U.S. has removed more than 830 dams over the last few
decades, said Graber, and many of the projects have included
controversy. “The change that occurs when you take out a
structure like this is significant for people who have lived here a
long time. Change can be a challenge for anybody.”
But both Graber and Catena agree that the benefits far
outweigh the challenges.
According to Catena, the Montsweag project is one of many
in Maine that NOAA is funding. The migratory fish being
targeted here—alewives, American eel, and sea-run brook
trout—are linked to the Gulf of Maine and the broader Eastern
Seaboard, he says. “This is an interconnective project from a
Lynne Flaccus, Chewonki’s head naturalist,
gathers data at the dam site.