Tag Archives: Conservation

Saco River may get additional fishways

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The owners of 9 dams on the Saco River, FPL Energy, may agree to install 4 new fishways as part of its relicensing agreement with the Maine and federal agencies.

The Bar Mills dam, which needs to be relicensed, is the first upstream dam with no fish passage. Local agencies, including the Saco River Salmon Club, have been working with officials to gain upstream and downstream access for fish and american eels as part of the negotiations. Licenses can last up to 50 years, so the terms of the agreement can have a long-lasting impact.

If the agreement is signed, FPL could be finishing the first fish passage at Bar Mills by 2016.

Toms of Maine donates 38 acre “Mousam River Wildlife Sanctuary”

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Toms of Maine donated a 38 acre “Mousam River Wildlife Sanctuary” to the Kennebunk Land Trust yesterday.

The purpose of the donation is to preserve local access to the Mousam River and trails in downtown Kennebunk. Toms of Maine founders Tom and Kate Chappell also personally donated funds to the Kennebunk Land Trust for management.

Follow this link to the Toms of Maine Press Release.

President Bush signs New England Wilderness Act of 2006

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President Bush has signed the New England Wilderness Act of 2006. This will give wilderness protection to more than 34,000 acres in New Hampshire which is already part of the White Mountain National Forest. It will also give more than 42,000 acres of wilderness protection in Vermont to part of the Green Mountain National Forest.

It’s worth noting that this land is not newly protected land added to the National Forests. These areas are already part of the National Forest. The areas covered in the New England Wilderness Act of 2006 are only being given special protection as wilderness. Designating this land as wilderness prohibits the use of motorized vehicles in those areas.

Here is a link to the Press Release from U.S. Senator Judd Gregg.

Here is a link to a map of the protected areas in Northern Vermont at U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy’s website.

Here is a link to a map of the protected areas in Southern Vermont at U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy’s website.

Here is a map of the Wild River area in the White Mountain National Forest of New Hampshire.

Here is a map of the Sandwich Range Wilderness area protected by the New England Wilderness Act of 2006.

The Nature Conservancy and Plum Creek come to an agreement in Maine

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The Nature Conservancy, the Forest Society of Maine and Appalachian Mountain Club have signed a Purchase and Sale Agreement with Plum Creek Timber Company to permanently preserve more than 340,000 acres in Maine’s North Woods, near Moosehead Lake. When Plum Creek Timber Company presented it’s land development proposal for Maine, it was met with resistance, including acts of “eco-terrorism“. The Plum Creek plan website puts it this way, “The plan for our lands attracted significant – and sometimes overwhelming – attention from those who value the Moosehead region and its remote character, natural resources and economic opportunities.” In March, 2006, the Nature Conservancy, the Forest Society of Maine and the Appalachian Mountain Club proposed a Conservation Framework which would have preserved 400,000 acres. The size difference between the March Conservation Framework proposal and the October Purchase and Sale Agreement seems to be exactly the difference between “attractively priced” conservation easements and the unattractively priced conservation easements. The website for the Plum Creek Timber Company land development proposal gives a summary of the changes from the original Plum Creek plan.

Nature Conservancy Receives 1,910-acre parcel in Phippsburg, Maine

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An anonymous donor has given The Nature Conservancy 1,910 acres in the midcoast town of Phippsburg. One of the largest unprotected parcels on the Maine coast, the land’s diverse topography ranges from hemlock gorges and pitch pine ridges to over four miles of shoreline on the New Meadows River. Read more about the new Nature Conservancy Basin Preserve.