I'm probably
risking a couple friendships here …
But if people
can't love a hopeless environmentalist for who she really is, then so be it. In
the words of a very wise
man: "I yam what I yam."
So here I yam, cheering
from the sidelines (my desk chair) as I watch the spectacular show (on video)
of the Penobscot River Restoration.
Yippee-yahoo!
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| Penobscot River Photo by LewishB / Wikimedia |
It began with a
bang on June 11 as heavy equipment began crunching away at the Great Works Dam,
one of the river's massive concrete impediments that have stifled natural flow
for almost two centuries. Amid the din of demolition, a tribal elder from the
Penobscot Indian Nation stood by and quietly fanned the smoke of sage, tobacco
and sweet grass with an eagle's wing. A subtle ceremony to bless the river as
it found its way toward freedom, at long last.
Tribal chief Kirk
Francis told the Portland Press Herald, “Today
signifies the most important conservation project in our 10,000-year history on
this great river that … has provided for our very existence.”
The project involves
the removal of the two lowermost dams on the Penobscot River, and the decommissioning
of a third dam where a fish bypass will be constructed. Once completed, the
project will have restored nearly 1000 miles of habitat for endangered
Atlantic salmon, sturgeon, river herring, eels, smelt, and several other
species of sea-run fish in Maine.
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| Atlantic salmon illustration by Timothy Knepp / USFWS |
Fish passage will
be improved at the four remaining dams, and energy increased at others, allowing
significant ecological benefits to be realized without compromising energy
production.
According to The
Penobscot River Restoration Trust, this is "one of the largest, most
creative river restoration projects in our nation's history."
Amen to that,
friends.
(If you like
this, check out footage of the Condit Dam Removal
Project that finally set my husband's beloved White Salmon River free last
year.)
