From the Island Institute: "Decisions from the past have created the current environment, speakers said, as scores of dams on the river system and scores of weirs along the coast reduced fish populations. So did fishing practices. But change is possible."
From the Island Institute: "The work to restore the Penobscot River system through dam removal highlighted efforts to restore fish habitat, with the hopes of meeting the future food needs of native peoples, supporting tourism and at the ecosystem scale, supporting commercial fisheries in outer Penobscot Bay."
From Seven Days VT: "Gov Peter Shumlin and the leaders of the House and Senate agreed Tuesday that the state should consider purchasing the hydroelectric dams on the Connecticut and Deerfield rivers. Their owner, TransCanada, has announced it wants to sell 13 dams."
From Yale Environment 360: "Fishways on rivers in the US Northeast are failing, with less than 3 percent of one key species making it upriver to their spawning grounds, according to a new study. The researchers’ findings provide a cautionary tale for other nations now planning big dam projects."
From the Portland Press Herald: "The federal wildlife service estimates 100,000 salmon returned to the Penobscot River each year in the 19th century, and fewer than 750 returned to spawn in Maine rivers last year."
From the Valley News: "Public officials in Vermont again are expressing interest in getting into the power generation business now that a series of hydroelectric dams on the Connecticut and Deerfield rivers is up for sale for the first time in more than a decade."
From the Seattle Times: "TransCanada is looking to sell its New England power generation business, including hydroelectric dams on the Connecticut River, as part of its effort to finance its $10 billion acquisition of Houston-based Columbia Pipeline Group."
From the Valley News: "Federal regulators this week granted a preliminary permit to a Massachusetts-based company seeking to determine the feasibility of generating electricity from two dams on the Mascoma River."