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The Gulf of Maine Coastal Program works with a variety of partners to share information, knowledge, and capabilities for habitat conservation at the landscape scale to support healthy populations of fish and wildlife. Together, we protect and restore habitats that sustain diverse and abundant populations of fish, wildlife, and plants throughout the Gulf of Maine watershed. With the threat of climate change, successful landscape level habitat conservation will provide opportunities for fish and wildlife to adapt. This holistic approach ensures that individual projects produce meaningful and sustainable results for fish and wildlife and makes the best use of limited resources.

Latest news

News update: St. Croix alewives

Alewife illustration.	Credit: Duane Raver/USFWS

May 13, 2013

This week marks a big leap in the lives of river herring of the St. Croix River. For the first time in 22 years, alewives will pass the Grand Falls Dam to return to spawn in high-quality lakes upstream.

A new state law, LD 72, An Act to Open the St. Croix River to River Herring, required the removal of a wooden obstruction blocking fish from passing Great Falls Dam.

"Restoration of these fish has been a priority for the Service, beginning with the establishment of Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge in 1930s, continuing through the funding of fishways in 1963, and most recently with the monitoring of the fish run at Milltown Dam,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Northeast Regional Director Wendi Weber. "We look forward to more opportunities to advance these efforts.”

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service collaborates with tribal, federal, state and non-governmental partners to restore the St. Croix River watershed.

Latest articles
Alewives are heading up into the St. Croix River for the first time in 22 years (NRCM 5/13/2013)
Legislators pass bill to reopen river to alewives (Portland Press Herald 4/11/2013)
Maine lawmakers go with alewives' flow (Editorial, Bangor Daily News 4/11/2013)
Legislature sends St. Croix alewife restoration bill to LePage (Bangor Daily News 4/10/2013)

Past articles and more information

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Assessing conservation needs and priorities in Timor Leste

The Timor Leste International Technical Assistance Program Team; Dave Busch, GS, David Manski, NPS and Stewart Fefer, FWS. Credit: DOI

April 3, 2013

Gulf of Maine Coastal Program Project Leader Stewart Fefer participated in an assessment of needs and priorities for USAID/Timor Leste's new five‐year strategic plan as part of a team from the Department of Interior International Technical Assistance Program.

Read the full story

DOI-ITAP Monthly Newsletter - April 2013 (PDF 326 KB)

DOI-ITAP website

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News update: New England Cottontail

Cory Stearns (MDIFW) and Lindsey Fenderson (USFWS) train volunteers how to identify New England cottontail tracks in snow. Credit: Mao Teng Lin/USFWS

March 31, 2013

In anticipation of the Easter holiday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service worked with journalists throughout New England and New York to promote stories about the important work we and our partners are doing to restore New England cottontails to the northeastern landscape. Over the last few years, GOMCP staff have been contributing to cottontail conservation by funding projects, facilitating meetings, coordinating volunteers, writing outreach plans, conducting surveys, creating habitat, and managing GIS data and mapping.

Find out more

News from the Penobscot River

Josh Royte of The Nature Conservancy holds up a juvenile alewife at a project improving fish access. Credit: USFWS

March 6, 2013

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently posted two stories about restoring Atlantic salmon and other sea run fish in the Penobscot River watershed. GOMCP has been actively involved in several of the projects that are highlighted in these stories. Click on the links below and learn more about what we do to restore our rivers!

Freeing Maine's Penobscot River (Conserving the Nature of the Northeast 3/6/2013)

We are the Penobscot River (ESA Success Stories 3/1/2013)

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Upper Kennebec and Meduxnekeag stream crossing survey results

Survey team measuring a culvert. Credit: USFWS

March 1, 2013

Sally Stockwell, Maine Audubon's Director of Conservation, summarizes the results of stream crossing surveys conducted on Northern Maine roads in a recent Maine Audubon blog post.

The Gulf of Maine Coastal Program has been leading work in Maine since 2006 to coordinate, survey, and build a statewide database on barriers to fish passage at stream crossings. Jed Wright and Alex Abbott have been at the forefront of developing innovative approaches to prioritize fish passage barriers and stream habitats to strategically direct funding for aquatic restoration projects.

Read Sally's blog

More news and information about road stream crossings
East Branch Penobscot Road Crossing Project (1/3/2013)
Overview of Projects on the East Branch (PDF 2.3 MB)
Stream Restoration Initiative (MPBN 8/31/2012)
GOMCP leads stream-smart road crossing workshops (1/13/2012)
Download "Maine Stream Crossings: New Designs to Restore Continuity"

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$1.3 million will conserve coastal wetlands in Casco Bay Estuary and Penobscot River watershed

The Penobscot River at the former location of the Great Works dam, which is upstream of the Veazie dam. Credit: Penobscot River Restoration Trust

January 29, 2013

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that $1.3 million in grants will go to two critical projects conserving and restoring coastal wetlands and their fish and wildlife habitat in Maine. A $1 million grant will help remove Veazie dam and restore nearly 300 acres in the Penobscot River.A $300,000 grant will help the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the Harpswell Heritage Land Trust and the Maine Coastal Heritage Land Trust protect more than 80 acres of coastal wetlands and uplands, as well as almost 4,000 feet of shoreline within Casco Bay Estuary.

Read the full story

National news release

Local Coverage
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service awards grants for 2 projects (Portland Press Herald Dispatches 2/4)
Grant to preserve Harpswell shorelands (Forecaster 1/30)
Maine nabs $1.3 million in wetlands restoration grants (Portland Press Herald 1/29)
Harpswell Conservation Project Receives $300,000 Coastal Wetlands Grant (HHLT website)

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East Branch Penobscot Road Crossing Project

A waste block bridge eliminates the problem caused by poorly installed or undersized culverts in a cost-effective, durable and safe manner. Credit: Alex Abbott/USFWS

January 3, 2013

Jed Wright and Alex Abbott continue to work with partners like the Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to assess and restore road stream crossings throughout the state of Maine. ASF's Andy Goode recently summarized some recent accomplishments in the Winter 2012-2013 issue of Castings, the newsletter for the Maine Council - Atlantic Salmon Federation, and the Winter 2012 issue of the Atlantic Salmon Journal.

Read the full story

Overview of Projects on the East Branch (PDF 2.3 MB)

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