News and announcements
2012 Archives
Cape Elizabeth
Land Trust buys Robinson Woods II
 |
| Cape Elizabeth Land Trust logo. |
November 20, 2012
"The Cape Elizabeth Land Trust (CELT), a non-profit organization
committed to the conservation and stewardship of distinctive lands
cherished by the Cape Elizabeth community, today announced that it
has acquired a conservation parcel known as Robinson Woods II for $1.1
million from the Robinson Family, LLC."
Over the years, Gulf of Maine Coastal Program has helped with
this parcel by providing habitat information for several
grants.
Read
the full story on the CELT website
Back to top
Group sues Maine over passage of St. Croix alewives
 |
| Article inThe Portland Press Herald.
|
October 15, 2012
The controversial issue of restoring alewives to the St. Croix River
continues.
Read
the
article
Other recent news about the St. Croix
State
supports restoring alewives to the St. Croix River
Watch
a Passamaquoddy Tribe video about the St. Croix alewives
Back to top
Restoring fish access to 535 acres of lake habitat
 |
Project area and Flanders Stream watershed.
Click map to enlarge.
|
September 12, 2012
Project Coordinator:
Sandra Lary
207-781-8364 x19
sandra_lary@fws.gov
Town of Sullivan, ME.
Gulf of Maine Coastal Program will complete a 5-year project
on Flanders Stream that will restore access
to 535 acres of lake habitat, and 3 miles
of riverine habitat for native amphibians
and reptiles, as well as sea-run alewives,
American eel, brook trout and sea lamprey.
GOMCP biologist, Sandra Lary, has spent several
years assessing, planning, designing, permitting,
funding, and partnering for this project.
The
project restores connectivity in Flanders
Stream by removing the one barrier that exists
in the watershed between Flanders Pond and coastal Flanders Bay. The
barrier is a stream channel ledge that was modified to accommodate a
road crossing, perched culvert and deteriorated 1960's fish ladder.
Since the stream channel consists of blasted ledge, access to upstream
spawning habitat was accomplished by installing a bottomless arch culvert
(required for the road crossing) with a nature-like fish passage structure
on the downstream end of the culvert to allow for upstream and downstream
passage through the culvert.
The project also improves overall river
connectivity, ecological function, and productivity
in the watershed, and downstream to the coastal
habitats of Flanders Bay, Frenchman Bay and the Gulf of Maine through
the increased exchange of biota, nutrients and sediment.
Flanders Stream
watershed supports native sea-run fish, including
alewife, blueback herring, American eel,
sea lamprey and sea-run brook trout. The watershed is located within
the Gulf of Maine Atlantic salmon downeast coastal SHRU (salmon habitat
recovery unit).
The watershed is located within the downeast area where
endangered Atlantic salmon DPS (distinct
population segments) occur. Increased populations
of alewife may provide prey and buffering benefits to salmon recovery
efforts. Recovery of native forage and buffer species, such as those
found in Flanders Stream, has been identified as an integral part of
the Atlantic salmon recovery effort.
The culvert road crossing and rock
ramp will be maintained by the Town of Sullivan and Maine Department
of Marine Resources (DMR). The road crossing
is the only access road to landowners and
residents on Thorne Road which the Town of
Sullivan has always and will continue to
maintain. DMR-Bureau of Sea-Run Fisheries
and Habitat, headquartered in Hallowell, ME, has staff in nearby Jonesboro
to oversee the care and maintenance of fishways in downeast Maine. Local
supporters of alewife restoration will also assist in the maintenance
of the fish passage structure.
Construction Photos
Credit: Sandra Lary/USFWS
Click on the images to enlarge.
| August 8, 2012 |
 |
 |
 |
| August 15, 2012 |
 |
 |
|
| August 30, 2012 |
 |
 |
|
| September 7, 2012 |
 |
 |
This project supports and complements
many ongoing efforts by U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (USFWS), DMR, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) and other partners in the downeast region to restore the federally
listed endangered Atlantic salmon. Additionally, sea-run alewife and
American eel are two species in decline throughout their range that
are currently under consideration for Endangered Species Act (ESA) listing.
Shortnose sturgeon, striped bass, mackerel, bluefish, and several groundfish
species may benefit as a result of increased productivity of forage
fish and invertebrate species in Flanders Bay, Frenchman Bay and the
Gulf of Maine. Other species that will benefit from the project include
inland and coastal species including amphibians and reptiles, birds
of prey, marine birds and mammals, and groundfish. Restoring access
to Flanders Stream watershed spawning and nursery habitat will benefit
these species and improve the health of the Gulf of Maine coastal ecosystem.
Bangor
Daily News article
Download
"Maine Stream Crossings: New Designs to Restore Continuity"
Back to top
Stream Restoration
Initiative (on MPBN)
 |
Stream survey technicians measure a culvert.
Credit: Mao Teng Lin/USFWS |
August 31, 2012
Every time a road crosses a stream, a bridge or culvert makes that
crossing possible. Alex Abbott, a fish passage
specialist
with Gulf of Maine Coastal
Program, describes why it's important to have the right size and type
of culvert, and why it's critical to install it properly.
Hear the story on MPBN
Download
"Maine Stream Crossings: New Designs to Restore Continuity"
Back to top
GOMC-NOAA announce
new habitat restoration grants
 |
| Gulf of Maine Council header. |
August 24, 2012
The Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment and the NOAA National
Marine Fisheries Service announced in August
that seven new projects in the Gulf of Maine
will receive support from the GOMC-NOAA Community-Based
Habitat Restoration Partnership. GOMCP was
involved in several of these projects.
Read
the full story
Back to top
State supports restoring
alewives to the St. Croix River
 |
| Alewife illustration. |
Credit: Duane Raver/USFWS |
August 8, 2012
Sandra Lary participates on the Interagency International St. Croix
Alewife Restoration Team with multiple partners to find a resolution
to the controversial
issue of restoring alewives to the St. Croix River. Recently, Gov. Paul
LePage committed to a controlled reintroduction of alewives to the river.
Read
the full story
Watch
a Passamaquoddy Tribe video about the St. Croix
alewives
Back to top
Royal River
restoration
 |
| Article in The Portland Press Herald. |
August 1, 2012
Jed Wright assists with a small dam removal project on the Royal River
in Yarmouth, ME. The web version of this story includes a video that
features Jed operating a grip hoist.
Read
the full story
Back to top
Reviving a river: From the coast
 |
| Stream survey technician. |
Credit: USFWS |
June 18, 2012
Jed Wright describes Gulf of Maine Coastal
Program's role in the Penobscot River Restoration
Project for the Northeast Ecological Services
"Follow the Mission" blog. Jed's post
is part of a series of blog posts on fish
passage.
Read the blog post
Visit the website for the Penobscot River
Restoration Trust
Back to top
GOMCP advises
Oman in managing coastal nature reserves
 |
Ras al Jinz Nature Reserve, Oman.
Credit: Stewart Fefer/USFWS |
February 6, 2012
Gulf of Maine Coastal Program's Project Leader, Stewart Fefer, and
Acadia National Park’s Chief of Resource
Management, David Manski, are working with the Department of Interior
International Technical Assistance Program (ITAP) to help build capacity
for managing nature reserves in Oman. Through funding from the Department
of State’s Middle East Partnership Initiative, ITAP has visited Oman
six times since 2009 to assess current management of key nature reserves.
Read
the full story
Back to top
GOMCP leads
stream-smart road crossing workshops
 |
| Culvert training. |
Credit: NRCS |
January 13, 2012
Gulf of Maine Coastal Program staff are supporting a statewide effort
in Maine to educate professionals responsible for road-stream crossings
on how to improve stream habitat by creating better crossings.
Read
the full story
Download
"Maine Stream Crossings: New Designs to Restore Continuity"
Back to top
|
