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Restore habitat
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| Sprague Bridge. |
Credit: USFWS |
We work with landowners, non-government organizations, town officials
and state and federal agencies to support restoration efforts that benefit
all native species. We direct our work towards:
- Coastal wetlands, with emphasis
on migratory waterbirds and fish,
- Rivers and streams, with emphasis
on diadromous (searun) fish, including alewife, blueback herring, American
shad, American eel, sea lamprey, rainbow smelt, Atlantic sturgeon, shortnose
sturgeon, searun brook trout, tomcod, striped bass and federally endangered
Atlantic salmon, and
- Coastal nesting islands, with emphasis
on seabirds, including species of management concern such as eiders,
terns, puffins, alcids, petrels and federally listed roseate terns and
recently de-listed bald eagles.
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| Pleasant Lake fishway. Credit:
USFWS |
Our staff provides biological and technical expertise in designing,
coordinating and implementing restoration activities at salt marshes,
on seabird nesting islands and along rivers. We actively coordinate with
partners to design, fund, permit, and implement restoration projects.
We may also provide matching funds, consult with partners, conduct outreach
and offer technical support in developing pre- and post-restoration monitoring
protocols. We can also offer GIS and database management services and
we can use our motorboat to transport partners to offshore restoration
sites.
For more information:
Coastal Wetlands
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| Salt marsh monitoring. |
Credit: USFWS |
Working
in partnership with other federal and state agencies and non-government
organizations, we have restored degraded coastal wetlands in order to
improve the biological productivity of salt marshes for migratory waterbirds
and native fish in Maine. Over the past decade, our office has been actively
involved in partnerships to complete more than 75 projects that have
restored an estimated 2,560 acres of coastal wetlands.
Gulf of Maine Coastal Program staff has provided biological and technical
expertise in identifying, planning and designing restoration projects,
developing the capacity of locally-based conservation partners, developing
permit applications, conducting outreach, and designing and implementing
monitoring protocols. Over the last decade, Gulf of Maine Coastal Program
has provided more than $250,000 in USFWS and National Fish and Wildlife
Foundation funds, quadrupled in value with funds from other federal and
state agencies, and non-government partners. Our funding often supports
key restoration activities not often funded by other partners (i.e. preliminary
feasibility studies, planning and design work, outreach and monitoring).
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American bittern.
Credit:
USFWS |
Coastal wetland restoration techniques include a wide array of strategies,
including:
- Removing tidal restrictions, including undersized culverts and dams
to increase tidal flow,
- Breaching old "hay roads" that bisect the marsh to re-establish
natural sheet flow of tidal water,
- Plugging man-made ditches to help restore pool habitat and natural
hydrology,
- Removing fill material from the marsh surface, and
- Inventorying and removing invasive species, such as Phragmites.
Working with partners, we have implemented major salt marsh restoration
projects at the following sites. Post-restoration monitoring work continues
at many of these sites, and Phragmites control and monitoring work is
ongoing at Scarborough Marsh.
- Weskeag Marsh, South Thomaston (3 sites)
- Sprague River, Phippsburg (2 sites)
- Chauncey Creek, Kittery
- Wheeler Marsh, Vinalhaven
- Scarborough Marsh, Scarborough (5 sites).
For more information:
Restoring Rivers and Streams
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| Alewives. |
Credit:USFWS |
We
protect and restore important habitat for all
12 species of native diadromous (searun) fish in Maine. Restoring rivers
and increasing populations of native searun fish is important for more
than fish. Re-establishing searun fish boosts the biological
productivity of the entire river corridor, as
well as our estuaries and oceans -- for everything from aquatic insects,
mussels, waterbirds and furbearing mammals to commercially and recreationally
important fish, seabirds and marine mammals.
In order to protect and restore habitat for diadromous fish, our office
provides funding and technical expertise, and we collaborate with dozens
of conservation partners, including other USFWS offices, other federal
and state agencies, NGOs, private landowners and corporate interests.
Over the last decade, our office has been actively involved in partnerships
to complete more than 135 on-the-ground projects that benefit diadromous
fish, leading to:
- permanent protection (fee and easement acquisition) of 86,191 acres
and 424 miles of riparian habitat of high value to Atlantic salmon and
other species, and
- restoration of more than 10,000 acres and 1,363 river-miles of high
value to many species of diadromous fish.
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| Smelt Hill dam removal |
Credit: USFWS |
Gulf of Maine Coastal Program has accessed $11.5 million in USFWS and
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation funds, matched 2:1 with non-federal
funds for habitat protection, applied research and restoration projects
directly linked to diadromous fish initiatives. Restoration techniques
include a wide array of strategies, including:
- removing tidal restrictions and dams,
- repairing and renovating old fishways,
- installing new and effective fishways,
- controlling erosion from nearby uplands,
- installing appropriately sized and located culverts and bridges,
- providing temporary "loaner bridges" to timber operators,
and
- providing support to aquaculture, blueberry and timber
managers to
develop and implement Best Management Practices.
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Stream assessment.
Credit: USFWS |
Our staff:
- provides biological and technical expertise in GIS, fluvial geomorphology
and riverine functions, diadromous fisheries ecology,
- plays multiple roles in coordinating, implementing and monitoring
high priority diadromous fish restoration projects, and
- supports applied research projects that promise to increase our
knowledge and enhance the success of future restoration initiatives.
Funding provided through our office often supports key restoration
activities not often funded by other partners (i.e. preliminary feasibility
studies, planning and design work, outreach, applied research and monitoring).
For more information:
- Learn about four of our river
restoration activities on behalf of
diadromous fish.
- View a slide show highlighting
five Atlantic salmon habitat protection and
restoration activities.
- Download our office's summary report on Diadromous
Fish Habitat Protection and Restoration
Projects in Maine (PDF 1.79 MB). This illustrated 14-page briefing
provides an overview of the habitat
protection and restoration projects our
office has actively participated in accomplishing
from 1998 - 2007
- Learn about funding available and projects completed through the
Maine Atlantic Salmon Conservation Fund.
- Download a fact sheet on Maine's
Wild Atlantic Salmon (PDF 112 KB).
- Download a fact sheet called All
About Maine Alewives (PDF 130 KB). This five-page fact sheet
describes natural history information
relevant for those interested in alewife
restoration in Maine’s lakes and ponds.
- View a map (PDF 1.06 MB)
identifying diadromous fish protection and
restoration project sites in Maine.
- Contact: Chris Meaney, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Gulf of Maine
Coastal Program (207-781-8364 ext. 12; christopher_meaney@fws.gov)
for more information on Atlantic salmon habitat restoration and protection
projects.
- Contact: Sandra Lary, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Gulf of Maine
Coastal Program (207-781-8364 ext. 19; sandra_lary@fws.gov)
for more information on diadromous fish restoration projects.
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