The project will remove two dams, the Upper Town Dam and the Remnant Mill Dam from the Sabattus River, a tributary to the Androscoggin River in Maine. Both dams will be removed, with bank restoration, stabilization, and revegetation.  These dam removals will eliminate public safety hazards, reduce flooding risk, restore parks and safe access to nature for disadvantaged communities, and restore passage for Federally endangered Atlantic salmon, river herring, and other species to important spawning habitat in the Androscoggin watershed.  

Quick Facts:

Project Status

Active

Location 

ME, Androscoggin

NFPP Project Funding

$350,000

Restoration Techniques

Dam Removal

Accomplishments

25 Stream Miles Reopened

Project Partner Lead

Atlantic Salmon Federation

Primary Species Benefited

Alewife

Photograph looking upstream to the partial breached Upper Town Dam from Webster Road Bridge.
Image Details
The partial breached Upper Town Dam from Webster Road Bridge. 
Construction equipment working on the side of a flowing river
Image Details
Upper Town Dam during construction.

The National Fish Passage Program combines technical expertise with a track record of success. 

The National Fish Passage program works with local communities on a voluntary basis to restore rivers and conserve our nation’s aquatic resources by removing or bypassing barriers. These projects are designed to benefit both fish and people. Since 1999, the program has worked with over 2,000 local communities, Tribes, and private landowners to remove or bypass over 3,400 barriers to fish passage fish passage
Fish passage is the ability of fish or other aquatic species to move freely throughout their life to find food, reproduce, and complete their natural migration cycles. Millions of barriers to fish passage across the country are fragmenting habitat and leading to species declines. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Fish Passage Program is working to reconnect watersheds to benefit both wildlife and people.

Learn more about fish passage and reopen access to over 61,000 miles of upstream habitat for fish and other animals. 

Fish passage project proposals can be initiated by any individual, organization, government, or agency. However, proposals must be submitted and completed in cooperation with a Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office. Please note that fish passage projects being used for federal or state compensatory mitigation or required by existing federal or state regulatory programs are not eligible for funding through the National Fish Passage Program.

Contact Information

Species

Programs

A person is walks through a large wide culvert that passes under a gravel road. A small river runs through the culvert.
Across the country, millions of barriers are fragmenting rivers, blocking fish migration, and putting communities at higher risk to flooding. Improving fish passage is one of the most effective ways to help conserve vulnerable species while building safer infrastructure for communities and...
Program

Facilities

Maine stream
Maine Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office
The Maine Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office strives to restore fish habitat throughout our rivers in Maine, for freshwater and sea-run migratory fishes, through collaboration with local, state and tribal partners.
Conservation Office
East Orland,ME

Latest News

Construction equipment working on the side of a flowing river
Habitat Restoration
Swimming into Recovery
May 19th, 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the enactment of the Endangered Species Act, one of the most important wildlife conservation laws in the United States. The National Fish Passage Program directly supports the recovery of species listed on the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by removing...
looking down stream at trees in fall colors and cloudy skies
Habitat Restoration
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Brings Big Wins for Fish Passage and Local Communities
Less than one year from the passing of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, jackhammers are demolishing dams on the Sabattus River in Maine, a new channel is being cut around the Old Evanston Dam in Wyoming, an undersized culvert is being pulled from the Little Tonsina River in Alaska, and more than...
large jackhammer removes concrete dam
Habitat Restoration
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law improves habitat in Maine
On a quintessential mid-September day, officials and community members gathered on the banks of the Sabattus River in Lisbon, Maine, to bid farewell to two landmarks that had outlived their usefulness and usher in an era of improved public safety, fish passage, and recreation. 
Concrete dam spans halfway across a river with heavy machinery and people in construction hats on top
Habitat Restoration
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Partners Break Ground on Project to Restore the Sabattus River
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in partnership with the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR), the Atlantic Salmon Federation and other partners, today broke ground on a restoration effort funded by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that will remove two dams on the Sabattus...

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