For his work on the historic Penobscot River Restoration Agreement, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service selected Gordon Russell of Holden, Maine, as the 2005 recipient of the Northeast Regions John S. Gottschalk Partnership Award. Russell is the project leader for the Services field office in Old Town.
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The agreement is one of the largest and most innovative river restoration projects in our nations history and may be the single most important action to recover wild Atlantic salmon in the United States, according to the Services Mike Thabault, assistant regional director in the Northeast Regional Office.
; The agreement allows for removing two dams; decommissioning and constructing a fish by-pass around a third dam; and providing the opportunity to increase hydropower generation at six existing dams and to improve 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 at four more dams.
River restoration mapped out in the agreement will improve water quality and wildlife habitat; renew opportunities for sustenance fishing rights for the Penobscot Indian Nation; and create recreational and economic opportunities.
Laura Rose Day, project director for the Penobscot River Restoration Trust, said, "Gordon Russell played a vital role in bringing together diverse parties, resolving differences, and moving forward with the common goal of restoring the Penobscot River."
During the five-year process of developing the agreement, Thabault said, Russell represented the Service in negotiations with as many as 14 representatives from dam owner PPL Maine, the Penobscot Indian Nation, several conservation organizations, and state and federal agencies.
"Gordon has been a critical player on the Fisheries Committee," according to Andy Goode, executive director of the Atlantic Salmon Federation in Maine, "and he has been a very positive face for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service amongst project partners and in the local communities."
Russell is a 28-year Service employee with a bachelors degree in zoology from the University of Connecticut at Storrs and a masters degree in fisheries from the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. Russell has been the Maine Field Office project leader since 1990.
; The John S. Gottschalk Partnership Award recognizes Service employees or teams who have developed and implemented natural resource partnerships. Gottschalk, a fisheries biologist, served as the Services director from 1964 to 1970. He was a leader in promoting professionalism in fish and wildlife management.
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 545 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
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