Penobscot River, Penobscot Bay: State of the Watershed

Abstract l Updates & additional materials

Principal Investigators

• Gayle Zydlewski, School of Marine Sciences, University of Maine
• Catherine Schmitt, Mitchell Center & Maine Sea Grant, University of Maine

Stakeholders and partners

• Lower Penobscot Watershed Coalition
  Members:
  Bagaduce Watershed Association
  Bangor Area Storm Water Group
  Beginning with Habitat
  Belfast Bay Watershed Coalition
  City of Bangor
  Coastal Conservation Association
  Cove Brook Watershed Council
  Eastern Maine Development Corporation/Penobscot Valley Council of Governments
  Friends of Sears Island
  Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission
  Maine Chapter of the Wildlife Society
  Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
  NOAA-Fisheries
  Town of Hampden
  Town of Stockton Springs
  Unity College
  USGS - UMaine Fish and Wildlife Cooperative Research Unit
  US Fish and Wildlife Service
• Island Institute
• The Nature Conservancy

Abstract

The Penobscot River is on the verge of many dynamic changes, not the least of which is a restoration effort involving removal of two major dams that have been in place for over 150 years. Additionally, land use and sense of place in this region are changing rapidly. In the face of these changes, stakeholders in the watershed have expressed a need for information that would be met, in part, by a “State of the Watershed” report. With an anticipated publication date of 2009, the report would represent the first comprehensive documentation of past and present environmental conditions of the Penobscot River watershed in over a decade. The proposed project will take the first steps toward creating such a report. The intent is to include as many partners and stakeholders at the inception of the report as possible, in order to ensure that the report is a useful tool to raise awareness of historic, present, and future status of the watershed. With sections on the geologic origins, land use and land cover, fish, birds, wildlife, flora, threatened and endangered species, pollution history, and demographics, among others, the State of the Watershed report will represent the state of our knowledge of Maine’s largest river at a critical point in its history.

Updates & Additional Materials

Upcoming Seminar
March 28, 11am-12noon
School of Marine Sciences, Room 354, Aubert Hall, University of Maine
Penobscot River, Penobscot Bay: State of the Watershed

The Penobscot River and Bay: State of the Watershed Report
Draft Table of Contents - Comments requested!
(e-mail comments to Gayle Zydlewski)

12/14/07 Workshop
Power Point presentation (pdf format)

Resources
Lower Penobscot Watershed Coalition