Session A4 - Using a focus area approach to restore watershed-scale stream connectivity

• Main Author: Naumann, Ben
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst 2012
• Subjects: Atlantic salmon
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/fishpassage_conference/2012/June6/7; https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1041&context=fishpassage_conference

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the Maine Department of Marine Resources (MDMR), the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) initiated a cooperative aquatic stream restoration and enhancement effort in 2011. The effort has focused on implementing on-the-ground stream restoration projects in the Penobscot River Basin. The primary goals of this initiative are to: 1) restore geomorphic characteristics and function of Maine's lotic systems and, 2) enhance in-stream habitat complexity and connectivity to benefit diadromous fishes, including Atlantic salmon, and resident species, including brook trout, at a watershed scale. With thousands of problem culverts in the Penobscot River Basin, NRCS and partners are using the Pleasant River sub-watershed as a focus area for this restoration initiative. The presentation will provide a summary of the focus area approach, progress of the cooperative effort, restoration challenges, and the creative avenues taken to get projects moving forward.