Having lived in the Connecticut River Valley as well as the Merrimack River watershed for many years before moving to Maine, I am acutely aware of the absence of endangered Atlantic salmon in our rivers. We have obliterated salmon and many other migratory species by damming and polluting our rivers, eliminating an entire food web and a sustainable way of life.

Our state of Maine can’t afford to have the financial interest of a foreign-owned company like Brookfield Renewables take precedence over our long-term strategies for building out and managing much needed fishing practices on the Kennebec River. Our climate is changing and presenting challenges for Maine’s fish species. For fish to be able to survive these challenges we need the healthy management of both our rivers and oceans.

We need to uphold our hard-fought laws like the Endangered Species Act and the Magnuson Fishery and Conservation Management Act, as these are intertwined and are meant to protect our fish from foreign interest groups like Brookfield that have been in clear violation of these migrating species at their facilities, in additional to other transgressions. It is time they are held accountable.

We ask for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to recognize what is in the best interest of the state of Maine. Many livelihoods depend on our careful planning. It is time we return the “rite of passage” and the “right to pass” to the Atlantic salmon and all other migratory species on our Kennebec River if we want to aspire to move forward as a species ourselves in these uncertain times.

Four dams on our Kennebec River between Waterville and Skowhegan stand in the way of a sound ecological future for us all and should be removed.

Charlotte Fischer

Westbrook

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