kennebec rising
Kennebec Rising, produced in collaboration with the Maine Department of Marine Resources, takes viewers on an inspiring journey through Maine's Kennebec River, capturing the dynamic efforts to reclaim the waterway's environmental and economic vitality, revealing a hopeful vision for a sustainable future.
Chapter 4: A Future Upstream
Endangered Atlantic salmon travel thousands of miles from Greenland to find their way home up the Kennebec River. But their journey ends at the Lockwood Dam, blocked from the cold, climate-resilient waters of the Sandy River. With The Nature Conservancy set to remove the four dams between Waterville and Skowhegan, a future upstream waits.
Chapter 5: Planting a Return
To support the recovery of endangered Atlantic salmon, fisheries scientist Jen Noll plants salmon eggs directly into the Sandy River, one of the Kennebec’s cold, climate-resilient tributaries. Using a technique adapted from the West Coast, she places fertilized eggs into gravel pockets that mimic natural spawning habitat. These eggs will hatch and grow in the same waters salmon must reach once upstream passage is restored. This work helps rebuild the wild population that will one day return to the Kennebec on their own.
