The Orvis Company announced a matching grant challenge in partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) to raise $150,000 to help remove dams on Maine's Penobscot River. Orvis and NFWF will match donors' contributions turning a one dollar donation into three. In addition to the matching campaign, from now until the end of February Orvis customers will have the option to “round up” their purchase amount in increments of 1-100 dollars, with the proceeds going to the dam removal effort.
According to a statement, the dams were first placed nearly 200 years ago and as a result, life that once pulsed through the Penobscot River and its region was significantly changed. Runs of tens of thousands of Atlantic salmon, American shad, alewife, rainbow smelt, sturgeon, striped bass, and nearly half a dozen more native species of fish that once migrated from the Gulf of Maine into the river are all but gone. In response, in addition to Orvis, a powerful coalition which includes the Penobscot tribe, American Rivers, the Atlantic Salmon Federation, Natural Resources Council of Maine, the Nature Conservancy, Maine Audubon, and Trout Unlimited has emerged to open over a thousand miles of unobstructed river to migratory fish passage.
“The Penobscot River is the second largest river in New England and the only remaining stronghold for the nation's struggling runs of wild Atlantic salmon. Yet multiple dams still prevent the migration of Atlantic salmon and several other species of sea-run fish to key habitat,” said Laura Rose Day, Executive Director, Penobscot River Restoration Trust. “By selectively removing dams and improving access to nearly 1,000 miles of habitat, Orvis and its customers will help give Atlantic salmon their last, best chance to rebound.”
