Maine's Penobscot River restored after 200 years

After 10 years, the country's largest river restoration project is complete, and the Penobscot River in Maine has been restored to its natural state. By removing dams and increasing energy production at other plants, the $62 million project is helping revive the fish population and making a difference to the people who rely on the river. Chip Reid reports.

[@mark7880]

I love these dam video's!

[@drinny26]

We need to remove more dams. Check out the Olympic National Park Dam removal videos. It’s awesome to see nature reclaim her land.

[@dundonrl]

Remove all the dams, great idea! We will have to go back to a subsistence type of life of course, but hey, there's going to be sacrifice in everything..

[@releventhurt]

@@dundonrl think of the food 😋

[@hia5235]

@@dundonrl Death cult

[@andrewvillanueva4222]

The same thing happened on California rivers. The Sacramento river system had a great king salmon fishery back in the 1970s and 80s. We had 25-40lb king salmon in the Monterey bay. There were so many king salmon the charter boats with 25 people each would get limits of salmon. At 600 am limits, 1000am limits, 2pm limits of big king salmon. It was a also fishery. Humans are just horrible at managing the king salmon fishery.

[@MatanuskaHIGH]

What kind of salmon boat holds 25 people 😂🤷‍♂️. We don’t have dams in Alaska it’s the commercial fisherman who ruined our runs to sell it to China and Japan. Not to mention foreign boats with mile long nets out in Aleutians scooping as many as they can

[@andrewvillanueva4222]

@@MatanuskaHIGH Monterey bay has big 50 foot and 70 foot charter boats that they fish with. We had great runs of king salmon in the 70s and 80s. California lawmakers decided to send Sacramento water to the center valley for the crops and for the cities like frenso, Bakersfield, los angels and etc..and to fill the state reservoirs. most of the king salmon are hatchery salmon not native salmon. The native salmon have no gravel beds to lay eggs like before in cold water. The Sacramento river doesn't have that cold mountain water flowing to the sea anymore. Hatchery king salmon are raised and trucked to the san Francisco bay and dumped into the bay.

[@billrobbins5874]

These are great projects being done. Remember the people in Flint Michigan. They were drinking water from that polluted river. Wonder if it would be possible to clean that one up. All the suffering those people went through.

[@Tsamokie]

I would like to see that happen to the Kennebec too.

[@themaineiac207]

This river still has a kind way to go

[@geosutube]

Wonderful story. I miss Scott Pelley, but he moved on to 60 Minutes.

[@Twinmapleoutdoors]

The near death statement is inaccurate. The river is very much alive and offers great fishing. I guide on the river and the smallmouth fishing is world class. To make a negative generalized statement about this rivers condition before the restoration efforts in Bangor is misleading . The fact that the mils are not dumping waste water into the river and the river has been breached throughout is certainly hopeful and a move for a positive future for both fish and humans.

[@silverstar4289]

Twin Maple Outdoors That is the problem with environmentalists, they don’t have a problem with embellishments and outright lies to further their cause. That’s why Global Warming experts can’t be trusted.

[@sevrrd9833]

It was near death for salmon. No smallmouth. Just sayn👍

[@marcusrichards402]

So a building in Detroit is named after this river for some reason...

[@CHUCKTOPHER_PRODUCTIONS]

All that work and you still cant eat anything out of the Penobscot. If you do eat something from there you may want to check your mercury levels. I live along the Penobscot , have most of my life.

[@phokjiouh59]

1:38 "My name is David "Running Horse" Sawitzky and I am 1/16 th Cherokee Indian."

[@Treytruk]

Bangor, not Banger.....Why can't the out of state people get it right?

[@jakefish305]

Mainer accent

[@wetsaltypickle]

No one from the Midwest to the east coast can pronounce my home state of Oregon!! Lol

[@davetello3764]

Bangowa. 😉

[@wbenken7655]

We’re they god dams?

[@berniegallagher409]

For the love of god the city is bangor NOT F ING BANGER!

[@vincewilliam5848]

Wow finally some good news from the news. Lol

[@valve84]

These businesses that prospered, did THEY pay the 62 mil to set things right again?

[@Africanfrogs]

valve84 they did not know what would happen when they built it two hundred years ago

[@southerneruk]

The mistake is building damns and not wears, Wears are very beneficial to rivers and marine life, they put in that extra oxygenated water

[@robertrockwell7581]

take down 2 dams but leave 6 more up what does that do to restore this river think about it.

[@jacquesblaque7728]

Punctuation optional?

[@casienwhey]

One down and 70,000 dams to go...

[@67Lucky67]

The demo only took a year, the red tape took over 9. Therefore government seems to be the problem. Put the country back in the hands of the people.

[@artbaugh3]

Lawd! Learn the proper name

[@codybrackett812]

😂 near death ya ok. Next you'll be after mattagamon damn.... oh wait you already are! That'll destroy 2nd lake and a decent lake trout population.

[@v12tommy]

Give it another 10 years, and they will be whining about how they don't have enough water and energy now that the dams are gone.

[@jbbuzzable]

People may whine, but the dam removal will not be the problem. That's why they don't build dams anymore. There are better solutions.

[@jefferyschirm4103]

Dams help keep a river healthy if left alone in flood conditions they push millions of fish inland to die in shallow waters. A dam would control they the flooding and save millions of fish wildlife trees ect. And with our fish hatcheries the overall benefits are immeasurable. The beavers know that.

[@KB4QAA]

Jeffr: Wow what revisionist history. The Earth was waiting 3.5 Billion years so man in Maine could build dams and save the rivers and fish. NOT.

[@Tom-dt4ic]

Dams are sometimes useful Jeffery. Like the one you should build across your mouth to control the flow of utter nonsense. Just a piece of healthy advice, Jeffy, don't make up crap about stuff you don't understand.

[@jbbuzzable]

You don't understand what you are talking about.

[@xtusvincit5230]

All you have to do is destroy industry and generations of jobs and prosperity to have some fish swim in tributary.

[@xtusvincit5230]

There is always a need for light manufacturing, paper and timber are not all there is.

[@foghornleghorn8536]

+Joey Suggs "There is always a need for light manufacturing" What does the dam have to do with it?

[@xtusvincit5230]

Dams are a source of light industrial power.

[@ricksmith3442]

+Joey Suggs BTW, the story states " increasing energy production at other plants" so the available power does not decrease.

[@jbbuzzable]

@@xtusvincit5230 Small hydroelectric is usually a liability, not an asset nowadays.