It’s been a pretty busy week here at BDN Outdoors, and we’ve got a lot of stories to share. Over the course of a week, we’ve written about Atlantic salmon, which are benefiting from a new fish lift at the Milford Dam, piping plovers, those delightful (and scarce) shorebirds, striped bass (which have returned to the Penobscot), and a hiker who bagged 40 Mount Desert Island peaks in 27 hours in order to raise money for the College of the Atlantic. Here’s a sampling … take a look!
— John Holyoke
After first-year tinkering, Milford fish lift pays dividends
MILFORD, Maine — A year ago, while fisheries biologists were monitoring the most dismal return of Atlantic salmon to the Penobscot River in at least 35 years, Richard Dill admits he began to wonder about the role a brand new fish lift was playing.
“We were anticipating a low run, based on what we had seen the past couple of years,” said Dill, a biologist who works for the Maine Department of Marine Resources’ Division of Sea-Run Fisheries and Habitat.
But week by week the number of returnees wasn’t just low, it was historically low, as he and other experts tinkered with flow regimes at a new fish lift at the Milford Dam. That lift took over the role of a Veazie Dam fishway that had been the first upstream barrier to fish passage — and the salmon-counting station — since 1978.
COA president hikes 40 MDI peaks in 27 hours
Last week, Darron Collins, President of the College of the Atlantic, hiked to 40 peaks of Mount Desert Island in just over a day. His goal: to encourage COA alumni to donate to the college’s annual fund. And more specifically, that they contribute to the point that alumni donations consist of 40 percent of the fund.
This “40for40 Expedition” was documented by Collins on social media, on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter under the hashtag #40for40.
Blog log
Out There: Stripers in the Penobscot? You bet
To many, that wouldn’t come as much of a surprise. After all, according to Maine Department of Marine Resources data, the bottom had fallen out of the state’s striper fishery, and many anglers had simply stopped trying to fish for the species, considering the pursuit a waste of time.
But not Hunter Pate, nor his family and friends. The Orrington 18-year-old keeps trying, and every so often, his mom, Sue Pate, sends a dispatch from the river, telling me how the fishing has been.
Lately, the fishing has been very, very good.
Act Out with Aislinn: 1-minute Hike: Reid State Park in Georgetown
Maine’s first state-owned saltwater beaches are located at Reid State Park, which was donated to the state by Georgetown resident and successful businessman Walter E. Reid in 1946. The park was established just a few years later, according to the Maine Bureau of Parks and Land website.
On the horizon
If you’re looking to become a Maine guide, the testing process will change beginning this month. Added to the process: A skills test that prospective guides will have to pass. John Holyoke will tell you a bit more about that. He also is closely monitoring the Atlantic salmon count in the river and will share the latest trap count from the Milford Dam. Aislinn will head back to the woods later this week to prepare her next 1-minute hike; with the July 4 holiday looming, perhaps it’s time to revisit some of her past hikes and plan a family outing of your own!
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