Conservation groups in Maine are getting a $25 million infusion from the federal government to continue stream restoration work to boost fish passage, work they say will have ecological and economic benefits.
The funding will help pay for improving stream passage under roadways on private land in Maine, by replacing culverts with bridges or other structures that allow for improved waterflow and fish passage.
Christian Fox, watershed restoration specialist with The Nature Conservancy in Maine, said that helps migratory fish species, including endangered Atlantic Salmon.
"The salmon, and our native brook trout, they need to move around a lot in our upland areas," he said. "Way far inland, much, much further from the sea than most people expect."
He said the improved crossings are also less likely to wash out in extreme weather events, such as the winter storms that wreaked havoc on the state earlier this year.
"We're seeing a twofold benefit right, both for the ecology of the system, but also for the people that need to move on those roads," Fox said.
Fox said the program, administered in partnership with the USDA's Natural Resource Conservation Service and other groups, has already restored about 260 miles of streams across the state.
The new money is part of a $1.5 billion allocation for conservation projects across the country, paid for through the federal Inflation Reduction Act.
