The sheepscot river watershed is a coastal river in midcoast maine that supports a diverse community of aquatic and terrestrial species from its headwaters to mouth including river herring, the…

The sheepscot river watershed is a coastal river in midcoast maine that supports a diverse community of aquatic and terrestrial species from its headwaters to mouth including river herring, the endangered short nose sturgeon, wood turtle, brook floater mussel, wild eastern brook trout, least bittern, and the rapidly declining saltmarsh sharptailed sparrow. The watershed also hosts one of the last remaining runs of the federally endangered atlantic salmon in the U.S. The sheepscot watershed has undergone intensive alteration and impacts since european settlement including intensive logging, channelization, removal of wood and boulders, and the construction of dams and stream crossings that block aquatic organism passage. These legacy impacts are impairing habitat for many of the watersheds endemic and rare species. Midcoast conservancy will partner with the united states fish and wildlife service gulf of maine coastal program USFWS gomcp to address these impairments by prioritizing restoration actions within the watershed, collecting data, developing restoration designs, completing permitting, and conducting outreach for habitat restoration projects. This project will build off previous assessment work completed by USFWS gomcp and midcoast conservancy within the sheepscot watershed. Funding for this project will benefit many of the atrisk species that occur within the watershed including the state listed brook floater mussel and federally endangered atlantic salmon.