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COMMUNITY VOICES

We Live, Work and Play along the Penobscot River

My family goes way back in this area. My parents are both ninety. Their parents grew up in Hamden. My grandfather was a logger. I remember the historical value of the river and what a boom town this used to be with lumber. You used to be able to see debris. I can remember, every time the tide went down, the oil slicks or whatever was depositing, whatever was floating on top would slick the rocks. There used to be an odor all the time on the water. When I think about this area, I think about recreation, the fishing and white water rafting on the west branch.”  -          Carolyn, Winterport 

 

We fish on the weekends and catch Small Mouthed Bass, Pickerel, Chub. It's all catch and release but we were just talking about how it’s cleaned up quite a bit. It seems like there are more and more eagles out there. We see probably three or four eagles every time we go up there. I think individual citizens should play a pretty significant role in decisions made about the river. It's their livelihood depending on it.

 -          Jared, Brewer 

 

My most poignant memories of the Penobscot are from when I was young, because those memories seem to forever burn a hole in your head. I watched all the good and the bad happen on the Penobscot. I watched it go from a foamy mess to a nice clean river. I think it's on its way to becoming a pristine river. Now I see people swimming in it. I see people fishing it all the time. I see eagles all the time. I never used to see eagles when I was growing up. We've got stripers coming up to French Island. We've got shad coming up. The salmon are coming up again, which is good. It's all about the fish.”  -          Debra, French Island 

It’s beautiful and clean compared to when I first got here. When I first moved here in ’69 there was septic waste coming down the river. They’ve just done such a wonderful job of improving the river.”  -          Linda, Orrington 

 

I have a lot of very fond memories from growing up on the Penobscot. Our family just thoroughly enjoys the river. We spend weekends out there, canoeing, fishing and swimming. It used to be, back when I was a child, kind of dirty and not great to swim in, but it's way cleaner than it used to be.”  -          Kathy, Brewer 

 

"Penobscot is a great river. We’ve boated on it, we’ve fished on it and, of course, we’ve watched the water quality improve over the years. It's a double-edged sword. We’re losing our paper industry and we’re cleaning up the water.​  -          Robert, Orrington 

"We never saw any eagles on the Penobscot River growing up. We summered out on Pushaw Lake and that’s where the eagles were. We’d see the eagles out there, but never on the river. When the river cleaned up and the fish came back you’d see eagles. You can still see eagles now. You can see them in Bangor and all down the river."  -          Dana, French Island 

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