Going Upriver: Maine Students Champion Atlantic Salmon Revival
This blog post was written by David Lamon, director of northern programs and operations at Maine Audubon.
Think of Maine’s iconic North Woods. What images do you conjure? Towering evergreens, rivers, lakes, or mountainous landscapes? What about wildlife? Moose, lynx, loons, and maybe… salmon? Well, maybe most people wouldn’t have imagined salmon, but the students at the SeDoMoCha elementary/middle school in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, would.
Student doing a forest ecology assessment.
SeDoMoCha stands for the towns of Sebec, Dover-Foxcroft, Monson, and Charleston.
At the beginning of the 2024/25 school year, Maine Audubon began working with SeDoMoCha’s afterschool students as part of NOAA’s eeBLUE 21st CCLC Watershed STEM Education Partnership Grant Program. “River in My Backyard” (or RIMBY for short) is a place-based environmental education and stewardship program focused on Maine’s Penobscot River Watershed, the location of the largest remaining run of endangered wild Atlantic salmon in the United States. The RIMBY program was initially developed in 2020 for students in Bangor (Maine’s third-largest urban area), which is situated along the Penobscot River. With the support of NOAA and NAAEE’s eeBLUE program, we were able to move RIMBY upriver to the headwaters of the Penobscot, along the Piscataquis River, the first major tributary to branch off the Penobscot River. This area is considered to have one of the highest quality cold water habitats available for native Atlantic salmon in the northeast United States.
Middle school students leading younger elementary students through a watershed simulation course.
Before there was salmon, there was water…
Visualizing themselves as a drop of water, students utilized maps and models to define their watershed, and then brought these to life by designing an obstacle course that represented their droplet’s journey. Middle schoolers were able to take on leadership roles by guiding K–4th-grade students through their obstacle courses. As the younger students raced through rivers, leapt through hoops as evaporating droplets, and zig-zagged between cones as clouds, they learned about their watershed in a memorable and engaging way. This creative approach not only reinforced scientific concepts but also encouraged collaboration and mentorship among students of different age groups.
Students doing macroinvertebrate stream assessment.
Exploring the watershed…
As fall transitioned into winter, Maine Audubon staff led students outdoors to explore their landscape and collect data on what they found. Students conducted physical and biological (macroinvertebrate sampling) stream assessments to determine the health of their local streams. Students assessed a variety of forested areas to determine diversity, suitability for wildlife habitat, and overall ecosystem health. Students also cataloged native vegetation and identified birds and animal tracks.
Salmon in the school….
In February, an aquarium tank and chiller were installed at the school in preparation for the delivery of 100 Atlantic salmon eggs. As part of the Atlantic salmon Federation’s “Fish Friends” program, teachers and students raise these endangered species indoors to be released into their natal watershed in the spring. Building on previous lessons, students explored the life cycle of the Atlantic salmon as they delved into the salmon’s incredible journey from river to sea and back again—a journey filled with challenges and obstacles!
To make this learning experience interactive, students participated in a series of kinesthetic games and role plays to reinforce their understanding. Reflecting on the salmon’s journey sparked meaningful discussions about the resilience and importance of this species, encouraging students to think about ways they can help protect local wildlife. As global temperatures continue to rise, places like the Piscataquis River will be required for successful salmon spawning and rearing.
Max Tritt, NOAA educator and fisheries biologist, using the stream-flow table with students.
Students sowing native plant seeds.
Investigating local issues…
NOAA educator and fishery biologist Max Tritt brought his stream table to our program to give students a tactile experience of river dynamics and the impacts of human interventions (both positive and negative). Students explored the challenges faced by Maine’s migratory fish species, including predators and man-made barriers like dams. Through hands-on activities, students learned about the importance of fish passage and even tested their skills in designing culvert models to facilitate fish migration. Students explored real-world environmental issues, focusing on the Mayo Mill Dam removal in their own town of Dover-Foxcroft. They examined how communities across Maine are adapting to regulations that require fish passage updates on dams, balancing ecological restoration with community needs. This lesson provided a powerful connection between science, community planning, and environmental policy, wherein students participated in a simulation mirroring a real public meeting. They evaluated five guiding principles and ranked values based on personal preferences. Armed with these insights, students designed potential riverfront landscapes, integrating features aligned with the principles to envision a reclaimed riverbank. Through this exercise, they experienced firsthand the complexities of decision-making processes that consider environmental stewardship alongside public input and practical implementation. By blending science with civics, this activity empowered students to think critically about the future of their community and understand the broader impact of human actions on ecosystems.
Putting the pieces together…
As part of their community-planning activity, students identified a local park (Brown’s Mill Park) along the Piscataquis River as a site in need of habitat restoration. Areas within the park were chosen for revegetation with native plants to help limit erosion and benefit local wildlife. Students sowed native plant seeds this winter at school to leave outdoors for proper cold stratification and germination in the spring. This spring, students will be planting their swamp milkweed, New England asters, and little bluestem, as well as placing educational signage at the park about the importance of native plants in relation to the River and the endangered Atlantic salmon. In addition, the salmon fry that they raised from eggs will be released into the river to complete their life cycle in their natural habitat. Just maybe, one of these tiny salmon fry will migrate to the ocean and return in several years, fully grown, to swim upriver from the Penobscot and into the Piscataquis to lay eggs and start the cycle anew.
NAAEE, in collaboration with NOAA and supported by the U.S. Department of Education, is working with twelve environmental education organizations to offer engaging after-school watershed-focused STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) programs. The eeBLUE 21st Century Community Learning Centers Watershed STEM Education Partnership Grants, administered by NAAEE and running from 2024–2025, support environmental education organizations collaborating directly with 21st CCLC sites. These sites play a crucial role in designing and implementing locally relevant, out-of-school-time programs that develop students' environmental literacy and leadership skills as they improve their communities. These grants support programming for local Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) sites and their students, many of whom live in underserved areas. The 12 selected projects serve 11 states, ranging from Hawai’i to Maine.