PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • September 29, 2025
A week after The Nature Conservancy announced it plans to purchase and remove four Kennebec River dams owned by Brookfield Renewable Energy, initial fears about flooding, immediate layoffs, recreation and environmental harm have subsided. But questions remain about the impacts of one of the largest river restoration efforts in the country. The Nature Conservancy — which hopes to remove the four dams to restore sea-run fish passage— has repeatedly expressed its commitment to finding a solution that keeps the Sappi’s Somerset paper mill open. The conservation organization also has a stake in the forestry products industry, being one of the state’s largest forest landowners and using paper manufactured at the mill to print 3 million copies of its magazine each year. And it’s unlikely that the dams being removed would have a serious impact on floods. The dams are run-of-river dams that use the natural flow of the river to generate electricity.