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2018-19: Maine
- Prints 2018-19
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Prints 2018-19

WordWrap: Swimming Upstream.
A public art project celebrating rivers, restoration and environmental advocacy in Maine.
(25) 32×18″ digital prints on weatherproof vinyl. Low resolution jpeg previews.

“A river or stream is a cycle of energy from sun to plants to insects to fish. It is a continuum broken only by humans.” — Popular Internet Quotation Online quote sites attribute this to Aldo Leopold, however actual source not confirmed. Quote possibly inspired by passages from Leopold’s, A Biotic View of Land. Updated information on this quote is welcome. WordWrap 2018: Swimming Upstream, by Lisa Link for Waterville Creates!

“In its 170-mile journey to sea, it drains approximately 6,000 square miles, flushing over 6,000 million gallons of water per day.” —Michor, Daniel J., People in Nature: Environmental History of the Kennebec River, Maine. 2003. Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 188. https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd/188 WordWrap 2018: Swimming Upstream, by Lisa Link for Waterville Creates!

“This country once was famous for its rivers … But today, the rivers of this country serve as little more than sewers to the seas.” —Senator Edmund Muskie (Law practice, Waterville, Maine: 1940-1942, 1946-1954) The Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1971 Congressional Record–Senate, November 2, 1971, page 38797. Edmund S. Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library, Bates College http://www.bates.edu/archives/ background text: FEDERAL WATER POLLUTION CONTROL ACT [ As Amended Through P.L. 107–303, November 27, 2002 ] Map: USGS Streamer, retrieved, January 2018.

“Back then literally all of central Maine’s municipal sewage and industrial waste was “disposed of” in the Kennebec … from paper mills to chicken processing plants and municipal sewers. People who fell into the river back then were immediately taken to a hospital!” — Steve Brooke Colby Graduate Who Stayed in Maine Drawing of American Shad provided courtesy of the Maine Department of Marine Resources Recreational Fisheries program and the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund. Map: USGS Streamer, retrieved, January 2018. WordWrap 2018: Swimming Upstream, by Lisa Link for Waterville Creates!

“Yet even when the Kennebec was near death, there were men and women who saw the spark of life “ Yet even when the Kennebec was near death, still in its waters and who spent long and weary years nursing it back, in legislative halls, in administrative hearings, by writing letters, supporting political candidates, and in a dozen other ways.” —Clinton “Bill” Townsend Excerpt from his essay Kennebec Memories published in Habitat: the Journal of Maine Audubon. A noted environmental advocate and attorney, Townsend was a recipient of the River Network’s ‘River Hero Award,’ the Gulf of Maine Council’s Environment Visionary Award and Down East Magazine’s Environmental Award. Drawing of Striped Bass provided courtesy of the Maine Department of Marine Resources Recreational Fisheries program and the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund. Map: USGS Streamer, retrieved, January 2018. WordWrap 2018: Swimming Upstream, by Lisa Link for Waterville Creates!

“By 1978, only two years after the last log drive, the Kennebec River water quality report showed a large increase in the minimum dissolved oxygen levels for river miles 0.0 and 11.7. The increase in dissolved oxygen, which is most likely attributed to a decrease in bark on the bottom of the river enabled adult fish and other organisms in the river to begin to recover.” —Elise Begin The Kennebec River: A Historic Maine Resource, 2012. Digital Commons @ Colby, https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/heane/5/ Retrieved January, 2018. Drawing of Striped Bass provided courtesy of the Maine Department of Marine Resources Recreational Fisheries program and the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund. Map: USGS Streamer, retrieved, January 2018. WordWrap 2018: Swimming Upstream, by Lisa Link for Waterville Creates!

“Healthy watersheds revitalize and sustain traditions and culture, the ways we work and play, and the fish, wildlife and people that make each region so special.” —Laura Rose Day Resident of Hallowell, Kennebec River Source to Sea Consulting Shortnose sturgeon illustration by Couch, Karen J, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, released into the Public Domain through Wikimedia Commons. Map: USGS Streamer, retrieved, March 2018. WordWrap 2018: Swimming Upstream, by Lisa Link for Waterville Creates!

“Alewives are anadromous (sea-run) fish that spend the majority of their life at sea but return to freshwater to spawn ... Many Mainers have never seen an alewife run because Maine’s historically thriving alewife population has plummeted during the last two centuries.” State of Maine: Department of Marine Resources http://www.maine.gov/dmr/science-research/searun/documents/alewife.pdf Drawings of Alewife provided courtesy of the Maine Department of Marine Resources Recreational Fisheries program and the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund. WordWrap 2018: Swimming Upstream, by Lisa Link for Waterville Creates!

“The fish are ready, the river is ready. It’s up to the rest of us to make it happen. Restoring runs of migratory fish by unblocking rivers is slow work, but the results can be seen immediately — and it’s vital.” — Landis Hudson Executive Director Maine Rivers http://mainerivers.org/ Drawing of Blueback Herring provided courtesy of the Maine Department of Marine Resources Recreational Fisheries program and the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund. WordWrap 2018: Swimming Upstream, by Lisa Link for Waterville Creates!

“The restoration includes Kennebec’s full compliment of diadromous fishery including river herring (American shad, alewife and blueback herring), Atlantic and shortnosed sturgeon (both on the Endangered Species list), American eel, lamprey, anadromous smelt, the endangered Atlantic salmon and on and on. We are truly fortunate to have remnant populations of all of Kennebec’s indigenous species still in the river to continue building their populations.” — Steve Brooke Colby Graduate Who Stayed in Maine Drawing of Atlantic Salmon provided courtesy of the Maine Department of Marine Resources Recreational Fisheries program and the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund. Map: USGS Streamer, retrieved, January 2018. WordWrap 2018: Swimming Upstream, by Lisa Link for Waterville Creates!

“... And the alewives are so key to this. They are the keystone species that helps drive the whole river ecosystem.” — John S. Banks Director of Natural Resources Penobscot Nation Carpenter, Murray. Taking Down Dams and Letting the Fish Flow. NYTimes.com, October 24, 2016. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/25/science/penobscot-river-maine-dam-removal-fish.html Drawing of Alewife provided courtesy of the Maine Department of Marine Resources Recreational Fisheries program and the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund. Map: USGS Streamer, retrieved, January 2018. WordWrap 2018: Swimming Upstream, by Lisa Link for Waterville Creates!

“After 162 years, the river was allowed and the river was reborn.”JULY 1, 1999 —Richard Behr River Guide http://threeriversguideservice.biz/ Discussing the Edwards Dam removal. WordWrap 2018: Swimming Upstream, by Lisa Link for Waterville Creates!

“The economic importance of sea-run fish in Maine is clear. Maine scientists have linked the disappearance of coastal cod stocks to the dramatic decline in the number of alewives compared to historic levels. Alewives spend their lives at sea but swim up rivers to spawn in the spring.Large numbers of cod used to follow these fish close to shore, where they could be caught more easily, supplying the Maine fishing industry with a lucrative catch. Alewives are also the preferred spring bait for Maine’s lobster industry. They are particularly important now because of herring shortages.” — Nick Bennett Staff Scientist for the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) NRCM Testimony in Support of LD 922, “An Act Directing the Commissioner of Marine Resources To Investigate the Conditions of Sheepscot Pond Related to a Management Plan for Anadromous Fish.” https://www.nrcm.org/environmental-testimony/in-support-ld-922/, March 22, 2017. Drawing of Alewife provided courtesy of the Maine Department of Marine Resources Recreational Fisheries program and the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund. Map: USGS Streamer, retrieved, January 2018. WordWrap 2018: Swimming Upstream, by Lisa Link for Waterville Creates!

“Let the stream act like a stream.” Set the Elevation Right Slope and Skew Match the Stream Substrate in the Crossing Span the Stream —Correspondence with Sarah Haggerty Conservation & GIS Manager Maine Audubon https://www.maineaudubon.org/projects/stream-smart/ WordWrap 2018: Swimming Upstream, by Lisa Link for Waterville Creates!

“Our rivers and streams contribute to the health of the entire Gulf of Maine. Alewives are forage fish for the larger species including cod, haddock, tuna, striped bass – and food for eagles, ospreys, whales and otters.” —Landis Hudson Executive Director Maine Rivers http://mainerivers.org/ Drawing of Alewife provided courtesy of the Maine Department of Marine Resources Recreational Fisheries program and the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund. WordWrap 2018: Swimming Upstream, by Lisa Link for Waterville Creates!

“Do one small thing for fish passage a day.” It has been exciting for me to see a community come together through art and through our stream. —Upstream Founder and artist activist https://www.facebook.com/alewivesupstreamcobbosseecontee Fish images retrieved from Upstream Facebook page, 2018. WordWrap 2018: Swimming Upstream, by Lisa Link for Waterville Creates!

“It’s really about getting the kids out there and teaching them to be a steward for their neighborhood ...” —Joe Christopher Owner of Three Rivers Whitewater https://threeriverswhitewater.com/ Jennifer Long, At-Risk Youth Clean Kennebec River. Sunday, June 25th 2017. http://wgme.com/news/local/at-risk-youth-clean-kennebec-river Photo of rafters retrieved 2/2018, threeriverswhitewater.com. WordWrap 2018: Swimming Upstream, by Lisa Link for Waterville Creates!

“My connection to the Kennebec spans a lifetime of memories experiences.” —April Glidden Maine Resident, Avid Fly Fisher and Former River Guide WordWrap 2018: Swimming Upstream, by Lisa Link for Waterville Creates!

“Clients ask, ‘Don’t you get tired of the same section of the river?’ But you see, it’s different every day, the river flow changes, the light changes the behavior of the fish changes, it’s a delight.” —Richard Behr River Guide, Fly Fisherman http://threeriversguideservice.biz/ WordWrap 2018: Swimming Upstream, by Lisa Link for Waterville Creates!

“As scientists, we are coming to understand the notion that these bodies of waters, lakes and rivers, are, sentinels of change.” — Denise A. Bruesewitz Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Colby College See: Williamson,Craig E., et al. “Sentinels of Change.” Science, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 13 Feb. 2009. science.sciencemag.org/content/323/5916/887. WordWrap 2018: Swimming Upstream, by Lisa Link for Waterville Creates

“If we use our awareness that the total environment determines the quality of life, we can make those decisions which can save our nation from becoming a class-ridden and strife-torn wasteland.” —Senator Edmund Muskie (Law practice, Waterville, Maine: 1940-1942, 1946-1954) A Whole Society. Senator Muskie speech at an Earth Week Rally, Philadelphia, April 22, 1970 Edmund S. Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library, Bates College, http://www.bates.edu/archives/ background text: FEDERAL WATER POLLUTION CONTROL ACT [ As Amended Through P.L. 107–303, November 27, 2002 ] WordWrap 2018: Swimming Upstream, by Lisa Link for Waterville Creates!

“To stick your hands into the river is to feel the cords that bind the earth together in one piece.” — Barry Lopez River Notes (1979) River Notes (1979) WordWrap 2018: Swimming Upstream, by Lisa Link for Waterville Creates!

American Shad

Atlantic Sturgeon

We Do Not Get a Second Chance Planet -

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For information, contact Lisa Link, lisalink@yahoo.com

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