Penobscot Alliance seeks special status for river

In its history, the Penobscot River, which covers 8,500 miles in central Maine, has been used and abused - used as a source of food and a conveyor of boats and logs, and abused by communities and companies that have dumped waste of every sort into it.

Telegram reporter Mark Shanahan takes in the splendor and roar of Grand Falls on Webster Stream. "It is exceedingly rapid and rocky," Thoreau wrote, "and also shallow, and can hardly be considered navigable, unless that may mean that what is launched in it . . . may be dashed to pieces by the way." Staff photo by John Ewing.

Indeed, this river that supported the Penobscot Indian tribe for thousands of years was so damaged just 20 years ago that people joked that it was too thick to drink but not quite thick enough to walk on.

Now, though, there is an effort to do something good for the river.

A group representing the Penobscot Indian tribe, communities along the river, landowners, paper companies and environmentalists is working to get federal officials to consider classifying the Penobscot as an ''American Heritage River.''

For links and more information about the American Heritage Rivers program, see our Thoreau as Conservationist section.

The designation is part of an initiative announced by President Clinton to enlist 10 U.S. waterways in a program that would make river communities eligible for more money to clean up pollution and revitalize waterfronts.

The deadline for applying is in December, and so far the Penobscot is believed to be one of only two major rivers in the Northeast - the Connecticut River is the other - with an organized group pushing for its nomination.

''We're working on a fact sheet about the river that we all agree on, and on a common vision of the basin that focuses on both environmental and economic issues,'' said Jo Eaton of Penobscot Riverkeepers 2000, a nonprofit project that educates people about the Penobscot River watershed.

To qualify for the program, rivers must possess notable natural, economic, scenic, cultural or historic features; the cleanup and preservation effort must have broad community support; and applications must include a long-term action plan.

Waterways selected as American Heritage Rivers will benefit from increased federal aid. The money can be used for a variety of projects, such as improved recreational facilities or pollution control measures.

"It's been really enlightening working together on this non-political initiative," said John Bear Mitchell, the Penobscot Indian tribe's representative on the group. "It sometimes is hard for people to role-play away from their jobs, but we're getting to that commonality, the reason we're all there - the river."