Always ready to get our feet wet.

Working to restore water quality and combat heavy sediment loads from recreational ATV usage on local trails.

We’re also conducting surveys for Sea-run Brook Trout.

The Crooked River watershed is one of the major tributaries to Sebago Lake, and it provides significant spawning habitat for wild populations of Landlocked Salmon.

We’re actively working to reduce water quality impacts and improve access to spawning habitat — including the success of the 2024 Edes Falls Dam Removal. The remnant Edes Falls Dam was preventing wild Landlocked Salmon from accessing up to 80% of their spawning habitat during low water conditions, and that can significantly impact reproduction for the entire Sebago Lake system.

We’re continuing to make improvements in this critical watershed, including some culvert replacements, and other fish passage opportunities upstream.

The dams along the Presumpscot River are not only lacking effective fish passage for sea-run fish, but the dams operator (Relevate Power) has made significant errors at multiple dam sites.

This includes the unexpected dewatering of Dundee Pond, leading to the death of countless fish, shellfish, and other aquatic life, as well as operator errors at the Eel Weir Dam that allowed hundreds of wild Landlocked Salmon to drop down into the river without any means of returning to Sebago Lake, leaving them stranded in a section of river that could not sustain them.

We’re actively advocating for change in this watershed.

Red Brook runs from North Scarborough into South Portland before feeding into Long Creek. The lower sections of this brook are heavily impacted by the Maine Mall and I-295 roadways…but surprisingly, these waters are home to a thriving population of wild Brook Trout. The cold, clean waters flowing from aquifers in the headwaters create unique conditions that allow these trout to survive despite the development impacts in the lower watershed.

In 2024, we began advocating for Red Brook as the Maine Transportation Authority (MTA) was pushing a plan to build a new highway spur along the headwaters of Red Brook, which would have drastically altered its water quality and habitat.

The MTA has announced that this project is on hold, but there’s still work to do to ensure this unique habitat isn’t destroyed.

Round Pond in Albany Township, ME is part of a chain of small ponds that Sebago TU previously worked with IFW and the USFWS to reclaim from invasive species of fish — returning them to Native Brook Trout fisheries.

These remote ponds are only accessible on foot, and we’re continuing our work with IFW to install a canoe rack in 2025. This will provide opportunities for anglers to access Rond Pound to help manage the fishery by harvesting fish within the allotted size. The canoes will be available to reserve through our website, and anglers will need to bring their own life vest and paddle.

The Saco River is dealing with a number of fish passage issues along the watershed, with numbers of Atlantic Salmon dwindling to single digits, along with lower than desirable numbers of River Herring and Shad.

We continue to advocate for fish passage as the Saco River dams enter relicensing phases, and some of our key concerns are:

• Eel passage at Hiram Dam (and others)

• Effective fish passage for Salmon at the Cataract Dams

• Downstream fish passage at all dams

• Continued delays to the fish passage timeline at upstream dams

• The decommissioning of the Bar Mills dam, pushing for complete removal

There’s a lot of love about the 130+ miles of the Saco River, and many interested parties, so stay tuned for more information.

The Shepard River is part of the upper Saco River watershed, and provides a significant amount of habitat for Native Brook Trout and other species.

Starting in 2014, Sebago TU began a campaign to thoroughly rebuild the culverts and road crossings across the Shepard River and all of its tributaries to improve access to spawning habitat and thermal refuge that Brook Trout depend on.

In 2025, we’re aiming to complete the last of the culvert replacements to complete this decade-long project to restore an entire watershed.

In the area around Bethel Maine, the Upper Androscoggin River and its tributaries provide a much-loved fishery and paddling opportunity.

Members of Sebago TU were concerned about wild populations of fish in this watershed (Brown Trout, Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout) and the impact of stocking fish over wild populations.

In 2024, we began a multi-year study in collaboration with IFW. This project includes water quality data, electrofishing, keeping angler log books, and more to capture the information needed to inform IFW decision making that can alter plans in the Upper Andro’s stocking program.