Restoration of nature and sustainability of natural resources have become popular terms these days. They sound straightforward enough, but they come with their own loaded meanings. If you restore a painting, you make it look exactly as it did when it was first painted – you put it back into its original state. So it is with restoring houses, gardens, antique cars. Restoration … [Read more...]

Augusta, Maine: The taking down of Edwards Dam -- the first intentional removal of a major hydropower dam in United States history, was scheduled for 9:00 am on a beautiful spring morning in 1999. We arrived early to find a parking place and watch preparations. As a crowd gathered along the east bluff, a great blue heron flew low above the Kennebec River, traveling downstream … [Read more...]