USA continues to remove historic barriers to recover their rivers’ health and fisheries
Although North America has over 10,000 years of human history, the best conserved legacy of construction comes from the last 5 centuries. This is the case in the USA, where infrastructures over 100 years are considered to be true heritage treasures that society often tries to preserve. Therefore, the final demolition of a 250 year- old barrier in Rhode Island, to restore the river’s health and fisheries, is a truly momentous event and something to look up to. Congratulations to all the people involved in such a great achievement.
Bradford Dam on the Pawcatuck River (RI, USA). Photo © Ayla Fox, taken from original article in Nature.org.
To learn more about this barrier removal, you can read this fantastic article written by Matthew L. Miller in Nature.org: “The last time fish could migrate unimpeded on Rhode Island’s Pawcatuck River, the United States was not yet a nation. George Washington was a surveyor, not a general or a president”.
