Maine F&G Withdraws Proposal to Remove Coldwater Brook Pond and Henderson Pond from State Heritage Fish list
To their credit, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife recently withdrew their requests to remove Cold Water Pond and Henderson Pond from the State Heritage Fish list:
Both proposals were opposed by ME NFC, ME Audubon, and ME TU. While Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine opposed the proposal to remove Henderson Pond, they testified neither for nor against the proposal to remove Coldwater Brook Pond. They did however raise some questions that supported what those who did oppose it were saying.
This is what NFC had to say about Coldwater Brook Pond at the public hearing:
“CLEARWATER POND HAS A 4-DIGIT WATCODE, OR MIDAS NUMBER, A STATE GOVERNMENT DESIGNATION ONLY GIVEN TO LAKES AND PONDS. IT IS CATEGORIZED AS A ‘PRINCIPAL FISHERY’ FOR BROOK TROUT, A MDIFW DESIGNATION ONLY APPLIED TO LAKES AND PONDS. ITS FORMAL NAME HAS THE WORD ‘POND’ IN IT. COLDWATER BROOK POND WAS A POND WHEN IT WAS NAMED AND DESIGNATED AS SUCH, AND IT IS A POND TODAY. (NFC)”
This is what NFC had to say about Henderson Pond:
While far from perfect and things often do not go the way we would like them to go, this shows that the process can work. It is fair to assume that these proposals would have gone forward had it not been for public opposition. Kudos to Audubon, TU, and SAM for stepping up.