Ownership of Forest City Dam will shift to the St. Croix International Waterway Commission under a new proposal submitted Tuesday to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Woodland Pulp LLC had applied in 2016 to surrender its license to operate the dam because it was no longer economically feasible for the company. Part of that proposal included removing the two gates on the dam that control the flow of the east branch of the St. Croix River and maintain water levels in East Grand Lake.
Woodland now wants FERC to allow the company to surrender its license and control of the dam and transfer it to St. Croix International Waterway Commission, a nonprofit formed jointly in 1986 by Maine and New Brunswick.
If FERC approves the revised application, St. Croix will manage the dam for environmental reasons — including fish and wildlife — recreational uses and other non-power purposes such as flood control.
When Woodland first proposed giving up its license in 2016, there was public outcry from Native Americans, camp owners, recreationists, sportsmen and women and other groups including Maine Historic Preservation Commission, Maine Department of Environmental Protection and Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife.
All agreed that removing the gates would cause water level fluctuations in East Grand, ruining a fishery that is important to the state’s outdoors economy and affecting camps and other water recreational activities, exposing archaeological sites and affecting tribal communities.
The initial agreement between St. Croix and Woodland Pulp to transfer responsibility for the dam was signed on July 29 and modified to a final version on Oct. 6.
The St. Croix International Waterway Commission plans to continue working with government agencies, the tribes and others on fishery issues, while it also maintains, enhances and protects recreational campsites, boat launches and other facilities on East Grand and the St. Croix, according to Woodland’s FERC application.
The nonprofit manages 22 campsites in Maine and 31 in New Brunswick on the water.
The International Joint Commission will still have jurisdiction because of the international waters involved and regulation will belong to Maine and New Brunswick. The commission was established by the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 to make it possible for the United States and Canada to manage international waters together.
