In 2014, Maine began developing a fish elevator to carry American shad past Milford Dam. 12 years later, the system could reopen 600 miles of river habitat to a fish whose migration has been blocked for decades

A fish elevator may not sound like the kind of machine capable of changing an entire river. On Maine’s St. Croix River, though, a new fish lift at Woodland Dam is being designed to do something much bigger than move fish past concrete. It could help reconnect migratory fish with about 600 miles of habitat and 60,000 acres of spawning habitat used by alewives.

The project is part of a much larger restoration effort involving the Passamaquoddy Tribe, the Maine Department of Marine Resources, NOAA and other U.S. and Canadian partners. The goal is to restore a river system that once supported enormous runs of sea-run fish but was progressively divided by dams and other development. The return of those fish could also send more food into the wider ecosystem, from river predators to marine species.