Fish Ladder is Open in BF

From the Nature Museum in Grafton ....
The Fish Ladder is operating - usually only for a few weeks!

Atlantic salmon were sighted at the Vernon Dam, so the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service alerted TransCanada, the corporation that owns and operates the fish ladder at the Watershed Visitor Center on the Connecticut River in Bellows Falls, to start releasing water. With water flowing down the fish ladder, salmon should be able to swim through each ramped concrete compartment to wend their way around and over the 52’ dam in order to get upstream to spawn and lay eggs.

The fish ladder flows only when salmon are running, so the season is usually only a few weeks long because the hydroelectric facility doesn’t want to waste water and lose energy if there is no reason to divert water from the turbines. This summer the water was flowing and visible to the public starting the weekend of June 11.

There are a number of different changing exhibits (such as birds, mammals, insects, and hydrology) created by The Nature Museum at Grafton and displayed at the Visitor Center, and there are always periodically changing activities for children to do; but the facility is most exciting when the fish ladder is flowing and one can look through the large windows in the lower level and see creatures swimming by at eye level. So, hurry to the Watershed Visitor Center next to the Post Office on Bridge Street in downtown Bellows Falls on Saturdays 10-4 or Sundays 12-4 to see the fish ladder while it’s operating.

To learn more about the facility and exhibits there, check the Museum’s website www.nature-museum.org under Other Projects or call the Museum at 802-843-2111.