Campbell Creek Restoration Project Press Release

The Maliseet Nation Conservation Council, Wolastoqey Nation in New Brunswick, Sitansisk (St Mary’s First Nation),
environmental NGOs, and the City of Fredericton have aligned to remove a 100-year old dam and restore much
needed fish passage on a stream flowing into the Nashwaak River. Campbell Creek holds high quality cold-water
habitat for Species at Risk like wild Polam (Atlantic Salmon) and Kat (American Eel), two historically and culturally
important species for Wolastoqiyik/Wəlastəkwiyik (Maliseet peoples). Restoring aquatic connectivity in this
tributary will not only benefit aquatic species, but also reunite Wolastoqiyik/Wəlastəkwiyik with an important
waterway in their traditional territory and local residents with an iconic and productive tributary.

Most of the 32.5 km2 watershed has been inaccessible to migratory species for over a century because of a dam
near its mouth. The dam, now owned by the City of Fredericton, originally serviced the cotton mill in Marysville but
its useful life has long since expired.
A 2014 engineering assessment by GEMTEC evaluated the structure and deemed it structurally unsafe and a public
safety liability, advising demolition and stream restoration.

Collectively, project partners consider removal to be long overdue and have planned a 4-year program for its
removal and restoration of the stream. Year 1 (2019) included monitoring baseline environmental conditions and
development of an engineering design for future activities. In year 2 (2020) the focus is on community engagement
and drawing down the headpond. Year 3 (2021) will include dam removal and restoration of stream, fish passage
and further community engagement as the work progresses. Finally, restoration and revegetation of the
headpond will occur in year 4 (2022). Post-removal monitoring will document the recovery of the stream and its
use by native fish species.

Led by the Maliseet Nation Conservation Council, the partnership has received significant funding for the program
through the Canada Nature Fund for Aquatic Species at Risk, a program by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Canada in the amount of $585,000. Other sources of funding include the Habitat Stewardship Program, and
Atlantic Salmon Conservation Foundation through the Nashwaak Watershed Association, and in-kind contributions
from partners. By securing broad support and substantial funding, this ensures the project is nearly cost neutral for
the City of Fredericton.

Project lead, Kaleb Zelman, from the Maliseet Nation Conservation Council says, “our goal from the beginning has
been to remove the derelict dam, restore fish passage to valuable habitat within traditional
Wolastoqey/Wəlastəkwey territory, and to restore connection and relations to this tributary once more.”
Many similar dam removals have taken place south of the border in communities throughout Maine, with much
success in restoring runs of native fish like alewives. Project partners have drawn on the expertise from the
Atlantic Salmon Federation, who have taken the lead on many of those projects and can attest to their success and
community support.

The groups will hold an information session with Sitansisk (St. Mary’s First Nation) on the 22nd of July, and an
additional public session on July 23rd through an online webinar hosted by the Nashwaak Watershed Association.

Another component of this project will be to create a heritage display in the town of Marysville to honour and
further explore relationships of Wolastoqwiyik/Wəlastəkwiyik and settlers to the lower Nashwaak watershed and
Campbell Creek.

Wolastoqiyik/Wəlastəkwiyik have long understood the threat that dams posed to fish and their fishing rights on
the Nashwaak, and the rest of the Wolastoq/Wəlastəkw watershed. Dams have served as a tool in furthering
dispossession of Wolastoqwiyik from their ancestral homelands and their Aboriginal and treaty rights to hunt/fish
the species which they have relied upon for millenia. While we must continue to remind the owners of these dams
of their duty to provide adequate fish passage, this project presents an opportunity to further Wolastoqey-led
conservation and restoration efforts as well as showcase the benefits of diverse partnerships with a common goal
of healthy free-flowing streams and rivers.

For inquiries please contact:

Kaleb Zelman (Maliseet Nation Conservation Council) – kaleb.zelman@gmail.com

Nathan Wilbur (Atlantic Salmon Federation) – nwilbur@asf.ca
Jillian Hudgins (Nashwaak Watershed Association) – coordinator@nashwaakwatershed.ca
Tim Plant (Sitansisk/St. Mary’s First Nation) – timothyplant@smfn.ca
Blake Daly (Maliseet Nation Conservation Council) - blake.daly93@gmail.com