In 1992 the Army, Navy and Air Force signed a Memorandum of Understanding
with five other Federal Departments and the Council on Environmental Quality
(CEQ) of the Executive Office of the President. In 1994, the Department
of Energy, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Environmental
Protection Agency joined the Coastal America partnership. Most recently,
the partners signed a Commitment to the Partnership in December 1999 to
clarify the funding and administrative support provided by the partners.
Resulting from this last agreement, the Department of Defense has assigned
a Military Liaison to
Coastal America to represent the Innovative Readiness
Training (IRT) Program and coordinate IRT activities with Coastal America
projects.
Download a PDF version of "A Decade of
Military Support"
See a video clip of Rains Mill
Dam Demolition (13,976KB)
This
Month's Coastal America/Military Partnership Highlight: Military/Coastal
Ecosystem Learning Center Partnership in Support of the Marine Mammal
Stranding Network
Coastal
America Award Event Spotlight:
East
Machias Dam Ceremony
July 17, 2000
Honor Guard with
Major General Andrews & Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense
at the East Machias Award Ceremony
Air Force Reserve
command civil engineers supervise the demolishing of East Machias
Dam
|
This project removed the East Machias Dam and the
associated downstream powerhouse during the summer of 2000. The
Bangor-Hydro-Electric Company Dam on the East Machias River originally
built the dam in 1926. After the dam reached the end of its useful
life, the Bangor-Hydro-Electric Company gave the dam to the town
of East Machias. The effort restored more than 200 stream
miles of anadromous migration routes for the Atlantic Salmon as
well as other species. The removal improves fish passage as well
as fish habitat by creating more potential for resting pools. A
team of 12 Air Force Reserve Command civil engineers began arriving
in the middle of May to begin demolishing the dam as part of the
command's IRT, short for Innovative Readiness Training Program.
"The
IRT program is a
win-win situation,"
Air Force Maj. Gen. James E. Andrews said. "We
send teams of military professionals to communities around the United
States to receive hands-on training, as an incidental benefit, reservists
provide medical and engineering assistance."
|
Air Force Reserve
Command Civil Engineers Demolishing the East Machias Dam |
East Machias
Bridge and Dam Before Removal
|
Coastal
America's Military Partners |
|
|