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Trump pressures journalist to accept doctored photo as real: 'why don't you just say yes?' Head Start funding cuts threaten MA early childhood program success; FL tomato industry enters new era as U.S.-Mexico trade agreement ends; Kentucky's federal preschool funding faces uncertain future.

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President Trump acknowledges the consumer toll of his tariffs on Chinese goods. Labor groups protest administration policies on May Day and the House votes to repeal a waiver letting California ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035.

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Rural students who face hurdles getting to college are getting noticed, Native Alaskans may want to live off the land but obstacles like climate change loom large and the Cherokee language is being preserved by kids in North Carolina.

NC Dam Restoration Project to Boost Wildlife Habitat

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Friday, June 12, 2020   

BOONE, N.C. - A damn restoration project set to start next month in western North Carolina is expected to improve water quality for thousands of local residents and enhance wildlife habitat in the Boone area.

Years of damage and deterioration of the 100-year-old Payne Branch Dam along the Middle Fork of the New River have meant high sediment levels and more storm water flowing downstream to Boone.

Charles Anderson, project developer with the conservation group Resource Institute, says this pooling has contaminated water for wildlife and affected both recreation and drinking water supplies in Boone.

"Our objective is to go in and remove the dam completely, and take out all the sediment that we possibly can remove," says Anderson. "In order to provide better protection downstream - to the water resources, to the aquatic habitat and for recreational use as well."

The renovation will be part of the future extension of Boone's Greenway Trail, which provides outdoor recreational space to thousands of North Carolinians.

Payne Branch Dam, built by New River Light and Power, was the first electricity source to serve the northwest mountains of North Carolina. It was decommissioned in the early 1970s, says NRLP engineering supervisor Matt Makdad, who's working on the new project.

He points out that when the dam was shut down, silt and debris settled, causing damage to fish and animal habitats.

"By taking the dam out, opening the river up a little bit more, that creates a better environment, cooler water temperatures, that better support the natural habitat," says Makdad.

As of 2018, more than 1,500 dams have been removed in the U.S, according to a report by the group American Rivers. As a result, communities in 18 states have successfully reconnected more than 1,200 river miles to restore fish passage and access to natural habitat.

Disclosure: Resource Institute contributes to our fund for reporting on Endangered Species & Wildlife, Environment, Public Lands/Wilderness, Water. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


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