Maine Delegation Reintroduces Legislation to Add York River to the National Park Service's "Wild and Scenic' List

Press Release

Maine's U.S. Senators Angus King and Susan Collins and U.S. Representatives Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden reintroduced the bipartisan York River Wild and Scenic River Act, bicameral legislation to initiate the final step in the process to add the York River into the National Park System's Wild and Scenic Rivers Program. If the bill is passed by Congress and signed by the President, the York River will finally receive long-awaited federal protection and funding.

"The York River is an incredibly important resource for Southern Maine. After legislation to study it and years of outreach with the towns of York, Eliot, Kittery, and South Berwick and residents of the communities, it is clear how meaningful the river is to the character of the region," said the Maine delegation. "That's why, in partnership with local leaders, we introduced a bill to add the York River to the National Park Service's "Wild and Scenic' List, initiating the final step in the process to secure federal protection for the river. The culmination of this collaborative decade-long effort will deliver more federal funding to protect the river, which provides countless environmental and economic benefits to its surrounding communities."

Pingree and Golden originally introduced legislation to add the York River to the National Park Service's "Wild and Scenic' List in February 2019; King and Collins introduced Senate companion legislation in December 2020. These bills followed a three-year study --funded by legislation that Pingree and King introduced in 2011 and Congress passed in 2014--conducted by local stakeholders which recommended the designation. In 2018, the voters of York and Eliot overwhelmingly passed referendums to move forward with the designation, as did the town councils of Kittery and South Berwick.

A "Wild and Scenic' river designation would direct more federal funding and technical assistance to the area, while lifting the York River's profile as a national destination. It also would provide a local forum for the four watershed communities to collaboratively address long-term river stewardship needs. Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation which included an amendment from Congresswoman Pingree to designate the York River as Wild and Scenic.