Maine Outdoor Journal

enlarge

Bucky Owen at a campsite on the Penobscot.

Press Herald File

enlarge

Bucky Owen uses a pole to navigate a section of faster water on the West Branch of the Penobscot River. On Tuesday, Owen was given the Atlantic Salmon Federation’s highest conservation award for his work on Altantic salmon habitat.

Press Herald File

Bucky Owen, the former commissioner of the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, on Tuesday was presented the Atlantic Salmon Federation's highest conservation award for outstanding, long-term efforts to conserve threatened wild Atlantic salmon.

The Lee Wulff Conservation Award was presented to Owen in New York by Richard Warren, chairman of the federation in the United States. Owen was recognized, in particular, for his work on Atlantic salmon habitat.

Wulff, an angler, artist, author and filmmaker, dedicated 60 years of his life to conserving the species and advocating catch-and-release angling.

"Bucky Owen is a highly respected spokesman for Maine's environment," Warren said. "His commitment is helping us achieve the goals of the restoration of the Penobscot River in Maine, a significant undertaking that will open 1,000 miles of habitat to sea-run fish."

Owen was largely responsible for a $150,000 fundraising campaign for the Penobscot River Restoration Project, initiated by the federation's Maine Council. Working with members of the salmon clubs along the river, Owen and his wife, Sue, contributed to the restoration fundraising campaign and continue to recruit additional gifts.

The Penobscot River, which covers one-third of the state, is home to the largest wild Atlantic salmon population in the United States, according to the federation. About 2,000 salmon returned in 2008 and again in 2009 through the river's fishways, the best runs of the past 15 years.

The project's future plans to remove the Veazie and Great Works dams and circumvent the Howland dam will allow native fish, including Atlantic salmon, to access spawning habitat.

Owen is also working on building a fishway on the Blackman Stream that will aid alewife runs.

In addition to being commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Owen was chairman of the University of Maine's Wildlife Department, where he continues to teach as a professor emeritus. In 1994, President Clinton appointed him a U.S. commissioner to the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization.